Presentation short abstract

In Realengo, a peripheral district of Rio de Janeiro, Parque Realengo Susana Naspolini includes interventions that resemble NbS, though not labeled as such. This study examines how they reshape power relations, governance, and environmental inequalities.

Presentation long abstract

Realengo, a district in Rio de Janeiro, is shaped by uneven urbanization, limited public investment, and socio-environmental vulnerability—conditions emblematic of contexts in the Global South. 2024 inauguration of Parque Realengo Susana Naspolini introduces an urban intervention that, although not explicitly framed as a Nature-based Solution (NbS), incorporates associated infrastructures, including sustainable drainage systems, rain gardens, bioretention swales, rainwater harvesting installations, and reforestation with native Atlantic Forest species to mitigate flooding and reduce urban heat.

A political ecology lens highlights how locally embedded green infrastructures are shaped by political-economic dynamics informing the circulation of global NbS models. Critical scholarship warns that even technically framed, environmentally beneficial interventions may reproduce power asymmetries, depoliticize structural drivers of socio-environmental harm, or introduce new modalities of territorial control—dynamics that intensify in marginalized peripheries.

Grounded in climate justice frameworks emphasizing equity, recognition, and meaningful participation, this study examines whether the park’s design and implementation align with justice-oriented principles. The case demonstrates how territorialized green interventions can enhance resilience and environmental quality in historically neglected areas, while revealing governance tensions, maintenance challenges, and green gentrification risks. These dynamics raise questions about who benefits and how these interventions may reinforce unequal ecological exchange in urban settings.

Linking the Realengo case to debates on NbS as spatial fixes and as instruments that normalize new environmental governance regimes, the presentation argues that Parque Realengo Susana Naspolini is a relevant yet contested example of urban climate adaptation. Its long-term effectiveness depends on institutional arrangements for community autonomy, transparency, accountability, and monitoring.