Community gardens in every city, town and village

 

In every city, town or village we’ve visited or driven through we’ve seen community gardens, large sprawling ones that took an hour to walk around through to tiny little allotments perched alongside riverbanks and motorways. Creatively put together garden sheds and even small community cafes are common, flowers and vegetables grow side-by-side, while old and young are seen tending their patches. Urban community gardens often have the support of their cities as they’re seen as helping to create cultural links between new immigrants and established residents. Several began with the working-class garden movement forty years ago and have now evolved into spaces for education and social integration while handing down the skills of food self sufficiency.

Miraflores in Seville

Massive industrialisation that left no space for green zones and urban gardens led to the creation of Miraflores Park in 1989, explains Manuel Lara, president of the committee of the pro-educational Miraflores Park Association (Asociación Comité Pro-parque Educativo Miraflores). ‘The urban cores will continue to be built, destroying the agricultural zones as they go. But thanks to the perserverance of the citizens, 165 plots of land which are 150 metres squared will be preserved,’ says Lara…More