Political Economy of Urban Green Spaces

Urban green spaces (UGS) are the undervalued lungs of the city, as they are essential for the psychological and physical well-being of city dwellers, promote social cohesion, and are extraordinarily beneficial to the environment. On the other hand, studying social relationships regulating urban resources, known as political economy, significantly impacts UGS. To relate UGS with political economy, Athina Ahmed's "Political Economy of Urban Green Spaces: Dhaka City's Revelations" is a very significant book in the current context.

Since Bangladesh's independence, Dhaka city's experience has been intertwined with the continuous destruction of its parks and green areas, along with construction in vacant lands for which rapid urban expansion is a significant driving factor (Akash et al., 2018). The UGS of Dhaka Metropolitan Area (also known as DMA) is the focus of the author's particular research endeavour. The publication of a book on UGS management in Dhaka is commendable, especially considering the challenges of urbanisation and climatic change.

This book is a revised and transformed version of the author's undergraduate thesis submitted to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Jahangirnagar University. From an academic perspective, it is an example of a typical social science study. The book preserves all the continuity of a complete thesis. The author used Yamane's (1967:886) concise formula during the data collection. The sample includes residents of DMA, authorities responsible for the governance of DMA, property owners, real estate authorities, and experts in urban planning and the environment.

The study's theoretical framework drew on concepts from urban political ecology, neo-liberalism, and the urban growth machine. Political economy and UGS are both significant topics. Considering that, an in-depth investigation of the complex relationship cannot be achieved solely through qualitative or quantitative methods. The study's theoretical framework used neo-liberalism as a supporting theory and recognised the trend of privatisation that Dhaka City is undergoing.

Because it is a social science study, questions have been placed here instead of hypotheses. The study aims to explore a core question with two sub-questions: How are the UGS of a city related to its political economy? The sub-questions are: What political and economic factors affect UGS? Moreover, how do the political and economic decisions about UGS affect the environment? The author adopted a mixed-methods research design to find the answers to these questions.

The author used primary (qualitative and quantitative) and secondary data for her study. Data collection tools included questionnaires, KII, and AreGIS. The author examined the existing policy content related to the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act(s) in the findings. The online questionnaire for residents of DMA gathered their perceptions about the benefits provided by UGS. The survey results show that 74.2% of the respondents acknowledged environmental benefits, 66.2% recognised health benefits, and 46.2% identified social benefits.

The survey asked residents about the distance between their homes and the nearest UGS. The findings revealed that only 29.6% of the population has a 5-10 minute walking distance to UGS, while 37.3% have to walk more than 20 minutes to reach green spaces. The survey also highlighted that 83.8% of respondents believe there is insufficient green space in their community, while only 9.6% feel there is enough, and 6.5% still decide.

The survey conducted in DMA indicated that a majority (73.4%) of residents attribute the decline in UGS to rapid urbanisation, 60% blame population increase, and 58.1% point to corruption among city planning authorities as contributing factors. Other factors identified include commercialisation, privatisation, and the need for greater awareness. When asked whether political elites and influential business organisations influence land use in Dhaka, 81.2% of respondents answered yes, 1.2% answered no, and 17.7% answered maybe.

The study's findings have identified several components and activities contributing to UGS's shrinkage. The author primarily used two definitions of political economy to relate it to UGS. In the context of Dhaka city, the findings show that power relations and social interactions exist among the government and its organisations, the private sector, civil society, and political elites.

The findings suggest that various stakeholders and their activities have varying influences on UGS's creation, management, and sustenance. Based on the findings and the theoretical framework of this study, a framework for the relationship between UGS and political economy in an urbanising Dhaka city has been proposed. The author's evaluation is that maintaining a balanced ecosystem in a city contributes to the well-being of urban residents and positively impacts all elements of the environment.