Keywords

1 Introduction

Urban green spaces fulfil multiple functions. Next to their function as areas for leisure, recreation, perception of nature or improvement of physical and mental health, they are also operating as spaces of social contact, encounter, communication and interaction. With such functions, urban green spaces contribute considerably to social cohesion in densely populated and built neighbourhoods. This social function of urban green spaces becomes a real challenge in heterogeneous neighbourhoods where many different groups of residents having different backgrounds of origin, socialization and social daily routines and practices live together and use the same public space.

Set against this background, this short chapter looks at chances and challenges of social functions of urban green spaces in heterogeneous urban areas. It analyses the social functions of urban green spaces in heterogeneous urban areas with a focus on encounter, communication and interaction. It discusses specific challenges for these functions that may appear in heterogeneous urban environments, so-called urban spaces of arrival how we find them in many European cities. In doing so, it refers to an emerging discourse on the interconnections between social heterogeneity in cities and its impacts on green space use/green regeneration. Due to its limited word account, the chapter may only shortly address a bundle of important aspects. It starts with a short reflection on the social roles and functions of urban green spaces, especially with respect to encounter, communication and interaction. Then it discusses specific challenges for these functions that may appear in heterogeneous urban environments, so-called urban spaces of arrival that can be found in many European cities and that are characterized by a highly heterogeneous population and a high representation of people with international background (Haase et al., 2020; Hans et al., 2019). Within this context, urban green spaces are being discussed as spaces of contact and conflict, of coping with difference and as places of social experience, learning and cooperation. Finally, an outlook is being given on open questions and needs for future research are being identified.

2 Materials and Methods

This chapter is based on research experience and results from different international and national research projects in which the author has been involved such as Divercities (EU 7 FP, 2013–2017) that dealt with the analysis and governance of urban diversity in 14 European cities, KoopLab (BMBF, 2018–2021) focusing on cooperative development of green spaces in arrival neighbourhoods in 3 German cities and MigraChance (BMBF, 2018–2021) researching the role of social conflicts for urban transformation and institutional change in cities. The chapter, thus, does not represent an empirical case study as such but operates at a more general level as a reflection that uses knowledge from both literature and empirical analysis and examples from the mentioned projects as illustration.

3 Urban Green Spaces as Spaces of Encounter, Communication and Interaction

When this chapter refers to urban green spaces, they are meant to be publicly owned and/or accessible. The focus is on green spaces being located in or close to residential areas, mainly being neighbourhood parks or smaller green spaces that are used by the residential population, mostly from the adjacent/surrounding neighbourhood. The focus here is less on larger, more forest-like green spaces as they can be found in the outskirts of many cities or centrally-located green spaces that are used by residents of different parts of the city.

There is a number of perspectives how urban green spaces can be analysed. In the following, I will focus on the social roles and functions of urban green spaces, in particular with respect to their importance as places for encounter, communication and interactionFootnote 1 between their users. Why does this focus matter? Since encounter, communication and interaction have the potential to strengthen social cohesion between people using the same green space, and, at the neighbourhood level, they can create a more cohesive atmosphere in the area; especially in today’s cities always more heterogeneous urban environments being characterized by increasingly different housing and living conditions, socialization and cultural backgrounds and social resp. socio-economic differences, high quality green spaces as a factor of residential environment quality have got more into the focus. In this context, green spaces may serve as “spaces of encounter” (Fincher & Iveson, 2008) to enable getting to know each other, learn about each other, negotiate interests etc. (Berding & Karow-Kluge, 2017; Peters, 2010; Peters et al., 2010). They represent places where the heterogeneous urban society becomes visible, perceivable, a place where coping strategies with heterogeneity, contact and conflict are being practiced and tested. Potentially, urban green spaces operate as places of “inclusive openness” (Neal et al., 2015: 474).

Due to their very nature as freely accessible places, public urban green spaces are relevant zones of encounter. There are very different assessments on the question whether, to what extent or under which conditions urban green spaces as zones of encounter, communication and interaction support social cohesion (Räuchle & Berding, 2020). Urban spaces may foster cohesion and consolidate contacts, or they can represent problematic places that are avoided, neglected or even feared (e.g. Neal et al., 2015: 465–66). In extreme cases, urban green spaces can represent places of social injustice and exclusion as a result of social power relations, or they are perceived as unsecure spaces, places of conflict or danger (Neal et al., 2015: 474; Budnik et al., 2017: 97–98). Often, factors like design and care (illumination, clear or unclear arrangement, waste disposal) or differing ideas of activities, noise and speed play a decisive role for the perception of a green space as a pleasant and safe space or not. Not least, social norms and values are important as well as expectations concerning the behaviour of others or the conditions of co-existence or co-activities in a green environment (Tessin, 2012: 27). Shape and design of green spaces may as well either favour cohesive co-existence, support interaction or minimize the risks of conflicts (e.g. Peters et al., 2010: 96–97). The appropriation of a green space by one social group and the examination of social power relations may lead to the exclusion of another social group/other social groups in terms of accession and/or interactional injustice (Low, 2013). Exclusion includes cases where it is represented by the non-visibility or absence of people e.g. in a park or other green space as a result of discrimination or feared/experienced rejection.

Encounter incudes different things such as the simple visibility of other people, i.e. simultaneous presence, but also interaction, i.e. various forms of action and reaction (Fugmann et al., 2017). Encounter can be differentiated due to the places where they happen, the fact whether they represent daily routines or specifically planned activities, whether deliberate appropriation forms part of the interaction or whether the encounter (analytically seen) represents a specific setting or may be generalized in a way. Additionally, encounters may, when they exceed a purely simultaneous presence, be shaped along a continuum from cohesive to conflict-prone.

Green spaces may represent places that people go to in order to be alone or even to deliberately flee from social conflicts (Dangschat, 2011; Peters et al., 2010). At the same time, green spaces operate as places where people spend time with relatives and friends and meet others, mostly people that are already known to somebody. Not least, green spaces also allow for unplanned, spontaneous meetings with hitherto unknown people. Peters et al. (2010: 98) underline that in the majority of cases, unplanned meetings/interactions with people someone does not know are short, superficial talks being pushed by external stimuli such as weather conditions or the observed/perceived behaviour e.g. of children or dogs. Similar to other studies (e.g. Dines & Cattell, 2006) they conclude that well-being in parks and a feeling of relaxation increase with the number of such spontaneous, even if short and superficial, meetings. The probability of non-superficial encounter and interaction increases when the green space is being used mainly by local people and users represent a manageable group of largely the same people following the same routines (e.g. walking a dog, using a playground, sitting on a bench). Several physical characteristics of green spaces such as size, clarity, density of vegetation or diversity of design (e.g. existence or lack of distinct sub-areas, areas for more communality or seclusion) also determine to what extent and how such a place becomes a space of encounter (e.g. Vierikko et al., 2020).

Green spaces are thus an “ambivalent terrain” (Berding & Karow-Kluge, 2017: 2) since it is in particular the vagueness and anonymity of public spaces that demand a high level of behavioural security by the users. The question if and under which conditions green spaces will become places of social encounter or even of social cohesion depends on a variety of factors and their interaction (Fugmann et al., 2017: 51). Important are prerequisites such as a basic trust and knowledge about the places and the availability of amenities and infrastructures that make the place attractive as a place to be and to make use of (Dines & Cattell, 2006). In this sense, green spaces are not just spaces of encounter and interaction but also places where different interests and perceptions are co-existing and possibly being negotiated (ibid.: 38).

4 Specific Challenges for Green Spaces and Their Design, Use and Appropriation in Urban Spaces of Arrival

Looking at urban green spaces and their social functions in so-called urban spaces of arrival, some additional specifics have to be considered. As mentioned above, urban spaces of arrival are areas with a highly heterogeneous population including high shares of people with an international biography and high shares of migrants. Arrival, thus, relates much to international arrival although not exclusively. Taking the term a little more generally, one ca say that urban spaces of arrival are characterized by high fluctuation in terms of people coming to and leaving the area. The debate on such spaces in cities was pushed e.g. by Dan Saunders’ book “Arrival city” (2010); the perspective of arrival first and foremost looks at the potentials and prospects for settling and social mobility that an urban space provides for newcomers. Spaces of arrival, subsequently, emerge/develop due to a number of factors that make them attractive for newcomers: availability of affordable and accessible housing, supportive infrastructures and networks and, if they are inner-city neighbourhoods, a good location (Hans et al., 2019; Saunders, 2011; Schillebeeckx et al., 2019). Such spaces are to be found either in inner-city, former working class areas or in large housing estates at the fringes of cities. International migration and the increased heterogeneity of urban population across Europe made urban spaces of arrival becoming an always more frequent phenomenon that can be found all over Europe (Oosterlynck et al., 2019). Their heterogeneity and dynamics of in- and outgoing people make social cohesion being a specific challenge in these areas. Crowded and underprivileged housing conditions, density and high shares of income-poor households are additional factors that aggravate the situation (Großmann et al., 2019).

Urban spaces of arrival are, as we e.g. learnt in a cross-European study on arrival areas in the EU 7FP project Divercities, often densely built neighbourhoods which are, particularly when situated in inner-city locations, under-equipped with high-quality green spaces (Fig. 22.1). They are, at the same time, very much in need of such places due to the above described challenging living and housing conditions of the majority of their residents. Therefore, the topic of green space equipment and greening in heterogeneous urban environments such as spaces of arrival has become more and more an issue of urban planning and theoretical debates (e.g. Elands et al., 2020; Kabisch & Haase, 2014 for Berlin). As well, there has risen the awareness among urban green scholars that the increasing diversity of urban population matters when it comes to the (recreational) use of green spaces and related wants and needs, the perception of urban nature among people with diverse lifeworld backgrounds and potential implications for planning (Kloek, 2015) but with respect to the shaping and organization of participatory development of such spaces as well as engagement and stewardship (Elands et al., 2020).

Fig. 22.1
figure 1

Urban space of arrival: Leipzig’s inner east. (Photo: UFZ in 2016)

Full size image

5 Encounter in Urban Spaces of Arrival: Opportunities, Conflicts, Ambivalences

The social functions of urban green spaces, i.e. as spaces for encounter, communication and interaction, are particularly important for heterogeneous urban environments such a spaces of arrival. At the same time, there are many specific challenges that arise from the diversity and also precariousness of those spaces for the use and for benefitting from green spaces by the residents. The debate itself has provided ambivalent evidence (Räuchle & Berding, 2020: 2–3; Elands et al., 2020). Here, an interesting parallel can be observed in comparison with the debate on social difference and diversity and the coping with them in daily practices and living together. This debate, on the one hand, focuses on the potential of urban spaces of arrival (i.e. as enabling spaces for settling, making oneself familiar with the new place and basis for social upward mobility, diversity as chance for the place itself) and on the other hand with the challenges, problems and conflicts of increased heterogeneity (e.g. marginalized spaces, exclusion or the emergence of so-called parallel societies). When looking through this lens, we can clearly see that long-term optimism concerning integrative urban policies has been questioned by existing and growing levels of conflict, intolerance and even violence (Bannister & Kearns, 2013; Valentine, 2013). But it is also inequalities, injustices and precariousness that challenge cohesion, tolerance and a peaceful living together (Amin, 2002; Low, 2013).

Valentine (2013: 8–9) states that contact within a context of social difference does not necessarily results in respect for this difference and that meeting another person is not equitable with meaningful contact or even a positive outcome. Public (green) spaces might be also spaces where prejudices and hostile attitudes towards others might be confirmed or even strengthened through contact. They are perceived by some people as a place of rejection. Valentine underlines that meaningful contact might have a positive effect for more social cohesion but not necessarily for a long time or in a sustainable way. Other studies distinguish between different types of (intercultural) encounter; those include deliberate acknowledgement of the other, i.e. more than a superficial acceptance, passive tolerance up to rejection to a lesser or larger degree (Bannister & Kearns, 2013). Hoekstra and Dahlivk (2017) show for the cases of Vienna and Amsterdam what Granovetter (1973) called “the strength of weak ties”: i.e. that even superficial meetings are crucial for the daily life of residents whereas urban policy prioritizes meaningful encounter as a mean to strengthen social cohesion in a diverse urban society.

Wiesemann (2014) ascribes to encounter both affirmative and destabilizing impacts on prejudices and stereotypes towards “others”. Moments or actions that affirm prejudices and stereotypes are e.g. “territorial injuries” such as when someone does not step aside or the consideration of someone else with depreciatory views, deliberate ignorance or absence of response e.g. to a greeting. In a similar way, encounter may also destabilize or even counteract prejudices and stereotypes e.g. through “moments of civility” such as response to a greeting, giving information or spontaneous help. Those moments might of course have only a temporary effect or might be perceived as exceptions that do not affect existing prejudices too much (ibid.: 151). Particularly important are so-called “moments of sociability” (Fincher & Iveson, 2008) where predominating differentiations e.g. referring to where someone comes from or how somebody looks like loose importance for the moment/common activity etc. This is for heterogeneous contexts very important since it could have a generally integrating impulse, at best reaching beyond the precise occasion where it happened. Sometimes such moments of sociability have the power to question predominating attitudes produced through mass media or public discourse (Wiesemann, 2014: 174). The same applies to personal differentiations or categorizations that become less important or have to “communicate” with the new impressions that emerged through the social contact and common activities (ibid.: 191).

Social encounter may result in contact and cohesion but also in rejection and conflict – this is what research on contact through encounter and its impacts on cohesion and conflict tell us (e.g. Hewstone & Brown, 1986). It is always a bundle of factors and their interplay that determine and drive whether, when and to what extent encounter develops to be the first or second, or whether the results are ambivalent. Conflicts through encounter and interaction do not play just a negative role. Instead, they operate often also as trigger or catalyst of necessary change. They show shortcomings of co-existence and living together in a heterogeneous neighbourhood/environment. This brings about the chance for negotiation, e.g. of different wants and needs and interest of different groups of people with respect to how to use a green space. In the recent scholarly debate on migration and an internationalizing society, the understanding of productive functions of conflict as trigger for change or indicator of problems that have to be dealt with has become important for the assessment of the quality of integration/inclusiveness. Interestingly, this new knowledge is much in line with older knowledge e.g. from the social conflict theory or theories of radical democracy. Here, an interdisciplinary approach including knowledges from different research strands might be helpful to understand better the complicated and highly ambivalent “grammar” of social contact, encounter, communication and interaction in socially diverse environments.

6 Urban Green Spaces as Areas of Social Experience, Learning and Cooperation

It is what Berding and Kluge (2017: 2) call “spatially or socially based partial publics” or what Amin (2002: 2) called “micro publics” that bring about a higher level of liability. Such specific publics may be less accessible since they are related to certain thresholds to enter them. But within those publics, common interests and rules of mutual understanding may be easier to be communicated. Thus, a higher level of cohesion between the participants may be generated which results in a larger trust in common actions. Amin (ibid.) and Fugmann et al. (2017: 49) suggest those micro publics to be excellent places to negotiate diversity. Partial or micro publics can also take the form of open or green spaces that are not accessible for everyone and gather people with diverse lifeworld backgrounds but with a minimum of shared interests that form the basis of common activities.

Green spaces operate also as spaces of social experience. Here, urban green scholarship provides a rich body of evidence (e.g. Peters et al., 2010; Elands et al., 2020; Cocks & Shackleton, 2020). This literature, among others, makes clear that a consideration of ambivalence and context dependency are indispensable to identify which role an open/green space plays for social cohesion or for different (potential) user groups. It is also crucial to understand that a romantization and celebration of green spaces as solution for many problems does not meet reality (Räuchle & Berding, 2020: 2). The availability and accessibility of green spaces are no solution e.g. for bad housing conditions in the neighbourhood or may mitigate easily challenges such as racist or discriminatory behaviour or the exclusion of others by appropriation (Low, 2013: interactional justice). In heterogeneous urban environments such as urban spaces of arrival, there exists an intersection of marginalization and underprivileged living circumstances that cannot be facilitated or tackled by green regeneration/improvements (alone).

In heterogeneous urban environments, it is also crucial which prerequisites with respect to meet others, coping with difference, speak in front of others etc. people bring into encounters (Räuchle & Berding, 2020: 3). Such capabilities and resources decide on whether encounter is being experienced as beneficial, harmful or threatening. This issue is being often too little considered when encounter, communication and interaction are being organized in heterogeneous environments. Nevertheless, stepwise, it enters debates that deal with the equipment, accessibility, use and social function of urban green spaces (Vierikko et al., 2020; Elands et al., 2018). Planning processes are increasingly based on multicultural experience of cities/neighbourhoods, participation including different groups and deliberately include forms of co-development with diverse participation and different knowledges and capacities existing among the residents of heterogeneous areas as transdisciplinary research e.g. in different German cities show (www.kooplab.de, Fig. 22.2).

Fig. 22.2
figure 2

Co-development of park futures in arrival contexts in Leipzig, Germany. (Photos: Haase, A. in 2019)

Full size image

7 Open Questions and Needs for Further Research

The topic of the role of urban green spaces in heterogeneous environments is a comparatively new topic. Although in the last years, an increasing body of knowledge has been developed, there is still a lot of untouched questions and lack of evidence.

Often, studies differentiate between people with or without migrant status/immigration background. Here, a more intersectional differentiation referring to multiple characteristics of people including education, income, probability of being discriminated etc. would be helpful to better understand the chances, interests, wants and needs but also barriers and constraints of people for accessing and making use of and benefitting from an urban green space. To realize such a more differentiated view, the debates on green space use and on coping with social difference should be brought into a closer communication. Another topic that deserves more attention is the ambivalence of encounter in green spaces, and the factors that determine whether and to what extent encounter may end up in more cohesion or conflict. Conflict itself may be looked at also as a matter of negotiation and as an indicator and catalyst of necessary change as social conflict theory suggests already for a long time. Also here, a stronger interdisciplinary view of urban social, ecological and planning perspectives might represent a fruitful future research avenue.

In the discussion on cooperative open/green space development, perspectives of migrants or the explicit consideration of social difference play a rather second-rank role in the hitherto debate. The same is true for demands for a participation of marginalized or hitherto underrepresented people, not regarding at calls for a needed broader participation that deliberately includes diverse opinions and groups of people, multilingualism and so-called easy language for those who are not familiar e.g. with planning vocabulary. Another largely un-discovered field is the inclusion of diverse knowledges of the use of urban nature, green spaces etc. that migrants or newcomers bring with them to a new place. Little is also known about the existing resources in terms of time, interest, knowledge etc. among people who are under- or not represented in ordinary participation processes but that could be brought into co-development when considered. Here, a relation to justice questions becomes obvious as e.g. Elands et al. (2020: 216) state: “Moreover, it is crucial to consider not just diversity, but also its interaction with equity issues to ensure that benefits are equitably shared and distributed. Equity does not come automatically with urban green engagement but needs to be deliberately included as a target into planning”. In the recent debates urban green spaces, justice issues have got increasing attention (Kronenberg et al., 2020; Langemeyer & Conolly, 2020; Pineda-Pinto et al., 2021). While in social sciences, there has developed a debate that looks at the interconnections between diversity/difference and justice, such knowledge still largely waits for being “weaved” into urban green space debates on a larger scale. Justice questions, again, operate often closely together with questions of discrimination and rejection leading to exclusion as a form of injustice. At this point, the urban green space debate even touches the arenas of right-to-the-city or political ecology debates dealing with the power contexts in which urban green spaces, their development, design and use are being incorporated and depending on as well as the struggle that is being fought for equal rights to urban nature under the condition of contested, crowded or overused green spaces.