Urban cultivators: Food gardens, a response to vacant public lands in Gandhinagar

Research & Practice

Urban cultivators: Food gardens, a response to vacant public lands in Gandhinagar

Authors: Mansi Shah, Victor Cano-Ciborro and Lopamudra Baruah
The research aims to investigate the self-organised food gardens in Gandhinagar, India. A quick survey estimates that about 3% of land in a typical residential sector is being used as informal semi-private gardens on public grounds. These gardens are typically cropping on fallow lands marked for commercial, institutional, and other uses that have not been built or constructed. The visual surveys found most gardens are typically around 100 sq. meters, built right in front of the house on public land with a mix of trees, shrubs, vegetables and ground-covers. Apart from giving direct benefits to residents, it was observed many of the owners said, it enhanced the environment, increased biodiversity, and provided an additional space for socialising. This research aims to document and map these working landscapes to make visible the local approaches. The study can give insights into enabling processes at city scale for productive economies keeping in mind externalities and inputs.

Methodology/ Methods/ Framework/Approach
The study will use qualitative (drawing-based method) and quantitative research methods to record and analyse the food gardens.

1_Narrative cartographies – Up to 6 food gardens will be documented through drawings, using specific methods that show garden layout, plot size, plantation, and use. We will analyze the growing patterns (multi layers of vegetation and species composition), predominant varieties, usage, species, and working.

2_Household surveys – About 20 residents will be interviewed to assess motivations, challenges, land holding, and management. Further, a questionnaire survey will be conducted with municipal authorities to understand viewpoints on the ongoing practices.

Disssemination:

L Scale (Sector): the finding will include an overall map and distribution of sites in relation to urban land uses as per the development plan. The map will illustrate the number of gardens, location, and how they are connected to households.

S scale (At garden scale): the findings will include different typologies of gardens, lot working, edges (boundaries between the public realm of the street and the semi-private food gardens), layout (paving, garden elements and plantation) and different usages at different time and overall working (water, electricity, fertilisers etc.)

XS scale (details): It will detail the Species list (fruit and medicinal trees, shrubs, seasonal vegetables) materiality, biodiversity, human interactions in the space.

The drawing-based outcomes and household survey will be synthesised towards making visible a self-constructed infrastructure- and bring forth both the view and value of productivity in urban spaces and knowledge of poor practices in the self-initiated gardens.

MMZ_5497 — Virendra and Swati's Farm. Discussion with Hemal, daughter of farm owners

MMZ_5525 — Farm of Jesalbhai Vaghela, Bhavnaben Vaghela and Daksha ben. Dakshaben shows the working and species

MMZ_5533 — Neelam ben harvests in her patch

Value in dissemination

In India, many city dwellers prefer the day-to-day procurement of edibles. Preliminary surveys in Gandhinagar indicated similarly- people’s desire to cultivate and create opportunities from fallow lands for direct procurement. Many respondents said, “public lands are unused for years, and it has allowed us to grow food and have direct access to produce”. Others expressed trepidation over the temporality that looms. However, in recent years, these food gardens have only grown exponentially, mainly on public lands or on either side of partially developed public roads. Largely, the gardens result from tight land control and underdeveloped public spaces. However, they offer a unique case study into local designs, the cyclical systems, markets and social implications of community interventions. Authors argue that, in the case of developing cities, this work can provide a lens into combatting complex and challenging issues of growing cities -from urbanisation, access to nutrition, interactions between humans and landscapes and economic opportunities. There is a lack of research on this subject, especially in Indian cities, concerning food landscapes and self-initiated or designed gardens that aren’t formally recognised.

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