Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
numbers expanded, especially in high density urban areas in the nineteenth century
where people did not have garden space. Municipalities are required under succes-
sive national acts of parliament to ensure developers set aside land for allotments,
so that the urban poor could supplement their food supply, as their ancestors had
done in rural areas. Indeed the numbers exploded to an estimated 1.5 million plots
during World War I and II in response to a national policy to grow more food. They
were also prized in the former communist countries of eastern Europe, since they
were the only areas in which people could grow, and in some countries sell, the
products, providing the one example of private production in the otherwise domi-
nant state-supply system. The numbers have often fluctuated during the last century
but have usually declined. Denmark is an exception, for the numbers of urban allot-
ments have risen from some 20,000 in 1904 to over 60,000 by 2001, and many plots
have a small building that can be lived in during summer months. Britain, however,
has seen great fluctuations in numbers with a decline from the 1950s as people be-
came more affluent, had more leisure variety in their life to do other things, often
away from their homes, and food products became cheaper. The decrease in interest
led many municipalities to sell off the land to developers. In 2008 a review of al-
lotments by The Guardian newspaper (Vidal
2008
) estimated that there were only
about a third of a million plots left in Britain. However, the rise of ecological con-
cerns has led to a new interest in the allotments and it was estimated that there were
over 100 thousand people on allotment waiting lists in 2008, with great variations
in numbers between the councils (GN
2011
). This situation is leading to mounting
criticism of many municipalities for not providing enough allotment land for people
seeking to improve local food sourcing, self-sufficiency and organic production.
A parallel urban agricultural trend, but with rather different objectives, can be
seen in some inner city areas, especially in impoverished and ethnic parts of U.S.
inner cities where
community gardens
have been created on derelict lots in the past
decade. In many declining cities the increasing number of these vacant lots has led
many cities to encourage agriculture on these plots, not only by the owners, but
also by taking the land into public ownership and leasing the land out to gardeners.
This policy provides not only employment and a new source of fresh crops, but also
makes once abandoned areas more attractive. One of the most publicized examples
is the 'Bed-Stuy Farm' in the predominantly black and hispanic Bedford-Stuyvesant
area of New York, established by the Bedford Rescue Mission in 2005 that uses
charity donations to provide help and food to the poor. Although barely larger than
a basketball court, this 'farm' produces many thousands pounds weight of produce
every year, and is a source of neighbourhood pride. It has also stimulated the cre-
ation of a local farmer's market as well as a revival of interest in 'black soul' food
crops—a traditional part of the diet of Afro-American people. Another approach is
the Small Plot Intensive (SPIN) ideas used in the Brick City urban farms in New-
ark (New Jersey) which has many obsolescent areas. Plastic crates containing soil
(earthboxes) are used to grow crops, an approach that has the advantage of mobility,
by being able to move the crates around to quickly colonize vacant spaces. This is
another version of the growing practice of using specially filled bags of fertilized
soil to grow tomatoes and other plants. On a larger scale some parts of Detroit that
