Cultivating the City

Abstract

The idea of growing in cities has been around for centuries, from the World War 2 ‘victory gardens’ to allotments, community gardens and even the more recent idea of ‘vertical farming’, the practise comes in many different forms. This chapter explores the idea of cultivating the urban, before delving into the policies and strategies which support Urban Agriculture (UA), analysing various methods employed by governments and organisations to encourage the growing of food in cities. The chapter reviews different forms of UA, reflecting on academic and other studies which have explored the impact of this activity. It provides a broad overview of UA and the various schemes ongoing, both within the Global North and Global South. We explore the latter with the case of Cuba and countries in Africa who have practised UA for years. The chapter summarises with an introduction to the idea of informal UA and guerrilla gardening: the core focus of this book.