Campinas Turns Trash into Treasure with Bold Green Space Initiative

In Campinas, a linear parks programme has been breathing new life into forgotten spaces, turning them into thriving green areas that bring people closer to nature and each other. By Gabriel Neves

“My family has lived in this neighbourhood for over 20 years, and I never thought that this place in front of my home, which has always been an open dump, could turn into something so beautiful. It makes me want to change my life in the same way this place has changed.” – resident from a neighbourhood with high social vulnerability, who had just been released from prison and returned home.

Inauguration of “Praça do Campinho,” the first stage of the Lagoa River Linear Park @ Gabriel Neves | Campinas City Hall

Around the world, cities are confronted with urgent environmental challenges like biodiversity degradation and the impacts of extreme weather. In medium to large Latin American cities like Campinas in Brazil, inhabitants struggle with unplanned and unequal urban expansion on top of these challenges. Additionally, late economic development and the rural exodus to the city have contributed to unequal urban structures in Campinas. Nowadays, only a small part of the population has access to quality green urban spaces. Hence, the city faces severe socio-environmental and economic inequalities that need to be addressed.

Linear Parks Programme – Nature-based Solutions for Climate Justice

Even though Campinas presents a high index of green areas, these are distributed extremely irregularly across the urban territory: In 2016, 73 per cent of the neighbourhoods did not have access to a green area that combines ecological functions with social benefits. These neighbourhoods are highly socially vulnerable and suffer immensely from climate risks.

Deficit of green areas with social function, populations far away from green areas in brown. @ Municipal Green Plan | Campinas City Hall

The Linear Parks Programme aims to address this unequal access to green areas with social functions by implementing 49 of such Nature-based Solutions (NbS) throughout the city. These parks increase local resilience and promote sustainable lifestyles, both for the health and well-being of the city’s inhabitants. Moreover, they serve as spaces for leisure and sports activities and foster biodiversity through the restoration of riparian forests. These parks also provide stormwater management measures, and increase air quality and thermal comfort, all while connecting ecosystems throughout the city.

Deficit of green areas with social function after the implementation of linear parks @ Municipal Green Plan | Campinas City Hall

Social Participation and Active Listening Towards Co-design and Third Sector Partnerships

Connecting diverse stakeholders to the development process of the Linear Parks was key from the beginning. Information about socio-environmental issues in Campinas was collected through social participation workshops, public hearings, and online questionnaires.
During the development of projects and the presentation of the programme to political and civil society representatives, the co-participatory nature of the programme has been shaped. Currently, small sections of these linear parks are implemented due to the demand of counsellors and residents’ associations.

Through partnerships with the organized civil society, the city advanced in the field of joint development. This involves the elaboration of a socio-territorial diagnosis, community listening and implementation of the Lagoa River Linear Park in partnership with the local NGO FEAC. Furthermore, the basic project of the Bandeirantes River Linear Park (within the City Climate Gap Fund project) has been prepared as part of a workshop with the local community collecting their demands and dreams for the park area and a targeted workshop with a group of urban farmers.

Residents of the Vila União neighbourhood participate in the workshop for the co-creation of the Bandeirantes River Linear Park project. @ Gabriel Neves | Campinas City Hall

Public and Private Sector Joining Hands

Part of the success of this programme is based on the interface with other sectoral public policies of the local government. The connection with programmes such as the Cycle Plan, the Macro Drainage Plan, the Campinas First Childhood Programme and the Urban and Peri-Urban Gardens Programme has enabled the optimisation of public resources and transformation of these areas into living territory within communities.

As a result, the municipality is contracting basic projects for six linear parks via the Municipal Environmental Fund. Three linear parks will be implemented via national financing within the MacroDrainage Project, and half of the proposed linear parks already have some sports and leisure equipment or plant recovery through resources from the municipality budget. Three sections of linear parks have already been implemented with private resources, and the implementation of around thirty sections is already underway.

Over the last eight years, the linear parks programme has been breathing new life into forgotten spaces, turning them into thriving green areas that bring people closer to nature and each other. With a focus on community involvement, the programme unites residents, local authorities, and organisations to create spaces that reflect the community’s true needs. As these parks expand, Campinas is becoming a greener, safer, more inclusive city, proving that urban change is both possible and beautiful.