<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>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.</p></abstract>

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.

Urban agriculture and place-making: Narratives about place and space in Ghent, Brno and Bristol

Countryside and Community Research Institute

Department of Environmental Studies, Faculty of Social Studies

Moravian Geographical Reports

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Despite rising enthusiasm for food growing among city dwellers, local authorities struggle to find space for urban agriculture (UA), both literally and...

Urban agriculture and place-making: Narratives about place and space in Ghent, Brno and Bristol

Publié en ligne: 27 oct. 2017

Pages: 154 - 165

Reçu: 24 janv. 2017

Accepté: 08 juin 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/mgr-2017-0014

Mots clés
Urban agriculture, space, place, place-making, urban planning, governance, Ghent (Belgium), Brno (Czech Republic), Bristol (England)

© 2017 Marlinde E. Koopmans et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Urban agriculture and place-making: Narratives about place and space in Ghent, Brno and Bristol

Publié en ligne: 27 oct. 2017

Pages: 154 - 165

Reçu: 24 janv. 2017

Accepté: 08 juin 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/mgr-2017-0014

Mots clésUrban agriculture, space, place, place-making, urban planning, governance, Ghent (Belgium), Brno (Czech Republic), Bristol (England)

© 2017 Marlinde E. Koopmans et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Mots clés
Urban agriculture, space, place, place-making, urban planning, governance, Ghent (Belgium), Brno (Czech Republic), Bristol (England)