Future Scenarios of Allotment Gardens in the context of increasing urban densification and urban open space policies

Abstract

Allotment gardens have been scarcely addressed by planning actors. This has recently changed due to the reorganisation of cities as places to live, work, and invest. The corresponding urban growth has led to urban densification and discussions of economically low-value utilisation of urban space. Concurrently, because of new urban life-styles other forms of urban gardening and leisure interests have arisen and questions concerning the future of allotment gardens have been embedded in considerations of the suitable supply of open space. Hence, approaches to allotment gardens and its conditions for transformation have become a central question of urban development policy. The research project addressed this question by analysing discourses on spatial policies in the context of social change and its implications for allotment gardens and other forms of urban gardening. Planning practices, such as urban and social planning, was analysed in Swiss metropolitan areas to develop future scenarios in densely-developed areas. The research project was part of the COST Action TU1201 «Urban Allotment Gardens in European Cities - Future, Challenges and Lessons Learned» (20122016) and contributed to the international knowledge transfer through conference presentations and publications.