Towards an understanding of revanchist green urbanism

Adopting an expanded and refined version of Neil Smith's concept of revanchism, we argue that revanchism plays a central role in a range of contemporary urban conflicts, including those associated with green agendas and policies. Attempts to ‘defend privilege and regain lost territory’ underlie the exclusionary and displacing practices of green agendas that are increasingly subsumed within ecomodernist accumulation strategies. Revanchist green urbanism must be understood as a multi-dimensional arena of conflict, reflecting the reassertion of both state and capitalist authority through environmental and sustainability policies. These assertions of power and authority do not go unchallenged, however. They increasingly provoke backlashes from both the right and the left, each seeking their own forms revanchism.