Gender inequities in the perception and use of public green spaces in informal settlements: reasons and responses

The benefits of urban green spaces are now widely established in the literature and recognised within policy and practice. These include enhancing the quality of urban living, creating spaces of social interaction, promoting active lifestyles, reducing the impact of urban stressors such as air and noise pollution, mitigating or adapting to climate change (e.g. mitigating heatwaves or flooding), and exposing urban residents to nature and biodiversity. These benefits have led urban planners and policy-makers across the globe to focus on identifying universal principles to enhancing urban green spaces, often focusing on the availability and accessibility of urban green spaces, aesthetic qualities, amenities and facilities, and greenspace management (see, for example, WHO, 2018). The potential benefits will often depend on geography. For example, within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) context examined in this chapter, Kamjou, Scottand Lennon (2024) identify the importance of urban green spaces in terms of their environmental attributes, such as their critical role in urban cooling, mitigating flood risks or as safe havens for residents during earthquakes, alongside their important role as a social space, particularly in neighbourhoods with inadequate housing provision such as informal parts of the city. However, these benefits are also dependent on gender and culture.