City Bountiful: A Century of Community Gardening in America
... Históricamente, se ha fomentado la iniciativa de los huertos urbanos debido a sus beneficios sociales y económicos, especialmente durante las crisis socioeconómicas, como las recesiones económicas y la inestabilidad sociopolítica. Por ejemplo, durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el gobierno de Estados Unidos incentivó los "Huertos de la Libertad" y los "Huertos de la Victoria", que eran huertos en jardines públicos y privados, como una forma de complementar las raciones de alimentos, reducir las tasas de desempleo, elevar la moral y el patriotismo y fortalecer la economía estadounidense (Clarke et al. 2018;Lawson 2005). De la misma manera, la actividad se incrementó durante la Gran Depresión y otras recesiones económicas (Lawson 2005;Okvat and Zauta 2011). ...
... Por ejemplo, durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el gobierno de Estados Unidos incentivó los "Huertos de la Libertad" y los "Huertos de la Victoria", que eran huertos en jardines públicos y privados, como una forma de complementar las raciones de alimentos, reducir las tasas de desempleo, elevar la moral y el patriotismo y fortalecer la economía estadounidense (Clarke et al. 2018;Lawson 2005). De la misma manera, la actividad se incrementó durante la Gran Depresión y otras recesiones económicas (Lawson 2005;Okvat and Zauta 2011). Existe evidencia de que el número de huertos urbanos sube como respuesta a crisis socioeconómicas y se reduce en tiempos de relativa seguridad económica, sin embargo, muchas comunidades de color (también llamadas racializadas) consistentemente han mantenido huertos urbanos de producción de alimentos a pesar de los cambios económicos (Valle 2021). ...
... Los huertos urbanos pueden brindar oportunidades de empleo a diversas personas en las ciudades, incluidos los agricultores urbanos y otras partes interesadas en la cadena de suministro de alimentos (Azunre et al. 2020;Lawson 2005). Por supuesto, las oportunidades de empleo en los huertos urbanos variarán según el tamaño, el propósito, la ubicación y el uso de producción de cada huerto. ...
Esta publicación destaca los potenciales beneficios de los huertos urbanos tanto para los vecindarios cercanos como para la comunidad urbana en general, así como para las comunidades periféricas y visitantes de una ciudad. Los planificadores urbanos, residentes y miembros de la comunidad encontrarán muy útil esta información tanto para planificar nuevos huertos como para mantener los ya establecidos.
... The idea of community gardening was first used in the United States (US) in the late 19th century in places like Detroit, New York, and Philadelphia, primarily as school gardens and vacant land cultivation (Birky, 2009;Lawson, 2005). Community gardening, also known as vacant lot gardens, was employed to increase the supply of affordable and accessible food during those years due to economic issues and increased migration to cities (Ohmer et al., 2009). ...
... These gardens were specifically known as War Gardens or Liberty Gardens during World War I (Kurtz, 2001), and they were used to supply food for US homes and soldiers serving overseas (Lawson, 2005). In order to support those impacted by the economic crisis and war downturn, families planted gardens in whatever available space, producing fruits and vegetables for their own consumption. ...
... However, following the Great Depression in 1929, the number of gardens grew dramatically once more to address employment and economic issues. These gardens focused on ensuring the survival of individuals or families by giving them work and enough food (Kurtz, 2001;Lawson, 2005). These gardens were referred to as "subsistence gardens" and "relief gardens" during the economically challenging time (Birky, 2009). ...
... Public gardens provide food for their communities and help establish food, financial, and health security (Draper & Freedman, 2010). Community gardens have existed in the United States since the 1890s with some suggesting the practice dates to communal lands associated with American frontier towns (Draper & Freedman, 2010;Lawson, 2005). In the 1890s, vacant lots in cities like New York, Philadelphia, and Detroit were turned into communal gardens to provide land and technical assistance to the jobless, and during this time, school gardens were rising in popularity (Lawson, 2005). ...
... Community gardens have existed in the United States since the 1890s with some suggesting the practice dates to communal lands associated with American frontier towns (Draper & Freedman, 2010;Lawson, 2005). In the 1890s, vacant lots in cities like New York, Philadelphia, and Detroit were turned into communal gardens to provide land and technical assistance to the jobless, and during this time, school gardens were rising in popularity (Lawson, 2005). Community gardens have aided in times of war (e.g. ...
... Community gardens have aided in times of war (e.g. World War I and II) and in recessions (e.g. the Great Depression in the 1930s; Lawson, 2005). ...
Climate change threatens human health, the environment, and the global economy. Extreme temperatures, intensifying droughts, and changes in rainfall patterns and growing seasons are all results of a changing climate. Adaptations to climate change will need to be implemented in the agricultural sector to ensure the longevity and sustainability of the global supply of food. Community gardens are one part of the agricultural sector that provide access to fresh and affordable foods. The purpose of this study was to determine U.S. adults' motivations for engagement and level of importance associated with climate-smart adaptations in community gardens. The study found respondents engaged in community gardens primarily for health and social reasons, and respondents assigned some level of importance to climate-smart adaptations in their community gardens. Environmental communicators should develop messaging that encourages adaptation in community gardens by emphasizing the risk of losing health or social-based benefits the gardens provide. The findings can inform effective communication strategies which encourage community gardens to prepare for climate change to ensure a sustainable supply of and access to fresh foods. Future research should explore the impact of rurality, food accessibility, and socioeconomic status on reasons for engaging in a community garden and associated level of importance related to climate-smart adaptations.
... Historically, urban gardening has been encouraged because of its social and economic benefits, especially during socio-economic downturns such as economic recessions and socio-political instability. For example, during World War II, the US government incentivized liberty gardens and victory gardens, which were public and private gardens, as a way to supplement food rations, reduce unemployment rates, boost morale and patriotism, and strengthen the US economy (Clarke et al. 2018;Lawson 2005). Likewise, gardening activity increased during the Great Depression and other economic recessions (Lawson 2005;Okvat and Zauta 2011). ...
... For example, during World War II, the US government incentivized liberty gardens and victory gardens, which were public and private gardens, as a way to supplement food rations, reduce unemployment rates, boost morale and patriotism, and strengthen the US economy (Clarke et al. 2018;Lawson 2005). Likewise, gardening activity increased during the Great Depression and other economic recessions (Lawson 2005;Okvat and Zauta 2011). There is evidence that the number of urban gardens increase in response to socio-economic crises and decline in times of relative economic security, but many Communities of Color have consistently maintained urban food-producing gardens regardless of these economic shifts (Valle 2021). ...
... Urban gardens can provide employment opportunities for various people in cities including urban farmers and other stakeholders in the food supply chain (Azunre et al. 2020;Lawson 2005). Employment opportunities in urban gardens will of course vary depending on the size, purpose, location, and production use of each garden. ...
Over 90 percent of Floridians live in urban areas. Many city dwellers are disconnected from or have limited exposure to the natural world. Urban green spaces, among them urban gardens, can provide various benefits to people and wildlife. These urban gardens provide important avenues for people to maintain their mental and physical health, reduce stress, and improve their general well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of urban green spaces. Community efforts to grapple with the evolving pandemic present an opportunity to reconsider the benefits of urban gardens This publication is intended to assist Extension agents, gardeners, garden managers, and urban planners interested in adding new gardens and supporting and promoting existing gardens in Florida’s urban communities. To that end, it lists and explains 10 major benefits urban gardens provide to ecosystems and people.
... Ve stejnou dobu zde vznikaly i vzdělávací zahrady při školách a dětská hřiště. To značí začátek zaměřování pozornosti na podobu veřejného prostoru, vzdělávání a přírodu (Lawson 2005). ...
... K místu každodenního života a zkušenosti vzniká připoutání (attachment) posilované pocitem komunity a společné identity (Anguelovski 2013). Místo bydliště je tedy formováno jak svými materiálními, tak nemateriálními vlastnostmi, a pokud jsou obytné domy zasazeny do uměle vytvořeného prostředí namísto prostředí přírodního, stává se takovým i sociální život (Bachelard in Cooper 2006;Gehl 2000;Lawson 2005). ...
... (Hou -Johnson -Lawson 2009;Howe -Wheeler 1999;Kortright -Wakefield 2011;Lawson 2005;Okvat -Zautra 2011). ...
This paper empirically examines the role of community in the community gardens of Prague. The goal is to determine whether the community is truly established, and whether it influences the public space. The case study of community gardens in Prague was conducted using the methods of semi-structured interviews and participant observations. Since community gardens are on the rise as bottom-up initiatives which react to the degree of individualisation in the city, they could be comprehended also as an activation of civic society. Although community gardens mutually differ, every one of them influences their geographic and social space to some extent. Regardless the way they are organised, there is a developed in-group sense among the gardeners which confirms the existence of community. The fact that community gardens seek to develop the space they are located in and that they engage in activities with local entrepreneurs and civic associations, but also that they associate people with an interest in gardening who would have not met without the existence of community gardens, leads to the conclusion that they develop space-based communities as well as interest-based ones.
... In the United States, community gardening began to take shape mainly by cultivating vacant lots and establishing school gardens during the late 19th century, particularly in urban areas like Detroit, New York, and Philadelphia (Kordon, 2022;Lawson, 2005). During the economically challenging period, rising urban migration and economic difficulties heightened the need for affordable and accessible food (Birky & Strom, 2013). ...
... These gardens helped alleviate economic hardships and food shortages during the war, supplying households with food (Hanna & Oh, 2000;Lawson, 2005). Over 5 million people took part in this gardening initiative, utilizing any available space to grow fruits and vegetables for their own use and to assist those impacted by the economic crisis and the war (Kordon, 2022;Lawson, 2005). ...
... These gardens helped alleviate economic hardships and food shortages during the war, supplying households with food (Hanna & Oh, 2000;Lawson, 2005). Over 5 million people took part in this gardening initiative, utilizing any available space to grow fruits and vegetables for their own use and to assist those impacted by the economic crisis and the war (Kordon, 2022;Lawson, 2005). As a result, this gardening movement was seen as both a food initiative and a national act of patriotism (Kurtz, 2001). ...
... Some cities' urban agriculture support functions are based more in the public sector, others more in the nonprofit sector. Cities' core institutions supporting community gardens and farms vary in their missions, scope of work, and the durability and funding streams of municipal and nonprofit programs (Lawson 2005;Lawson and McNally 1999;Vitiello and Nairn 2009). Municipalities and civil society also manage land access and tenure for urban agriculture in distinct ways. ...
... Municipalities and civil society also manage land access and tenure for urban agriculture in distinct ways. Access and tenure are key determining factors in how much a city's urban agriculture system operates as a public good, and how much it promotes equity and justice in people's control over land and food production (Drake and Lawson 2014;Ela and Rosenberg 2017;Lawson 2005). ...
... In subsequent scholarship, landscape architect and planner Laura Lawson and her colleagues have further exposed the rifts in values and goals between different interests and actors in community gardening, farming, and redevelopment of vacant land. Lawson (2005) points up the long history of city governments, elite-led nonprofits, and philanthropists supporting urban agriculture largely in times of crisis, while their commitments have waned at other times. Meanwhile, disadvantaged and especially migrant communities from rural origins have engaged in urban gardening and farming more continuously, where and when they can. ...
Cities in the United States have developed urban agriculture support systems with different priorities. These reflect the often-competing values ascribed and inscribed in cities’ urban farming and gardening landscapes. The institutional structures of U.S. cities’ urban agriculture support systems vary accordingly, with significant impacts and implications for equity and justice. Some treat farming and gardening as a public good, public space, valued for their community-building, environmental, public health, and other social benefits. Others have sought to extract more economic and redevelopment gains from urban agriculture. These represent divergent, often-opposing theories of what urban agriculture can yield, and what it should be.
In his early work on urban agriculture, Jerry Kaufman explored its community and economic development potential, raising questions with which planners continue to grapple. This chapter reflects on the evolution of urban agriculture planning, policy, and practice in two cities he studied intensively, Chicago and Philadelphia. It asks: How have different actors and institutions valued urban agriculture? How have those values manifested in practice? What goals and impacts can U.S. cities reasonably ask of urban farming and gardening? And how might planners and cities develop urban agriculture policies and support systems that promote greater equity and justice?
... This permaculture garden was designed to promote holistic living in harmony with the natural world and in alignment with Islamic principles and teachings. (Lawson 2005, as cited in Borrelli 2008Guitart et al. 2014). Most of these gardens are formed in neighborhoods, but some are also found in schools, public housing grounds, or mental health and rehabilitation facilities (Schukoske 2000, as cited in Borrelli 2008Guitart et al. 2014). ...
... Most of these gardens are formed in neighborhoods, but some are also found in schools, public housing grounds, or mental health and rehabilitation facilities (Schukoske 2000, as cited in Borrelli 2008Guitart et al. 2014). Ownership models can also vary for community gardens, as these gardens can be established on private or public land and be owned by a private entity, the public, an institution, or non-governmental organization (Schukoske 2000and Lawson 2005, as cited in Borrelli 2008Eizenberg 2012). In most community gardens, urban residents collectively determine the purpose, design, and usage of these gardens. ...
... Community gardens can provide numerous benefits for urban residents, particularly in low-income, under-privileged, and ethnic-minority neighborhoods that previously did not have access to trees, parks, and open green spaces.17 Community gardens are praised for greening and beautifying urban spaces and for exposing urban residents to nature and environmental education (Lawson 2005, as cited in Borrelli 2008. They can also play a role in enhancing the social, physical and mental wellbeing of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, including refugees, as they allow a connection to form between people and places that can enhance feelings of belonging to a particular community, while also strengthening personal identity (Abramovic et al. 2019;Kingsley and Townsend 2006;Parr 2007;Hawkins et al. 2013;Pitt 2014). ...
Much of the literature on “Islamic gardens” focuses on artistic and architectural features or religious symbolism attributed to the influence of Islamic beliefs and civilization. This study seeks to expand the scope of intellectual inquiry beyond traditional motifs and recurrent features to investigate the potential influence of Islamic ethical values on creating gardens. Following a brief overview of the history of “Islamic gardens” and a short survey of Qurʾānic terms denoting earthly and paradisiacal gardens, this research highlights theological and ethical principles derived from four Qurʾānic narratives featuring earthly gardens, natural landscapes and non-human creation. These principles are, then, incorporated into a holistic ethical framework for creating gardens that harmonizes theocentric, anthropocentric, and ecocentric priorities. This framework prioritizes faithfulness to God while upholding both serving humanity and safeguarding natural habitats and ecosystems as ethical imperatives and mutually reinforcing investments with spiritual consequences in this life and the hereafter. This study also presents several garden models (particularly botanic gardens and community gardens) considered suitable for adopting and applying the proposed tripartite framework. The last section of this study explores how Islamic institutions, including mosques and charitable organizations, can utilize the tripartite framework to create gardens and green spaces that contribute to fulfilling a range of spiritual, social and environmental objectives.
... Hanna and Oh (2000) reported that opportunities to grow food in city-owned vacant lots were provided to poor residents in the United States in the late 1800s. Lawson (2005) reported that the "Victory Garden" campaign was held during World War II, in which the Secretary of Agriculture set a key national goal for the number of gardens each year, and that the Victory Gardens provided 40% of the US vegetable supply. Clarke et al. (2019) insisted that community gardens should be a priority component of green infrastructure to improve the adaptation to climate change and that they should be explicitly included in policies addressing climate change. ...
... World War II, Chicago in the United States led urban food production, with more than 1,500 community gardens and 250,000 home gardens, and served as a model for "Victory Gardens" programs in other cities (Lawson, 2005). Urban gardens in New York have become the object of competi-tion between community groups and developers over the past decades due to gentrification and high housing demand (Schmelzkopf, 1995;Schmelzkopf, 2002), whereas in Baltimore, which is considered a shrinking city, large vacant lots have been converted into green spaces such as parks and community gardens . ...
Background and objective: The scales of urban agriculture need to be assessed and rescaled to implement or achieve its multidimensional functions and values in South Korea. Significant scales and narratives were assessed and rescaled with narratives described in the laws and literatures.Methods: Narratives created from 1980 to 2022 were collected. The definition of urban agriculture, the difference between farmers and urban farmers, and the spatial scales of rural and urban areas were assessed using the scales and narratives in the related laws, plans, research papers, etc. In addition, the multidimensional functions and values that urban agriculture aims for were analyzed.Results: Under domestic laws, urban agriculture is defined as cultivating crops, trees, or flowers, or raising insects within a city for hobby, leisure, study, or experience purposes. Farmers and urban farmers are distinguished based on the purpose of the activity or on whether the agricultural activities are carried out as economic activities. The spatial scale of urban areas where urban agriculture is practiced is not limited to specific administrative districts. The literature defines urban agriculture as all agricultural activities in and around cities and spaces with urban contexts and includes the secondary and tertiary industries. Participants in urban agriculture are the public who participate or want to participate in urban agriculture. The spatial scale of urban agriculture includes urban areas, areas connected to urban areas, and areas in which urban and rural contexts are hybridized. The function and value of urban agriculture have been further expanded compared to the past.Conclusion: The narratives for the re-scale framing of urban agriculture are as follows: urban agriculture is agricultural production activities carried out by the public in urban agricultural spaces, spaces linked to urban agriculture, or spaces with the context of urban agriculture to implement or achieve multi-dimensional functions and values of urban agriculture. In future, it will also include the secondary and tertiary agricultural industries related to urban agriculture.
... For over a century, on both sides of the Atlantic, urban gardening in the Western world has been a complex socio-natural phenomenon that, on the one hand, responded to social changes and upheavals such as rapid urbanization or wars (Lawson 2005). On the other hand, urban gardening was itself a motor of social change and a laboratory for testing the new ways of urban living, civic engagement, empowerment, and community building (von Hassell 2002;Nettle 2014). ...
... Among these lines of criticism, we found one argument that resonates with our ethnographic material most soundly. It suggests that many problems community gardens face result predominantly from the fact that they are treated by policymakers and gardeners alike as "means to an end" (Lawson 2005;Drake and Lawson 2014), and thus their natural and pragmatic features are undervalued, backgrounded, or ignored. In response to this criticism, we propose to focus on a particular community garden as a natural and material (pragmatic) reality. ...
Urban gardening plays a major role in how sustainable futures are imagined and envisaged, but the focus on its innovative potential tends to obscure the diverging logics at play. We draw upon ethnographic fieldwork at the community garden Onkraj gradbišča in Ljubljana, which was conceptualized primarily as a social and cultural innovation. Yet, it continuously called for maintenance and care practices in which the organizers and the gardeners had to engage to make it last. We argue that maintenance labor is crucial for sustainable urban future-making practices.
... In Also, during times of crisis, such as World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II, ensuring food security became paramount. Victory Gardens gained popularity during these periods as a grassroots movement to promote self-sufficiency and increase food availability While community gardens experienced a decline and repurposing of their properties in the post-World War II era of economic recovery, they saw a resurgence in the 1960s and 1970s due to grassroots organizing efforts (Lawson 2005). In recent years, community gardens have gained popularity again as a response to the economic crisis, the housing market collapse in the 2000s, and a growing desire among Americans to live healthier and more environmentally responsible lives (Lawson 2005). ...
... Victory Gardens gained popularity during these periods as a grassroots movement to promote self-sufficiency and increase food availability While community gardens experienced a decline and repurposing of their properties in the post-World War II era of economic recovery, they saw a resurgence in the 1960s and 1970s due to grassroots organizing efforts (Lawson 2005). In recent years, community gardens have gained popularity again as a response to the economic crisis, the housing market collapse in the 2000s, and a growing desire among Americans to live healthier and more environmentally responsible lives (Lawson 2005). The revival of community gardens allows individuals to have a partial divestment from the conventional American food system. ...
The study explored how community gardens contribute to addressing food insecurity at New Mexico State University. The researcher premised the study on three research questions which sought the views of the participants on the role of international and domestic students in the community garden, how New Mexico State University’s role as MSI/HSI/Land Grant institution influences the community garden on campus, and how the New Mexico State University Community Garden may help in addressing food insecurity issues. The research employed an exploratory research design, utilizing a qualitative approach. Data collection involved conducting semi-structured interviews with twenty (20) participants, enabling the capture of their unique perspectives and insights relevant to the study. The thematic approach was used in analyzing the data. The study’s findings revealed that both domestic and international students bring diverse ideas to harness the growth and development of gardening activities in the garden. Also, MSI/HSI/Land Grant institution does not influence community gardening activities at NMSU. The Seidel Engineering Leadership team from the College of Engineering provided logistical support to the NMSU Community Garden, managing supplies and equipment. Simultaneously, the Art Department offered training sessions to volunteers, equipping them with gardening knowledge and skills. Finally, the NMSU Community Garden does not have a significant impact in addressing food insecurity. Future research can delve into various aspects to enhance the effectiveness of community gardening activities at NMSU. One avenue is to investigate the optimal structure of a garden office, exploring its organization and operations. Additionally, examining successful educational programs from other institutions can provide valuable insights that can be applied at NMSU. Moreover, exploring the potential partnerships between community gardens and community organizations can shed light on effective collaboration strategies. By conducting research in these areas, we can gain valuable knowledge to improve the outcomes of community gardening initiatives at NMSU. It is further proposed that the Central Administration at NMSU work with the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences to formalize the garden as an NMSU supported activity and then invite the NMSU community to be more involved.
... Myriad examples draw attention to gardening as both a top-down and grassroots response to the devastations of war or natural disasters and as a defiant expression of hope, empowerment, and resilience in the face of adversity (Lawson, 2005;Birky, 2009;Okvat and Zautra, 2014;Helphand, 2014;Gripper et al., 2022). During the two World Wars and the 1930s Great Depression, governments promoted gardening campaigns as a strategy for self-provision (Bassett, 1981;Gaynor, 2006;Ginn, 2012;Smith, 2013;Herrmann, 2015). ...
... Similarly, the demise of the Soviet Union and the difficult socio-economic transformation of the early 1990s mobilized an increase in successful organic practices and urban food growing in Cuba and some Eastern European countries (Altieri et al., 1999;Novo and Murphy, 2000;Caskie, 2000). During the economic recession of the 1970s, the organized resurgence of community gardeners in New York City illustrates the vital role of edible gardens for food provisioning, social capital, and the reclamation of disused urban land in low-income neighborhoods as an act of community empowerment (Lawson, 2005). In 2008, the global financial crisis led to a spike in requests for allotment garden spots, not only for food provisioning, but also for reducing stress and enhancing social relationships and ecological connectedness (Cohen, 2016;Schoen et al., 2021). ...
There is a significant amount of evidence highlighting the health, wellbeing and social benefits of gardening during previous periods of crises. These benefits were also evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper presents a narrative review exploring gardening during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic to understand the different forms of gardening that took place during this crisis and key elements of this activity. Research about gardening during the pandemic focused on food (in)security and disrupted food systems, the health and wellbeing benefits of gardening, and the social dimensions of gardening. We offer three vignettes of our own research to highlight key insights from local, national and international perspectives of gardening during the pandemic. The paper’s conclusion outlines how researchers, policy makers and public health practitioners can harness what has been learned from gardening during the pandemic to ensure these benefits are more widely available and do not exacerbate already entrenched health inequalities in society.
... Community gardens appeared in the 19 th century as a response to urbanization processes, which began to spread worldwide parallel to the growth of industrial cities (Lawson, 2005). A community garden is an urban, suburban or rural plot of land that a group of people cultivate together: they grow flowers, vegetables or fruits (Walter, 2012). ...
The question how to revitalise and start to rebuild social relations in an integrated way in an ever-changing urban context is an increasingly timely question. To ensure that individuals do not live alienated and isolated, but socially embedded and organised in communities is a priority. Secondly, to promote their economic well-being, and thirdly, to promote adaptation to environmental challenges are also key goals among those who care about the future. This holistic approach is represented by the Budapest Bike Maffia, a grassroots initiative in the capital city, who use social gardening as a tool to make the relationship between vulnerable groups and their environment more sustainable. In the context of urban agriculture, they are not only building seedlings, but also trust and a network of relationships between the members of the society.
... After the First World War, urban agriculture has been practiced in different places and named as war gardens, victory gardens, and liberty gardens (Bentley, 1998). The United States produced fresh food in urban gardens during Second World War (Andreatta, 2015;Lawson, 2005) cultivated nor greened for many years, even though insufficient food grain supply was from smallholder farmers in rural areas of Ethiopia (Wilson, 2020). However, after the devastating war launched on November 4, 2020, between the Federal Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray regional state authority (Annys et al., 2021;Clark, 2021;Nyssen et al., 2023), Tigray fell under a complete siege. ...
Urban agriculture is fundamental to attaining sustainable development goals in rapidly growing and expanding urban areas. Urban open spaces such as parks, balconies, community gardens, vacant lots, and rooftops can create a breeding ground for urban agricultural practices. Most of the open spaces available in Mekelle city in Ethiopia are land left for leasing in the future and green areas. Despite the limitation on food grain supply, these open spaces were not used to their maximum potential for crop production before the Tigray siege. After the siege began, the available open spaces were cultivated. However, the area of the open spaces added for cultivation and their contribution to crop production have not been studied and documented. Thus, assessing open spaces in the city and their crop production potential remains crucial. Remote sensing and a household survey were employed to collect the necessary data in this study. Urban open space cultivated after the Tigray siege was estimated using image change detection. The contribution of the open spaces to crop production was calculated and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The available open spaces in Mekelle city contributed 2687 ha of newly cultivated land, producing 3825 tonnes of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and 880 tonnes of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) grain. Therefore, utilizing the maximum potential of available open spaces for urban agriculture produces considerable food crops to minimize food shortage.
... Historically, urban gardens have helped to fight food crises caused by environmental and social factors (Barthel & Isendahl, 2013;Keshavarz & Bell, 2016;Lawson, 2005) and enhance urban resilience (Barthel & Isendahl, 2013). The COVID-19 pandemic has also led to the establishment or strengthening of urban gardening and food supply systems that incorporate community gardens (Bruckner & Dasaro, 2022;Murdad et al., 2022). ...
Numerous studies underscore the role of community gardens in sustaining food security, physical and mental health, and social networks during the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to community resilience in different contexts of each country. Despite the rich history of urban gardening, Japan remains a geographical gap. This study conducted a mixed-method case study in suburban Tokyo and addresses the unique response of community gardeners to the pandemic within the Japanese context. The survey revealed that gardeners proactively established rules to navigate the crisis quickly through discussion and sustained their gardening activities. The findings also showed that their continuing activities helped the gardeners maintaining physical and mental health, and notably keeping their ikigai, sense of purpose in life in the unusual days. Thus, this study provided new evidence that community gardens may contribute to urban resilience, which indicates the significance of incorporating them into urban green space planning as a preparatory measure for future social crises.
... A közösségi kertek megjelenése a XIX. századra tehető az urbanizációs folyamatokra adott egyfajta válaszként, amely az ipari városok növekedésével párhuzamosan kezdett el terjedni világszerte (Lawson, 2005). A közösségi kert olyan városi, külvárosi vagy vidéki földterület, ahol emberek egy csoportja közösen kertészkedik, virágot, zöldséget vagy gyümölcsöt termeszt (Walter, 2012). ...
Egyre időszerűbb kérdéssé válik, hogy miként lehet revitalizálni, valamint a folyamatosan változó városi körülmények között integráltan elkezdeni újraépíteni a társas viszonyokat. Elsősorban azért, hogy az egyének ne elidegenedve és izoláltan, hanem társadalmilag beágyazottan, közösségbe szerveződve éljenek. Másodsorban gazdasági boldogulásuk, harmadsorban pedig a környezeti kihívásokhoz történő adaptáció előmozdítása érdekében. Ezt a holisztikus megközelítést képviseli a fővárosi, alulról jövő kezdeményezésként indult szervezet, vagyis a Budapest Bike Maffia, akik a szociális kertművelést mint eszközt használják a sérülékeny csoportok, illetve környezetük kapcsolatának fenntarthatóbbá tételére. A városi mezőgazdálkodás apropóján nemcsak veteményeseket, de bizalmat és kapcsolati hálót is építenek a társadalom tagjai között.
... Kent bahçelerinin ilk büyük dalgası genellikle sanayileşme ve bunun sonucunda ortaya çıkan kırsal göç ve kentleşme olgusuyla ilişkilendirilir (Groening, 1996). İkinci büyük dalgası yirminci yüzyılda kent bahçeciliği, savaş veya ekonomik durgunluk zamanlarında gıda üretimini tamamlamayı amaçlarken (Lawson, 2005;Crouch ve Ward, 1988) üçüncü büyük dalgası olan günümüzde ise kent bahçeçiliği sürdürülebilirlik odaklı farklı amaçlara hizmet etmektedir. ...
Tarım dışı üretimin, sera gazı emisyonlarının, atık üretiminin ve küresel kaynak kullanımının yoğunlaştığı yerler olan kentler günümüzde çevresel, ekonomik, sosyal birçok sorunla karşı karşıyadır. Bu sorunların üstesinden gelmek ve daha “sürdürülebilir kentler” yaratmak için kent yöneticileri çeşitli stratejilere başvurmaktadır. Son yıllarda “kent bahçeciliği uygulamaları” bu stratejilerden biri olarak görülmektedir. sürdürülebilir gıda tedariki sağlamak, kent estetiğine katkı sunmak, yeşil altyapıyı dirençli hale getirmek, sosyal bağları güçlendirmek, karbon ayakizini azaltmak, yaşam kalitesini yükseltmek ve vatandaş katılımını teşvik etmek gibi katkılarından dolayı kent bahçeleri çeşitli ölçekler ve türlerde uygulanmaktadır. Bu uygulamalara, kent yöneticilerinin yanında vatandaşlarda bazen bireysel veya bazen de kolektif olarak uygulamalarla katılım sağlayacak katkılar sunmaktadır. Çalışmanın amacı, kent bahçeciliği uygulamalarını kapsamlı olarak irdeleyerek sürdürülebilir kent politikalarını ekseninde değerlendirmeler yapmaktır. Çalışmada nitel araştırma desenlerinden olan biri olan açıklayıcı vaka çalışması kullanılmıştır. Kent bahçeciliği uygulamaları, Sürdürülebilir Kalkınma Hedeflerinden olan Açlığa Son; Sürdürülebilir Şehirler ve Topluluklar; Sorumlu Üretim ve Tüketim ve Karasal Yaşam maddeleri ile doğrudan uyumludur ve sürdürülebilir kent politikalarını desteklemektedir.
... Studies show that greater residential densities harm the quantity and quality of our cities' public realm (Murphy et al., 2022;Lin et al., 2015). Urban agriculture's long history as a tool for social justice, empowerment, community redevelopment, and reparation continues to be alive and thrive in many contemporary urban agriculture sites, particularly those in marginalized communities (Lawson, 2005). Urban agriculture is expanding into place and culturally-informed practices that restore and construct identities, celebrate diversity, and serve as arenas for the practice of democratic life (Hou, 2017). ...
This chapter reflects on the educational experiences connected to the Cultivating Public Space project. From the onset, the project sought to engage students in creating a toolbox for urban agriculture in public space. Within the classroom, students translated the research findings, activities, and knowledge co-produced by the project partners into sustainable development and urban regeneration strategies based on urban agriculture communities and fully activate its potential as an engine of community cohesion and integration. This required thinking of urban agriculture as more than a collection of objects—boxes, toolsheds, and paths—but as holistic multifunctional landscapes designed to cultivate biophilia, food justice, public health, and community identity. It also demanded celebrating the uniqueness of each context and building upon each locale’s distinctiveness to co-create new visions exemplified as personal and collective stories of adaptation and transformations for all community members. The chapter ends with reflections on a few emergent principles inspired by the partnership between students and the communities to guide future urban agriculture research and practice.
... Urban agriculture is intertwined with the socio-political history of US cities (Lawson 2005), not unlike the practice of urban planning itself. Even before the Civil War era (1861-1865), people in cities raised crops and animals for human consumption. ...
Urban agriculture initiatives have rekindled the imagination of city residents and advocates across the United States for various reasons. Enthusiasts use UA as a source of material benefits – such as food and green infrastructure – while others use UA as a lever for social transformation in cities. UA is not without complications: Information asymmetry and elite capture within US cities limit its potential. Given these contradictions, how does one plan for equitable urban agriculture in US cities? This chapter, which introduces a collection of writings in honor of Jerome L. Kaufman, the father of food systems planning, attempts to answer this question. The overall volume explores the opportunities and quandaries in addressing questions of equity in the research, pedagogy, and practice of planning for urban agriculture.
... Furthermore, arguing for the governance of UFCs through local community organizations (nonprofits or community boards) potentially downplays how the decisions and rules of nonlocal actors impact local decisions over time. For instance, Congress and the USDA defunded the Penn State Urban Gardening Program in 1996, which reminds us of how certain state or federal decisions, such as about funding, can be vital to the success or failure of urban farm projects (Lawson 2005;Reynolds 2011). In fact, Kaufman and Bailkey (2000) commented on this issue when discussing how, across their case studies, state and federal actors were impeding UA: Any state's perception of agriculture solely as a rural activity, if not prohibiting the direct marketing of urban-grown food, can affect the regulations governing such sales. ...
This chapter uses polycentric governance as a lens for examining alternative governance visions for urban agriculture, or what I refer to as the urban food commons (UFCs). I draw ideas from the political and institutional economics of Vincent and Elinor Ostrom to discuss why UFCs cannot be governed through a one-size-fits-all institutional arrangement. I interlace my conceptual arguments with empirical examples, including examples from Kaufman and Bailkey’s classic work. Governing UFCs effectively, I argue, requires a mix of institutional arrangements involving centralized, decentralized, competitive market, cooperative, and command-and-control governance models. A polycentric governance vision moves us closer to building such diverse institutional arrangements to manage undesired outcomes, including the capacity to effectively internalize spillover effects from UFCs. I delineate four institutional design parameters (IDPs) to guide the design and evaluation of a polycentric governance vision for UFCs: (1) multiple decision centers (or actors) that can make decisions about UFCs, (2) opportunities for cross-scale and cross-sector interactions among UFC actors, (3) an overarching system of rules to guide decisions and interactions, and (4) adaptability of the rules to align with actors’ incentives and decisions emanating from the rules. I use Chicago’s nonprofit urban land trust NeighborSpace to illustrate how these IDPs manifest empirically.
... The exodus of food production from cities is an incomplete history of urban agriculture in the U.S. The unabridged version of this history includes how urban agriculture has been redeployed intermittently since at least the late-1800s as a form of "crisis" management throughout periods of major national and global crises -including, but not limited to, Pingree's Potato Patches during the 1890s depression, the Liberty Gardens of World War I, and the Victory Gardens of World War II (Basset 1979;Delind 2015;Draper and Freedman 2010;Lawson 2005;McClintock and Cooper 2010;Vitiello and Brinkley 2013). Over the last century, urban agriculture programs have served as stopgap measures to mitigate food shortages caused -y las narrativas sobre agricultura urbana que ha contribuido a catalizar y mantener-nos dice sobre cómo actuar como defensores e investigadores de los sistemas alimentarios. ...
... 8). Por otro lado, han surgido movimientos sociales en los últimos años impulsados por organizaciones de base y de académicos comprometidos con la gestión de la sustentabilidad alimentaria que propician, a partir del activismo y de la actividad académica, procesos de transformación social, de empoderamiento y de participación social en las comunidades rurales y urbanas (Firth, Maye y Pearson, 2011;Ghose y Pettygrove, 2014;Ibarra, Caviedes, Barreau y Pessa, 2019;Lawson, 2005;Nettle, 2014;Paladino et al., 2020). ...
Objetivo: analizar el empoderamiento de las mujeres y la sustentabilidad alimentaria en dos huertos comunitarios de Mérida, ubicados en el fraccionamiento Las Américas, y en un huerto en Dzityá, que estuvo a cargo de mujeres entre 2018 y 2021. Metodología: el estudio es cualitativo y consistió en observación participante y entrevistas semiestructuradas. Resultados: el empoderamiento personal y los conocimientos formales en torno a la producción agroecológica son las principales fortalezas de los huertos del fraccionamiento Las Américas. En Dzityá, el huerto estuvo sujeto a la aprobación de los hombres de la comunidad maya. Valor: la presente investigación proporciona información útil al estudio del empoderamiento espacial de las mujeres en relación con la sustentabilidad alimentaria. Limitaciones: debido a que la población fue flotante en los huertos, no se pudo entrevistar a todas las personas que participaron en los proyectos. Conclusiones: el empoderamiento personal fue la base del empoderamiento colectivo en ambas iniciativas.
... These gardens have come to be recognized as vital components of urban revitalization efforts. The focus primarily centers on urban design modifications that create open green spaces and foster community development (Lawson, 2005). As integral parts of the food movement, which is a social movement that addresses food safety and the prevention of food-borne illnesses, community gardens have experienced substantial growth in both number and scope (Levkoe, 2006). ...
Community gardens offer valuable educational and social benefits, contributing to
enhanced environmental learning and community building. To expand these opportunities and support community gardens’ objectives, we emphasize the necessity of establishing specific structures that facilitate gardeners’ practices. Investigating a Korean community as a case study, we identify the ways in which certain structures afford and limit learning opportunities and community building, shedding light on the role structures can play in the field of the community garden. Our analysis illustrates the importance of understanding the dynamic relationship between gardening practices and supporting structures. By doing so, garden participants and policymakers can more intentionally activate opportunities to learn about the environment and to build community. Our research aims to examine structures that afford and limit practices as a means of providing a valuable lens to guide community gardening program designers and policymakers in achieving the goals of promoting environmental learning and community building.
... The emergence of the international community gardening movement, starting in the 1970s, coincided with growing environmental concerns, economic pressures such as rising food and gas prices, and challenges associated with migration (Lawson 2005;Malberg Dyg et al. 2020). In addition to acute and highly visible crises, people living in neighborhoods subject to disinvestment experience ongoing "crises of abandonment and discrimination" (Kato et al. 2014(Kato et al. , 1834 and have utilized gardening to revitalize their communities and address inequities (Budowle et al. 2019;Gripper et al. 2022;White 2011). ...
Gardening offers a range of benefits, from food production to social connection to improved mental and physical health. When COVID-19 struck, interest in gardening soared, but it was unclear whether and how gardens would deliver these benefits in the midst of a global pandemic. We analyzed survey responses from 603 home and community gardeners across California, collected between June and August 2020, to assess trends in pandemic gardening. Gardeners highlighted the importance of gardens as therapeutic spaces where they could escape the stress of the pandemic, and as safe outdoor places for socializing. The study also revealed people's concerns about food supply, along with an accompanying interest in growing their own food to increase food security and self-sufficiency. The pandemic posed challenges for home gardeners, though, with 62% struggling to access gardening supplies. These findings suggest the importance of providing garden space, resources, and support, especially to those populations with the least access to green space, so that gardens can serve as resources to improve community health, food security, and resiliency during future disasters.
... This is part of the phenomenology of gardening (O'Brien, 2013), like the touch of soil and the plants, appreciating the aesthetic landscape, the sense of harmony and natural beauty. As I understand, the community garden (Lawson, 2005;Nettle, 2014) is a unique, highly complex, multilevel ecosystem. First, actually a vacant lot in the downtown area, consists of dozens of miniature gardens, small plots which are themselves contain complex ecosystems of different plants (e. g. tomato, cucumber, paprika, flowers, rosemary and other spice plants), usually in a well-designed and controlled way. ...
In this paper I introduce my new project in philosophical practice and community philosophy called garden philosophy or philosophy in the garden. In many senses, this is very similar to the usual philosophical café, but organized in a community garden, in this case at downtown Budapest. The garden, and especially an urban community garden, as a complex multispecies community, provides not only a good environment for philosophical conversations, but a strong philosophical foundation, a metaphysics of community philosophy practices, a model and a metaphor, based on the interconnectedness of minds. The garden philosophy, a modern version of Epicurus’ philosophical practice, thus connects new insights on the world of plants, the entanglements of various life forms, community philosophy and the long tradition of philosophy as a way of life.
... Over the following decades, urban gardens attracted interest from apartment dwellers, counterculture hippies, and immigrant communities which included the growing number of Hmong refugees (Wascoe, 1981). By the 1990s, Minneapolis ranked second nationally in community gardens per capita (Lawson, 2005). By 2016, there were 295 community gardens and urban farms on public or private land in Minneapolis (Homegrown Minneapolis, 2017). ...
Surging interest in urban agriculture has prompted cities across North America to adopt policies that give gardeners access to publicly owned land. However, if not carefully designed, these policies can exacerbate existing racial inequities. Drawing on theories of urban and environmental justice, we use a contextualized case comparison to explore the radical potential and practical constraints of garden land policies at two distinct institutions: the City of Minneapolis and the independently elected Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. Based on participant observation, document review, and interviews with a range of policy actors, we argue that what appear to be minor, common-sense policy details systematically shape who benefits from the garden land policies, sometimes in surprising ways. Compared to the City, the Park Board goes substantially further in addressing racial equity. Furthermore, though both cases included public participation, we argue that the more intensive participation during the Park Board policy development process—particularly in determining the details—was pivotal in crafting a policy that reduced barriers to racial equity. The present study contributes to the growing scholarship on urban agriculture and environmental governance and offers concrete insights for actors working toward more just policies.
... For example, in the late 1890s, the United States experienced a wave of urban crises due to mass immigration, urbanization, and environmental degradation, leading to the emergence of the community garden movement. It further expanded during World War I and the Great Depression [18]. In the early 1990s, as the political transformation in socialist countries caused a severe economic decline and food crisis in Cuba, nationally widespread urban gardens stabilized food supply. ...
This article considers the development process of Jiuzhuang Community Garden in Taipei City to analyze the practice of community gardens and their relevance to urban health and human well-being. Previous studies have highlighted the contributions of community gardens in areas such as food supply, climate adaptation, local culture, and social interaction. Using qualitative methods, such as participatory observation, focus group discussions, and semi-structured interviews, this study demonstrates the co-beneficial relationships between various factors and the synergetic effects they bring to physical and mental health. By adopting a perspective that incorporates social infrastructure and the Satoyama Initiative, this research interprets how community gardens can support and develop place-based health concepts and respond to urban complexity. It demonstrates the pathway to enhancing urban health through interventions in urban spaces, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the examination of a community garden case, this study explores the potential connections between SDG 3 and SDG 11, emphasizing the role of green space provision, place identity, and participatory management in enhancing physical and mental well-being. This study also indicates the necessity of integrating the perspectives of public health and urban planning in addressing urban health issues. This integration is essential to shift away from a disease- and mortality-centered approach and towards a health paradigm centered on lifestyle and social interactions.
... Community gardens in the form green innovation exhibiting different types of management offer an opportunity for innovation in green space governance with innovative solutions to individuals, business, communities, etc. These different types of management are formed by local government, private organizations, health centers, schools, an organized group of gardeners, etc. (Lawson, 2005;Hou et al, 2009) [28,28] . Urban green innovation can be steered toward an opportunity for sustainable knowledge, practices, institutions and solutions. ...
The journey toward a more sustainable and equitable world has become increasingly urgent as the ecological and social costs of endless economic growth become impossible to ignore. "Degrowth: From Theories to Practices and Policy Proposals" serves as a timely and critical exploration of an emerging paradigm that challenges the conventional wisdom of growth-centric economic models. This book offers a comprehensive examination of degrowth, tracing its evolution from theoretical foundations to practical applications, and presenting policy proposals that can guide societies toward a future that prioritizes well-being, equity, and ecological balance.
The six chapters of this book take the reader on a systematic exploration of degrowth, beginning with an introduction to its key concepts and historical context, followed by a deep dive into the diverse theoretical frameworks that support the degrowth movement. The transition from theory to practice is meticulously documented, showcasing real-world examples and case studies that illustrate the potential of degrowth principles in various sectors. The policy proposals presented in this book are not only a response to the challenges identified but also a roadmap for achieving the systemic change needed to overcome these challenges.
As the world stands at a crossroads, with the consequences of unsustainable growth becoming more apparent, the need for alternative approaches to development has never been greater. This book aims to contribute to the growing discourse on degrowth by providing scholars, practitioners, and policymakers with a robust foundation to understand, critique, and implement degrowth principles in diverse contexts.
"Degrowth: From Theories to Practices and Policy Proposals" is not just a collection of ideas but a call to action for those committed to building a more just and sustainable world. It invites readers to question the status quo, explore innovative solutions, and engage in the necessary work to transition toward a future where human and ecological well-being are at the forefront of global priorities.
In this spirit, the book is offered as a resource for those seeking to understand the complexities of degrowth and as a guide for those who are ready to take concrete steps toward realizing its transformative potential.
This chapter aims to analyze the implications between the declining and shrinking cities, urban vacant lands, urban land uses, green infrastructures, urban green areas, and their impact on climate hazards change. The analysis departs from the basic assumption that urban vacant land sites and spaces have a negative connotation but supported by the appropriate policies and programs of incentives can turn around and develop the essential green infrastructure to enable the mitigation of climate change hazards, economic growth, and socio ecological development. The method used is the analytical-descriptive base on the theoretical and empirical literature review. It is concluded that the land uses of vacant land sites more vacationed towards urban green innovation infrastructure and forest areas contribute to mitigate the climate change hazards.
This chapter aims to analyze the implications between the declining and shrinking cities, urban vacant lands, urban land uses, green infrastructures, urban green areas, and their impact on climate hazards change. The analysis departs from the basic assumption that urban vacant land sites and spaces have a negative connotation, but supported by the appropriate policies and programs of incentives, can turn around and develop the essential green infrastructure to enable the mitigation of climate change hazards, economic growth, and socio ecological development. The method used is the analytical-descriptive base on the theoretical and empirical literature review. It is concluded that the land uses of vacant land sites more vacationed towards urban green innovation infrastructure and forest areas contribute to mitigate the climate change hazards.
À travers l’exploration de deux jardins partagés, l’un à Rome et l’autre à Strasbourg, nous mettons en lumière la diversité des cultures politiques qui animent ces différents espaces. En effet, l’enquête qualitative menée lors d’un travail de thèse – observations participantes et entretiens principalement – révèle des imaginaires culturels et politiques distincts en fonction des contextes locaux. À Rome, le jardin est caractérisé par une dynamique d’appropriation de l’espace public par une situation en partie conflictuelle avec les institutions locales qui se révèle être une forme d’expression du droit à la ville, alors qu’à Strasbourg la dynamique d’installation révèle une forme d’alliance entre l’association et les institutions à travers la réalisation d’un jardin partagé en permaculture. Ces jardins restent néanmoins porteurs de pratiques similaires, dont certaines dynamiques semblent transcender ces distinctions géographique, politique et sociale et peuvent être lues, à travers le prisme de l’environnementalisme ordinaire comme des reconfigurations des rapports entre humains et non-humains à l’heure de l’Anthropocène.
Le jardin collectif a le vent en poupe dans les villes françaises. Porteurs d’enjeux pour les collectivités qui y voient un moyen de retisser du lien social et de permettre à des habitants de produire des légumes, mais aussi pour les habitants qui veulent rencontrer leurs voisins et profiter d’un espace de verdure à proximité de chez eux, ces jardins rencontrent et complètent les problématiques urbaines d’aujourd’hui : participation et inclusion des habitants dans l’aménagement du territoire. Via une étude qualitative menée auprès des participants de jardins partagés de Lyon, nous montrons que ces espaces sont aussi des lieux d’exclusion, s’éloignant de leurs valeurs de départ.
Today, many cites in Europe have rediscovered urban and peri‐urban agriculture (UA) as a contributor to a more healthy and sustainable urban environment. However, UA has not yet unfolded its potential due to gaps in knowledge, expertise, and advocacy. A clear typology is instrumental in identifying, understanding, and acknowledging the potential of UA at different levels of policy making. Although a number of typologies are used in practice and in literature, an overarching typology that steps beyond the local and national perspective, and that includes promising innovations like vertical farming, is lacking. The aim of this paper is to offer such a typology of urban agriculture in Europe. Based on interviews with experts in the field representing 11 European countries (n = 16) and an online survey on characteristics and dimensions of UA initiatives (n = 112; representing 18 countries), our typology exists of six different UA types: (1) urban farm, (2) community park, (3) do‐it‐yourself garden/farm, (4) zero acreage farm, (5) social farm, and (6) community garden. Although this paper presents these types as distinctive entities, we stress that a typology is inevitably a simplification of reality, as in real‐life there is an overlap in the proposed types. Moreover, seeing that the field of modern UA is highly dynamic, the typology is only a snapshot of current‐day UA. That said, the suggested typology—along with the dimensions that characterize it—structures the apparent diversity of UA and is therefore instrumental as conversation starter of UA's potential in Europe.
Building on 15 years of research in the field of urban agriculture, this chapter discusses key issues that refrain urban agriculture from achieving its full potential, in terms of human and non-human health, and offers a few pointers for informing policy and practice. First, the author offers a brief overview of how the key challenges of western urbanisation (climate change, people’s health and the destruction of nature) intersect with urban agriculture and what promises lay ahead for this rediscovered practice. The second part highlights a number of shortcomings in urban planning policy, including (i) the failure to consider urban agriculture as a food-producing practice, (ii) the invisibility of soil and lack of understanding of the role of living soils and (iii) the failure to consider the role that soil-cares and food-producing specialists (farmers!) can play in advising on healthy public land design and soil management. Part three discusses how agroecological considerations can deepen and expand the ambition of urban agriculture in public space and bring about more-than-human health. The conclusions offer a summary of the challenges, critical issues, and learning points discussed in the previous three sections and highlight their connection to the concept of ‘agroecological urbanism’.
Kentsel yaşamdan ve kentlerdeki karmaşadan uzaklaşmak isteyenlerin gelir durumuna bağlı olarak kent periferisinde hobi bahçesi ve ikincil konut edinme eğilimleri son yıllarda gözle görülür oranda artmıştır. Kentsel ve kırsal alan arasındaki zonda bulunan arazilerin bu amaçla kullanılmaya başlanması bir yandan dış mekân rekreasyonu, tarımsal turizm ve kentsel tarım için bir fırsat olarak görülürken bir yandan da kent çevresi peyzajı içerisinde yer alan tarım arazileri ve doğal kaynaklar için bir tehdit olarak değerlendirilmektedir. Son yıllarda ve COVID-19 pandemisinin de etkisiyle, Türkiye’nin Ankara ili Bala ilçesinin Beynam mahallesinde, özellikle Ankara-Bala karayolu boyunca çok sayıda hobi bahçesi ve ikincil konut alanı oluşmuştur. Araştırmada bölgede son on yılda kent çevresi peyzajındaki değişikliğin ve bunun sonuçlarının fırsat ve tehdit ikileminde tartışılması amaçlanmıştır. Bu amaçla bölgede yıllara göre alan kullanımı değişimleri uydu görüntüleri ile saptanmış, alım-satım yoğunlukları incelenmiş, nicelik ve nitelik bakımından sınıflandırılmış, mevcut durum ve gelecek tahmini doğrultusunda değerlendirilmiştir. Çalışmanın bulguları göstermektedir ki, başlangıçta kentli için doğayla bütünleşme, küçük çaplı ve ticari olmayan bitki yetiştiriciliği gibi amaçlarla ortaya çıkan hobi bahçesi talebi, zamanla niteliği tarladan arsaya dönüştürülen tarım arazilerinde altyapı sorunlarına sahip ve kontrolsüz kaynak tüketimine neden olan ikincil konut alanlarının oluşmasıyla sonuçlanmıştır. Bu amaç ve sonuç arasındaki doğru ilişkinin sağlanması için hobi bahçelerinin büyüklüklerinin ve yürütülecek faaliyetlerin sınırlandırılması, kent çevresinde alt yapı ulaştırılabilen, temizlik ve atık yönetimine dâhil edilebilecek belirli bölgelerde konumlandırma başlıca planlama önlemleridir.
Problem, research strategy, and findings: We draw on a multidisciplinary body of research to consider how planning for urban agriculture can foster food justice by benefitting socioeconomically disadvantaged residents. The potential social benefits of urban agriculture include increased access to food, positive health impacts, skill building, community development, and connections to broader social change efforts.
The literature suggests, however, caution in automatically conflating urban agriculture’s social benefits with the goals of food justice. Urban agriculture may reinforce and deepen societal inequities by benefitting better resourced organizations and the propertied class and contributing to the displacement of lower-income households. The precarious- ness of land access for urban agriculture is another limitation, particularly for disadvantaged communities. Planners have recently begun to pay increased attention to urban agriculture but should more explicitly sup- port the goals of food justice in their urban agriculture policies and programs.
Takeaway for practice: We suggest several key strategies for planners to more explicitly orient their urban agriculture efforts to support food justice, including prioritizing urban agriculture in long-term planning efforts, developing mutually respectful relationships with food justice organizations and urban agriculture participants from diverse backgrounds, targeting city investments in urban agriculture to benefit historically disadvantaged communities, increasing the amount of land permanently available for urban agriculture, and confronting the threats of gentrification and displacement from urban agriculture. We demonstrate how the city of Seattle (WA) used an equity lens in all of its programs to shift its urban agriculture planning to more explicitly foster food justice, providing clear examples for other cities.
This handbook presents a must-read, comprehensive and state of the art overview of sustainable diets, an issue critical to the environment and the health and well-being of society.
Sustainable diets seek to minimise and mitigate the significant negative impact food production has on the environment. Simultaneously they aim to address worrying health trends in food consumption through the promotion of healthy diets that reduce premature disability, disease and death. Within the Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Diets, creative, compassionate, critical, and collaborative solutions are called for across nations, across disciplines and sectors. In order to address these wide-ranging issues the volume is split into sections dealing with environmental strategies, health and well-being, education and public engagement, social policies and food environments, transformations and food movements, economics and trade, design and measurement mechanisms and food sovereignty. Comprising of contributions from up and coming and established academics, the handbook provides a global, multi-disciplinary assessment of sustainable diets, drawing on case studies from regions across the world. The handbook concludes with a call to action, which provides readers with a comprehensive map of strategies that could dramatically increase sustainability and help to reverse global warming, diet related non-communicable diseases, and oppression and racism.
This decisive collection is essential reading for students, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers concerned with promoting sustainable diets and thus establishing a sustainable food system to ensure access to healthy and nutritious food for all.
Inspiring sustainable diets and cultivating diets that are inspiring are the ambitious endeavours of this collection. This introductory chapter lays out a framework for sustainable diets and the complex issues, diversity of stakeholders, and diversity of levels of privilege (or the obvious, and not so obvious, ways injustices intersect with food systems) that are involved. This chapter offers a definition of sustainable diets and touches on strategies for increasing healthy food for all while preserving and rebuilding local, regional, and international food systems inspired by principles of rejuvenation, justice, vitality, and optimising resources for the betterment of all life forms, in current and future generations.
Until the nineteenth century, American urban dwellers cohabited with livestock and cities formed ecologically diverse spaces. In the late nineteenth century, a series of urban livestock policies coupled with industrial agricultural transformations displaced livestock to urban fringes and rural areas. These developments radically altered human–animal relationships in the urban context, limited economic opportunity and over time have shaped contemporary issues of food access and food justice within cities. Post-industrial cities in the United States, such as Detroit, are characterised by patterns of urban shrinkage and high levels of vacancy. Within this context, urban farming has emerged as a framework and movement to stabilise communities, address local food access and leverage vacancy towards new models of occupation. In 2013, the City of Detroit Urban Agricultural Ordinance was passed to formalise decades of community-driven urban agricultural practices. The ordinance provides guidelines for urban farms and gardens and for managing allied resources. Deliberation on urban agriculture and livestock ordinances continues today. While existing policies provide a framework for food-based development of neighbourhoods, they remain focused on the incremental scale of existing single-family housing and adjacent vacant plots versus larger assemblages that may participate in the production of new urban collectives and assemblages. Detroit’s current context presents opportunities to scale operations via new urban design typologies and socially integrated models that leverage vacancy to construct alternate, collective models of urban life. A speculative urban design proposition for Riverbend Farming Cooperative is presented and proposes a courtyard-based cooperative farming development incorporating permaculture and animal husbandry within a formerly residential superblock as an alternative model of urban development. Through this design speculation, the article reflects upon the social, economic and ecological potentials for cohabiting with livestock and illustrates opportunities and challenges for new models of community development balancing social, environmental and economic interests through new models of agri-urbanism.
The complexity of urbanisation is a significant obstacle to sustainable planning policies and strategies, particularly concerning the growth of informal spaces in developing countries. Occupying or appropriating such urban spaces gives these areas new functions. Building upon previous research, this study illustrates the spatial properties and explains the motivation for production in informal spaces for gardening and plant cultivation. Additionally, this paper considers activities conducted related to their use and utilisation patterns. Moreover, the work evaluates the positive impact of the informal gardens and supports requirements for their maintenance or improvement. Additionally, the study discusses how using public space for gardening can contribute to sustainable urban planning strategies and their alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study applies a quantitative and qualitative approach, combining a questionnaire, participant observations, plot mapping, and photographs, drawing on empirical evidence from Piura, Peru, to comprehensively depict various processes at this site. The field analysis illustrates why people transform such spaces and these areas' uses, highlighting the potential benefits of enhancing the ecological knowledge of urban dwellers. This process cultivates an appreciation for the role of urban gardens in promoting sustainability and improving quality of life. The work examines the role that the informal use of public space can play in urban planning and development strategies. Consequently, planners, committed to social justice, can use these processes as a roadmap for constructing a more inclusive, responsive and equitable city.
In the Global North, urban environments are often seen as antagonistic to soil. In contrast to the living soil perspective of soil scientists, most city specialists see the urban soil as a two-dimensional abstract ground, the space between buildings. However, since the industrial revolution, the question of soil-city relations has generated numerous debates and radical proposals for the reorganization of urban life and settlement. This chapter addresses the tumultuous relations between soils and cities in Europe and North America since the nineteenth century and reviews some of the main forms, reasons, and motivations that have driven attempts to rethink links between soils and cities. The first part of the chapter concentrates on how industrial and urban revolutions radically transformed urban relationships to soils in Europe. It shows how new production and consumption practices initiated a series of material, social, and symbolic separations between city and countryside, which resulted in soils and nature being relegated to the background, to the status of virgin space or dumping ground. The second part of the chapter examines historical and contemporary urban planning to reweave links between soils and the city, as much on a symbolic level – the “connection with nature” – as on alimentary purposes or functional and ecological aspects – sanitation, fertilization, and other so-called “ecosystem services” rendered by soil. The third part of the chapter turns to the history of urban gardening movements, which in cities of the Global North have sought to respond to the ills generated by urbanization and the alienation of agricultural soils. Through the theme of urban gardening, soils and their cultivation have been at the heart of grassroots social movements, associated with hopes of emancipation of the working or disadvantaged classes – a history that helps to take a measure of perspective on the contemporary renewal of attention to urban soils.
Community gardening appears as an open invitation for all neighbours and citizens to participate in the gardening experience. Be it for pleasure, pastime, or necessity, municipally managed community gardens promise exercise, fresh food, and an inclusive community that supposedly forms automatically. In green urban planning, these gardens are frequently posited as utopian spaces of hope. Resembling a utopian gesture, the City of Essen advertises its community gardens as spaces that show how ‘another world is plantable’. Consequently, this contribution examines urban planning documents that propose community gardening as an essential ingredient for a sustainable urban future. Field research material from Essen (Germany) and Portland (Oregon, USA) is also discussed in this context. Gardening narratives in urban planning documents sometimes invoke concepts that stand in problematic relation to community building, such as weeding and implied intervention. To examine such notions in community gardening and its accompanying texts, I introduce the analytical concepts of Clearing and Enclosure, which mirror activities required prior to gardening and which allow for positive and negative or ambivalent readings. These two concepts function as a tool to shed light on the narrative and metaphorical elements—and implied exclusions and inclusions—in texts concerned with community gardening.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.