Gardening as More than Urban Agriculture: Perspectives from Smaller Midwestern Cities on Urban Gardening Policies and Practices

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Christopher Strunk ◽  
Ursula Lang
Keyword(s):  
Urban Agriculture ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Private Property ◽  
Community Gardens ◽  
Public Land ◽  
Vacant Lots ◽  
Urban Gardening ◽  
Privately Owned ◽  
Policies And Practices

For the most part, research and policymaking on urban gardening have focused on community gardens, whether in parks, vacant lots, or other public land. This emphasis, while important for many Midwestern cities, can obscure the significance of privately owned land such as front yard and back yard and their crucial connections with gardening on public land. In this case study, we examine how policies and practices related to gardening and the management of green space in two Midwestern cities exceed narrow visions of urban agriculture. The article explores the cultivation of vacant lot gardens and private yards as two modes of property in similar Midwestern contexts and argues that the management of green space is about more than urban agriculture. Instead, we show how urban gardening occurs across public/private property distinctions and involves a broader set of actors than those typically included in sustainability policies. Gardening also provides a key set of connections through which neighbors understand and practice sustainability in Midwestern cities.

Urban Agriculture

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Illène Pevec ◽  
Soul Shava ◽  
John Nzira ◽  
Michael Barnett
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Education ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Positive Youth Development ◽  
Urban Agriculture ◽  
Community Gardens ◽  
Job Skills ◽  
Vacant Lots ◽  
Urban Environmental Education ◽  
Hydroponic Systems ◽  
Small Livestock

This chapter considers school gardens in North America and urban agriculture in South Africa as sites for urban environmental education. Urban agriculture encompasses rooftop and community gardens, greenhouses, hydroponic systems, plant nurseries, small livestock husbandry, and vertical farms, located indoors, on vacant lots, on roofs, and on postindustrial landscapes, among other sites. Urban environmental education taking place in urban agriculture sites can integrate intergenerational and multicultural learning and contribute to environmental and science knowledge, positive youth development, job skills, and improved diets. It can also enhance social capital, environmental quality, and economic development. The chapter looks at examples of recent policies and practices strengthening urban agriculture and environmental education.

Governing urban gardens for resilient cities: Examining the ‘Garden City Initiative’ in Taipei

Urban Studies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
pp. 1398-1416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Hou
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Urban Agriculture ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Initial Period ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Community Gardens ◽  
Policy Formation ◽  
Garden City ◽  
Urban Gardens ◽  
Urban Gardening

With rising concerns for food security and climate adaptation, urban gardening and urban agriculture have emerged as a rising agenda for urban resilience around the world. In East Asia, a variety of initiatives have emerged in recent years with different levels of institutional support. Focusing on Taipei, where a vibrant urban agriculture movement has been unleashed in recent years, this article examines the ongoing outcomes of the city’s new ‘Garden City Initiative’, which supports the establishment of urban gardens including community gardens, rooftop gardens and school gardens. Based on interviews and participant observations during the initial period of advocacy, planning and implementation between 2014 and 2017, this study examines the background of the programme, the involvement of governmental and non-governmental actors and the programme’s ongoing implementation. Based on the findings, the article further reflects upon their implications for the practices of urban governance in the face of contemporary environmental, political and social challenges. The case of Taipei suggests a model in which policy formation and implementation may require opportunistic actions involving a variety of actors and organisations in both institutions and the civil society. Rather than dramatic changes or instant institutional realignment, the effort may require strategic adaptation of the existing bureaucratic structure, while mobilising its strengths and resources. In addition, despite the critical role of civil society organisations, the Taipei case also illustrates a considerable public-sector investment, distinct from the predominant model of neoliberal governance that has been associated with urban gardening programmes elsewhere.

scholarly journals Urban agriculture and food security: a case study in Maringá, PR, Brazil

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. e24
Author(s):  
Paulo De Oliveira Neto ◽  
Andréa Scalco ◽  
Ana Elissa Smith Bressan Lourenzani ◽  
Sandra Cristina de Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Urban Agriculture ◽  
Community Gardens ◽  
Public Health Education ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Structural Problems ◽  
Agriculture And Food ◽  
The Impact

The urbanization resulting from Brazilian industrialization after World War II influenced the development and infrastructure aspects of urban centers. This generated a growth of the urban population, resulting in socioeconomic structural problems related to public health, education, food insecurity, among others. Urban agriculture consists of agriculture activities within urban spaces and can promote food security to those who practice it and to those who benefit from its access. In this sense, the objective of this study was to analyze the impact of urban agriculture on food security. The research was carried out in community gardens in the city of Maringá, Brazil, using the EBIA method, with procedures of descriptive statistical analysis and multiple linear regression. The results indicate that the activity did not contribute to the food security of people who depend on the resources generated, whether for consumption or income.

Availability and Accessibility of Vacant Lots for Urban Cultivation in Post-Katrina New Orleans

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuki Kato ◽  
Scarlett Andrews ◽  
Cate Irvin
Keyword(s):  
New Orleans ◽  
Urban Agriculture ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Current System ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Vacant Lots ◽  
Comprehensive List ◽  
Privately Owned ◽  
Vacant Space

Based on interviews with 44 urban growers in New Orleans, this study examines their experiences of establishing urban agriculture (UA) projects on publicly and privately owned lots, either through purchase or lease. Publicly owned lots are easier to identify, but bureaucratic application processes and unpredictable policy changes made access less predictable and insecure, especially in terms of purchasing. Leasing privately owned lots is often a straightforward procedure, but these lots are difficult to identify without a comprehensive list, and were rarely available for purchase. Ultimately, neither type of vacant space produces significantly more security in land tenure for UA projects. The findings indicate that availability of vacancy does not equal initial or long-term access to the growers, and the current system of making vacant properties available for UA raises concerns about the long-term sustainability of UA projects.

scholarly journals Exploring the Quality of Urban Green Spaces Based on Urban Neighborhood Green Index—A Case Study of Guangzhou City

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 5507
Author(s):  
Zhanqiang Zhu ◽  
Wei Lang ◽  
Xiaofang Tao ◽  
Jiali Feng ◽  
Kai Liu
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Private Property ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Urban Neighborhood ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Green Index

Urban green space (UGS), as a form of green infrastructure, has been given increasing attention in urban planning and its policies. The quality of a UGS is fundamental for the sustainable development of the urban economy, society, environment, and quality of human life, although UGS is unevenly distributed within cities. Aiming to analyze the quality of UGS at the scale of Jiedaos in China, this paper took Haizhu district in Guangzhou as a case study based on collected data from 2010 and aerial imagery from 2012. The Urban Neighborhood Green Index (UNGI) was established by combining four weighted parameters: the green index (P1), the density of buildings (P2), proximity to green areas (P3) and building height (P4). Results from comparing with green index show that (1) the UNGI performed better for UGS planning due to its ability of uncovering impact of the built environment and its accessibility on quality of UGS; (2) the UGS has significant effects on neighbors, which underlies social inequity of UGS supply and presents rich information for urban planning and decision making; (3) a small green field attaching to a community plays a key role in fulfilling the need of neighbors for green space, fitness, and leisure in China, which is usually ignored due to the ownership of private property. It suggests recognizing UGS and improving its quality in old towns as well as improving urban villages characterized by poor quality of green space with green infrastructures. The UNGI can inform city planners regarding their consideration of UGS, and it can contribute to measurements of sustainability and the development of green infrastructure.

The Internet is a Semicommons

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Grimmelmann
Keyword(s):  
Open Field ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Strategic Behavior ◽  
Private Property ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Field System ◽  
Technical Features ◽  
Dynamic Interplay ◽  
Enormous Success

78 Fordham Law Review 2799 (2010)The Internet is a semicommons. Private property in servers and network links coexists with a shared communications platform. This distinctive combination both explains the Internet's enormous success and illustrates some of its recurring problems.Building on Henry Smith's theory of the semicommons in the medieval open-field system, this essay explains how the dynamic interplay between private and common uses on the Internet enables it to facilitate worldwide sharing and collaboration without collapsing under the strain of misuse. It shows that key technical features of the Internet, such as its layering of protocols and the Web's division into distinct "sites," respond to the characteristic threats of strategic behavior in a semicommons. An extended case study of the Usenet distributed messaging system shows that not all semicommons on the Internet succeed; the continued success of the Internet depends on our ability to create strong online communities that can manage and defend the infrastructure on which they rely. Private and common both have essential roles to play in that task, a lesson recognized in David Post's and Jonathan Zittrain's recent books on the Internet.

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