ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the urban dimensions of environmental peacebuilding. The focus is on green infrastructure or how urban ecosystems can contribute to ecosystem services, such as clean water and waste management, to improve human security in cities that have been impacted by conflict. Urban green infrastructure can contribute toward peacebuilding by contributing toward solutions that improve human well-being, urban ecology, and an opportunity for groups to come together to plan these green spaces in an inclusive way. To examine this, two cities that experienced traumatic civil wars are explored – Kigali, Rwanda, and Freetown, Sierra Leone. Both cities had high in-migration rates after their conflicts, resulting in challenges with unplanned development and strained ecosystem services, ultimately eroding human security. In both cities, expansive and unplanned urban sprawl has destroyed wetlands, degraded water resources, and made many residents vulnerable to natural disasters, especially floods and landslides. Kigali has made some advances in developing a well-regarded Master Plan that prioritizes the environment and green infrastructure pilots, such as artificial wetlands. Freetown has some innovative possibilities that hold promise in improving human security through green infrastructure, such as through their tradition of grassroots-based urban agriculture.
