Outdoor greenspace as an Urban Infrastructure of Care in Amsterdam
C.T. Schmitt (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
J.E. Goncalves – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
Tait Mandler – Mentor (Wageningen University & Research)
M.E.A. Haffner – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
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Abstract
Drawing on feminist ethics of care, and situated within an ecofeminist planning perspective, this research explores outdoor urban green space in Amsterdam as an urban infrastructure of care. Through two case studies of care space organizations and an analysis of municipal planning practices, this research investigates the embodied experiences of caregivers and the spatial and temporal burdens involved in navigating and using outdoor green spaces. The first perspective shows how care for children is organized through a municipally funded playgroup, and how this care is conducted in city playgrounds. The second perspective reflects how a privately-owned neighborhood center care for both human and more than human life.
The findings demonstrate that outdoor green spaces function as infrastructure of care not through the physical characteristics of the space alone, but through the relationships between spatial affordances, organizations, mobility networks, and the institutional and financial conditions that sustain them. The experiences of care participants reveal that accessibility extends beyond the physical boundaries of green spaces to include the journeys required to reach them, as well as the time, weather, safety, and everyday scheduling conditions that shape their use. The case studies further demonstrate how neighborhood organizations can activate existing outdoor spaces as places of care by providing social connection, purpose, flexibility, and opportunities for reciprocal participation. At the municipal level, many elements of care infrastructure are already addressed through planning for accessibility, mobility, safety, biodiversity, climate adaptation, maintenance, and participation; however, these functions remain fragmented across policies, departments, and responsibilities.
The research contributes to care-full planning by demonstrating the importance of connecting planned infrastructure with lived experiences of care. The findings suggest that planning for care requires improved coordination of existing planning priorities around these experiences of care to create the spatial, organizational, and institutional conditions that enable care to be continuously practiced, negotiated, and sustained.