URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: THE EVOLUTION OF THE CONCEPT

Abstract

This article examines the development of the conception of environmental justice in contemporary social and philosophical research, with a focus on urban dimensions and the transformation of categories of justice in the context of the Anthropocene. Based on an analysis of twenty-one sources published in recent years, the article reconstructs key directions of theoretical thought: from postcolonial critiques of the uneven distribution of environmental risks to urban studies dedicated to “green gentrification”, infrastructural vulnerability, and the right to nature in the city. It is shown that environmental justice is ceasing to be thought of exclusively as a matter of redistributing environmental goods and is becoming a tool for rethinking the relationships between corporeality, space, and power. The author identifies several philosophical trends: an epistemological turn towards recognition, a shift from normative models to participatory practices, and the integration of ecological concerns into concepts of justice, dignity, and belonging.