Okech Elizabeth Ayuma, Nyadera Israel Nyaburi
Department of Agriculture, Van Hall Larenstein, University of Applied Sciences, Leeuwarden, Netherlands.
Department of International Relations and Diplomacy, Riara University, Nairobi, Kenya.
GeoJournal. 2022;87(6):4931-4945. doi: 10.1007/s10708-021-10540-0. Epub 2021 Nov 9.
This paper seeks to examine how the perception and use of Nairobi's urban green spaces (UGS) have been impacted by the Covid- 19 pandemic. The question of how the current pandemic and the resulting government policies will affect urban green spaces has remained elusive. Similarly, the relationship between public health crises and urban green spaces has not been well integrated in the current literature. This paper identifies a nexus between government response to the Covid-19 pandemic and () sustainability of UGS. The authors further reflect on the potential role UGS could play to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic. Findings of the study show that UGS in Nairobi have not been fully exploited to provide citizens with sufficient access to green spaces yet as the pandemic has shown these spaces could significantly improve physical and mental health for the citizens as well as act as logistical areas for humanitarian activities during a pandemic. The paper therefore concludes with policy recommendations that can give rise to short and long term reforms in the provision and management of UGS.
本文旨在探讨新冠疫情如何影响了内罗毕城市绿地（UGS）的认知与使用。当前疫情以及由此产生的政府政策将如何影响城市绿地，这一问题仍不明朗。同样，公共卫生危机与城市绿地之间的关系在当前文献中尚未得到很好的整合。本文确定了政府对新冠疫情的应对与城市绿地可持续性之间的联系。作者进一步思考了城市绿地在减轻疫情负面影响方面可能发挥的潜在作用。研究结果表明，内罗毕的城市绿地尚未得到充分利用，无法为市民提供充足的绿地使用机会，然而疫情表明，这些空间可以显著改善市民的身心健康，并且在疫情期间作为人道主义活动的后勤区域。因此，本文最后提出了一些政策建议，这些建议可促成城市绿地供给与管理方面的短期和长期改革。
