Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Green Struggle—Environmental Conflicts Involving Urban Green Areas in Bucharest City

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Making Green Cities

Part of the book series: Cities and Nature ((CITIES))

  • 721 Accesses

Abstract

Green areas represent a vital component of urban settlements improving the environmental quality and offering a great variety of ecosystem services. However, in the context of the volatile legislation characterizing post-socialist societies, they can often get stuck between opposing interests. The study aims to outline a general image of the environmental conflicts occurring inside parks in a post-socialist city and offer an assessment model usable in any urban area. We used mass media to create a database containing all environmental conflicts related to the 25 largest parks in Bucharest. Results showed Bucharest suffered a loss in the green surface after the fall of socialism. Large areas, including almost 60 ha of parks, have been transformed mainly into residential areas or private institutional gardens. We defined five categories of conflicts occurring inside urban parks. The analysis highlighted an increasing number of conflicts in recent years, the difficulty in establishing responsible parties and the small number of solved problems. The loss of green areas is driven by a weak legislative framework and its frequent changes in line with the interests of the responsible authorities. The developed typology could help planners to develop standardized resolution strategies that are usable for each category of conflicts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abdelmonem MG, McWhinney R (2015) In search of common grounds: stitching the divided landscape of urban parks in Belfast. Cities 44:40–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ANCPI (2014) INIS viewer. Romania ortophotomaps: national agency for cadaster and land registration. http://www.ancpi.ro/index.php/download-3. Accessed 10 May 2019

  • Artmann M, Kohler M, Meinel G, Gan J, Iojă I-C (2019) How smart growth and green infra-structure can mutually support each other—a conceptual framework for compact and green cities. Ecol Ind 96:10–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Badiu DL, Iojă CI, Pătroescu M, Breuste J, Artmann M, Niță MR, Grădinaru SR, Hossu CA, Onose DA (2016) Is urban green space per capita a valuable target to achieve cities ’sus-tainability goals? Romania as a case study. Ecol Indic 70:53–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.05.044

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Badiu DL, Onose DA, Niță MR, Lafortezza R (2019) From “red” to green? A look into the evolution of green spaces in a post-socialist city. Landsc Urban Plan 187:156–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown RD, Vanos J, Kenny N, Lenzholer S (2015) Designing urban parks that ameliorate the effects of climate change. Landsc Urban Planning 138:118–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bucharest City Council (1998) Bucharest urban masterplan. http://www.pmb.ro/servicii/urbanism/pug/pug.php. Accessed 2 Apr 2019

  • Fors H, Molin JF, Murphy MA, van der Bosch CK (2015) User participation in urban green spaces—for the people or the parks? Urban For Urban Green 14(1):722–734

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gabriel N (2016) “No place for wilderness”: urban parks and the assembling of neoliberal urban environmental governance. Urban For Urban Green 19(1):278–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Google Earth 7.3.1. (2017) Bucharest administrative territory 44° 26ʹ 05ʺ N, 26° 06ʹ 12ʺ E, elevation 79 m, imagery data layers. June, July 2014. https://earth.google.com/web/. Accessed 15 Mar 2019

  • Grădinaru SR, Iojă C-I, Onose DA, Gavrilidis AA, Pătru-Stupariu I, Kienast F, Hersperger AM (2015a) Land abandonment as a precursor of built-up development at the sprawling periphery of former socialist cities. Ecol Ind 57:305–313

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grădinaru SR, Iojă C-I, Pătru-Stupariu I (2015b) Do post-socialist urban areas maintain their sustainable compact form? Romanian urban areas as case study. J Urban Regional Anal 7(2):129–144

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen R, Olafsson AS, van der Jagt APN, Rall E, Pauleit S (2019) Planning multifunctional green infrastructure for compact cities: what is the state of practice? Ecol Ind 96:99–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirt SA (2012) Iron curtains: gates, suburbs and privatization of space in the post-socialist city, vol 27. Wiley, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hirt SA (2013) Whatever happened to the (post) socialist city? Cities 32:29–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hossu CA, Iojă C, Susslind L, Badiu DL, Hersperger AM (2018) Factors driving collaboration in natural resource conflict management: evidence from Romania. Ambio:1–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Iojă I-C, Rozylowicz L, Patroescu M, Niță MR, Vânau GO (2011) Dog walkers’ vs. other park visitors’ perceptions: the importance of planning sustainable urban parks in Bucharest, Romania. Landsc Urban Plann 103(1):74–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Iojă I-C, Osaci-Costache G, Breuste J, Hossu CA, Gradinaru SR, Onose DA, Nita MR, Skoka-nová H (2018) Integrating urban blue and green areas based on historical evidence. Urban For Urban Green 34:217–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maquet O, Hipp JA, Alberico C, Huang JH, Fry D, Mazak E, Lovasi GS, Floyd MF (2019) Park use preferences and physical activity among ethnic minority children in low-income neighborhoods in New York City. Urban For Urban Green 38:346–353

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nae M, Turnock D (2011) The new Bucharest: two decades of restructuring. Cities 28(2):206–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • NIS (2017) Bucharest—demographic statistics. In: National Institute of Stastistics Romania (ed) Tempo online data base. National Institute of Statistics, Bucharest

    Google Scholar 

  • Niță MR, Badiu DL, Onose DA, Gavrilidis AA, Gradinaru SR, Nastase II, Lafortezza R (2018) Using local knowledge and sustainable transport to promote a greener city: the case of Bucharest, Romania. Environ Res 160:331–338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rall E, Hansen R, Pauleit S (2018) The added value of public participation GIS (PPGIS) for urban green infrastructure planning. Urban For Urban Green 40:264–274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ribeiro F, Ribeiro K (2016) Participative mapping of cultural ecosystem services in Pedra Branca State Park, Brazil. Natureza Conservacao 14(2):120–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romanian Government (2005) Emergency ordinance 195/2005 regarding environmental protection. Monitorul oficial no. 1196/30 Dec 2005

    Google Scholar 

  • Romanian Government (2007) Emergency ordinance no 114/2007 for the modification and completion of the emergency ordinance of government no 195/2005 relating to environmental protection

    Google Scholar 

  • Romanian Parliament (1991) Law no 18/1991—law of land management. Monitorul oficial no 37/20 Feb 1991

    Google Scholar 

  • Romanian Parliament (1998) Law no 213/1998 regarding public property and its juridical regimen. Monitorul oficial no 448/24 Nov 1998

    Google Scholar 

  • Romanian Parliament (2005) Law no 247/2005 regarding the reform of public domain and justice. Monitorul oficial no 653/22 July 2005

    Google Scholar 

  • Romanian Parliament (2006) Law no 265/2006 regarding the approval of emergency ordinance 195/2005 on environmental protection. Monitorul oficial no. 586/6 July 2006

    Google Scholar 

  • Romanian Parliament (2007) Law no. 24/2007 regarding the management of urban green areas in human settlement. Monitorul oficial no. 764 /10 Nov 2009

    Google Scholar 

  • Santos T, Nogueira Mendes R, Vasco A (2016) Recreational activities in urban parks: spatial interactions among users. J Outdoor Recreat Tour 15:1–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shan XZ (2012) Attitude and willingness toward participation in decision-making of urban green spaces in China. Urban For Urban Green 11(2):211–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sipila M, Tyrvainen L (2005) Evaluation of collaborative urban forest planning in Helsinki, Finland. Urban For Urban Green 4(1):1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Susskind L, Cruikshank JL (2006) Breaking Robert’s rules: the new way to run your meeting, build consensus, and get results. Oxford University Press, London

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Susskind L, McKearnan S, Thomas-Larmer J (1999) The consensus building handbook: a comprehensive guide to reaching agreement. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tudor AC, Iojă C, Pătru-Stupariu I, Niță MR, Hersperger AM (2014) How successful is the resolution of land-use conflicts? A comparison of cases from Switzerland and Romania. Appl Geogr 47:125–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • von der Dunk A, Gret-Regamey A, Dalang T, Hersperger AM (2011) Defining a typology of peri-urban land-use conflicts—a case study from Switzerland. Landsc Urban Plan 101(2):149–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wen C, Albert C, von Haaren C (2019) The elderly in green spaces: exploring requirements and preferences concerning nature-based recreation. Sustain Cities Soc 38:582–593

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xing Y, Brimblecombe P (2019) Role of vegetation in deposition and dispersion of air pollution in urban parks. Atmos Environ 201:73–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zwierzchowska I, Hof A, Cristian I-C, Müller C, Poniży L, Breuste J, Mizgajski A (2018) Mul-ti-scale assessment of cultural ecosystem services of parks in central European cities. Urban For Urban Green 30:84–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2017.12.017

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Environmental Research and Impact Studies, University of Bucharest, 1 Bd. Nicolae Balcescu, Sector 5, Bucharest, 010041, Romania

    Diana-Andreea Onose, Cristian Ioja, Mihai-Răzvan Niţă, Denisa Lavinia Badiu & Constantina-Alina Hossu

Authors
  1. Diana-Andreea Onose
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cristian Ioja
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mihai-Răzvan Niţă
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Denisa Lavinia Badiu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Constantina-Alina Hossu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Diana-Andreea Onose .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Geology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

    Jürgen Breuste

  2. Landscape Change and Management, Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development, Dresden, Sachsen, Germany

    Martina Artmann

  3. Center for Environmental Research and Impact Studies, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

    Cristian Ioja

  4. Department of Geography (Landscape Ecology), Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Salman Qureshi

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Onose, DA., Ioja, C., Niţă, MR., Badiu, D.L., Hossu, CA. (2023). Green Struggle—Environmental Conflicts Involving Urban Green Areas in Bucharest City. In: Breuste, J., Artmann, M., Ioja, C., Qureshi, S. (eds) Making Green Cities. Cities and Nature. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73089-5_35

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation