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A park in the Porta Nuova district of Milan, where new green features like architect Stefano Boeri’s “Bosco Verticale” have boosted housing values nearby.  

A park in the Porta Nuova district of Milan, where new green features like architect Stefano Boeri’s “Bosco Verticale” have boosted housing values nearby.  

Photographer: Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images Europe
CityLab
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Can Cities Combat ‘Green Gentrification’?

Community displacement has emerged as an unintended cost of climate resilience efforts. Here’s how cities can boost both livability and equity. 

By
Patrick Sisson
Corrected

The good news is that cities really are focusing on getting greener. In the face of a spiraling climate crisis, local leaders across the globe have bought into the idea that cities will need to plant trees, build flood-absorbent parks, and expand car-free streets in order to remain livable.

But according to Barcelona-based researcher Isabelle Anguelovski, cities have yet to internalize the consequences of a growing divide: In city after city, she argues, new green infrastructure has brought real estate speculation, rising housing costs and community displacement.

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