TY - JOUR
T1 - Urban agriculture and place-making: Narratives about place and space in Ghent, Brno and Bristol
AU - Koopmans, Marlinde
AU - Keech, Daniel
AU - Sovova, Lucie
AU - Reed, Matthew
PY - 2017/9/1
Y1 - 2017/9/1
N2 - Despite rising enthusiasm for food growing among city dwellers, local authorities struggle to find space for urban agriculture (UA), both literally and figuratively. Consequently, UA often arises, sometimes temporarily, in marginal areas that are vulnerable to changes in planning designation. In the literature, spatial issues in relation to UA have either addressed structural questions of land use, governance and planning, or have highlighted social and personal benefits of UA. This paper aims to revisit and combine both streams of inquiry, viewing them as two co-constitutive forces that shape places through UA. The paper analyses three case studies in Brno, Ghent and Bristol, using a spatial lens that exposes important tensions as inherent characteristics of UA and conceptualises them as tensions within two space-narratives, namely abstract space and concrete place. It is suggested that UA, as a collective socio-cultural process, can transform functionally replicable spaces into unique places and thus contributes to place-making. This function should be recognised within urban planning circles, which should not only secure physical spaces to develop urban agriculture, but also create possibilities for local autonomous governance.
AB - Despite rising enthusiasm for food growing among city dwellers, local authorities struggle to find space for urban agriculture (UA), both literally and figuratively. Consequently, UA often arises, sometimes temporarily, in marginal areas that are vulnerable to changes in planning designation. In the literature, spatial issues in relation to UA have either addressed structural questions of land use, governance and planning, or have highlighted social and personal benefits of UA. This paper aims to revisit and combine both streams of inquiry, viewing them as two co-constitutive forces that shape places through UA. The paper analyses three case studies in Brno, Ghent and Bristol, using a spatial lens that exposes important tensions as inherent characteristics of UA and conceptualises them as tensions within two space-narratives, namely abstract space and concrete place. It is suggested that UA, as a collective socio-cultural process, can transform functionally replicable spaces into unique places and thus contributes to place-making. This function should be recognised within urban planning circles, which should not only secure physical spaces to develop urban agriculture, but also create possibilities for local autonomous governance.
KW - Bristol (England)
KW - Brno (Czech Republic)
KW - Ghent (Belgium)
KW - Governance
KW - Place
KW - Place-making
KW - Space
KW - Urban agriculture
KW - Urban planning
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/a4664c6f-c7af-3b2e-b56f-4f2b5de5cde5/
U2 - 10.1515/mgr-2017-0014
DO - 10.1515/mgr-2017-0014
M3 - A1: Web of Science-article
SN - 2199-6202
VL - 25
SP - 154
EP - 165
JO - MORAVIAN GEOGRAPHICAL REPORTS
JF - MORAVIAN GEOGRAPHICAL REPORTS
IS - 3
M1 - 3
ER -