Abstract
Allotment gardens (AGs) serve various socio-cultural, ecological and economic functions, mostly for the urban community, and they also provide agricultural produce for their users. German and Polish legislation includes this function in the definitions regulating allotment gardening. The article aims to compare the legal regulations for allotment gardening in operation in Germany and Poland. This study analyses legal acts concerning the development and functioning of allotments, since they may greatly influence their production function. Moreover, field research and structured interviews were carried out and, as a result, the collected data were contrasted with the actual state of development of selected allotments. The study shows that some of the provisions of legal acts, both German and Polish, are not strictly adhered to by the users. Also, the analysis of use of allotments in both countries reveals the strong influence of the present legal norms. The regulations concerning allotment gardening in Germany are conducive to preserving plant cultivation, while in Poland unclear provisions on the way in which crop cultivation is to be developed have led to a replacement of the farming function by recreational and residential uses. It is necessary, then, to maintain and observe the existing regulations in Germany. In Poland, on the other hand, there is a strong need for a regulation at the national level which would specify the principles regarding the obligatory use of part of a plot for food production.
Highlights
Allotment gardening in Europe began in the eighteenth century
The analysis focused on the assessment of the observance of provisions of basic legal acts on allotment gardening and the land use which was related to the process of food production on a plot
The analysis of the use of Allotment gardens (AGs) in Germany and Poland indicate its strong relationship with legal norms
Summary
Germany and Poland were pioneers and leaders in this area In both countries the development of allotments occurred during the period of intensive industrialization, in other words in the first half of the nineteenth century.. This exceptional production potential and the enormous importance of AGs for inhabitants and urban governments, because they are conducive to implementing the ideas of sustainable urban development and urban agriculture. According to Calvet-Mir and March (2019) legislation at national, regional and local levels grants allotment gardening institutional recognition In both Germany and Poland its functioning is regulated by special acts – Bundeskleingartengesetz (1983) and the Act on family allotments (2013), respectively. An additional and important premise for undertaking research was the currently observed and intensifying trends related to: the development of the idea of urban agriculture and food security in cities, changes in consumer awareness (for example, food self-provisioning, food production in urban landscape16), increasing environmental awareness (for instance sustainable food systems17) and the lifestyle of inhabitants of large cities (for instance, the motivations and benefits of cultivation).
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