Assessing Urban Social justice and equality in Turin through Nature-based Solutions: Insights from the GREEN-INC Project

This thesis explores the intersection of social justice and environmental sustainability by evaluating how Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) contribute to equity in urban contexts. Rooted in the GREEN-INC European project, funded under the Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) initiative, the research focuses on the city of Turin as a case study. While NbS are widely recognized for their environmental benefits, recent studies suggest that, if not intentionally designed to be inclusive, they can exacerbate existing socio-economic inequalities. This study responds to that concern by assessing and evaluating the impact of implemented NbS whether their benefits are equitably experienced by diverse population groups in Turin city, the research employs a survey-based methodology to assess six social indicators derived from the broader framework proposed in the article "A place-based framework for assessing the effectiveness of inclusive climate actions for nature-based solutions in cities" by Virginia Pellerey and Sara Torabi Moghadam. The selected indicators three core- Citizen Involvement in Environmental Education, Estimated Morbidity and Mortality, Proportion of Citizens Involved in Participatory Processes - and three supporting indicators - Perceived Quality of urban spaces, Proportion of Community who Volunteer and Engaged with Projects, Bridging and Bonding, - form the foundation of the assessment framework. The specific contribution of this thesis to the GREEN-INC project lies in the development and use of a methodology for assessing these six social indicators through specifically designed, bilingual (Italian-English) questionnaires completed by city dwellers of Turin. The data thus collected was processed using Python within the Google Colab environment to compare and analyze the perceptions, degrees of participation, and perceived effects of NbS intervention. This work is underpinned by a review of the literature and in-depth analysis of Turin-based case studies of NbS: City Water Circle, Orti Generali, ProGIreg Green Walls and Valdocco Vivibile. Research findings indicate that if NbS are implemented in a manner that considers the local context and involved the local community, then they have the potential to generate enhanced awareness, social participation, and perceived social value among residents. The study concludes that the integration of principles of social equity into planning for NbS maximizes environmental resilience and equitable development in cities. The findings generated offer actionable guidelines to policymakers, researchers, and urban planners on how to embed equity-based evaluation frameworks in future NbS strategy.