ABSTRACT
The so-called ‘urban political ecology’ is basically a product of the twenty-first century, at least in the sense that sufficient research efforts and publications to gain enough visibility only emerged after 2000. ‘Gentrifying conservationism’ and ‘green evictions’ demonstrate that in the neoliberal city the access to urban nature tends to be as unequal as society itself. In the neoliberal city, the access to drinking water has been increasingly mediated by the ‘world of commodities’. The perception of a strong correlation between segregation, elitism/racism, and environmental suffering was soon established, leading to the emergence of the movement for environmental justice. The ‘common good’ discourse and environmental protection measures can be used in a way that undermines justice. Buffer zones first appeared as an environmental management tool in the United States in the 1940s, with the aim of providing additional safeguards to an area being protected environmentally.
