Dialogues between bioethics and global health: analysis of users and uses of urban parks as ethical indicators in the promotion of wellbeing

Abstract

Although green urban are as provide biopsychosocial benefits, insertions in stigmatized environments can generate vulnerabilities. We aimed to characterize the users and uses of the Passeio Público park in Curitiba through a quantitative survey of visitors’ perceptions and behaviors. The results show that the park is associated with emotional references, yet the identification of risks has made it be replaced by parks that are more modern. Families still visit the park, interacting with its animals, but their satisfaction prevents them from perceiving ethical issues. The conflict between the importance of the environment to the citizen and social as well as animal vulnerabilities calls for the intervention of Environmental Bioethics to mediate the dialogue with Global Health, with the aim of subsidizing the establishment of a consensual and just solution.