Public Gardens Research Articles

Community Empowerment and the Urban Poor’s Community Agricultural Garden Development

This article entitled “Community Empowerment and the Urban Poor’s Community Agricultural Garden Development” is about how to empower the urban poor’s community of people under the bridge to develop a community agricultural garden. These people are the urban poor who have become community researchers and participated in the learning process to develop their own potential. They also give the community a push to start a public agricultural garden. This article aims at presenting the community empowerment process to enable the community to accomplish a goal of developing a public agricultural garden, which becomes a source of safe food production and a place where good relationships among people in the community can be formed during the period of 18 months. This research study revealed that community participation in social space construction and community empowerment resulted in many valuable and productive outcomes such as waste management, transformation of a waste land to a community agricultural garden, and formation of a group to create a community agricultural garden named “Baan Poonsup’s Organic Vegetable Garden.” Evidently, such activities and learning process resulted in increased knowledge and a sense of commitment to uphold the community’s mutual mission. The role of the community of people under the bridge is upgraded as they have gained dignity as community researchers. They can use their learning potential to apply for community development funding themselves. They will not have to wait for external assistance only. The goal of long- term development is that the community agricultural garden project is a tool to develop the community’s local economy leading to a saving group that can achieve a goal of purchasing residence land from the National Housing Authority. Moreover, this agricultural garden project is supported by various government and private agencies in the form of volunteers and networks both inside and outside the community. The push to empower various urban communities to create an agricultural garden has multi-dimensional benefits.

First report of cucumber mosaic virus in cyclamen (Cyclamen spp.) in Turkey

This study was carried out to investigate commonly occurring viruses including tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV, Orthotospovirus, Tospoviridae), impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV, Orthotospovirus, Tospoviridae), cucumber mosaic virus (CMV, Cucumovirus, Bromoviridae), tobacco mosaic virus (TMV, Tobamovirus, Virgaviridae) and potato virus X (PVX, Potexvirus, Alphaflexiviridae) in Cyclamen species in three locations in Turkey. Cyclamen samples from public and home gardens, as well as from florists, were tested by DAS-ELISA. CMV was the only virus recovered from one sample from a florist, and its presence in the positive sample was confirmed by RT-PCR and BLASTn search. This is the first report of CMV in cyclamen in Turkey.

Accessibility and allocation of public parks and gardens in England and Wales: A COVID-19 social distancing perspective.

Visiting parks and gardens supports physical and mental health. We quantified access to public parks and gardens in urban areas of England and Wales, and the potential for park crowdedness during periods of high use. We combined data from the Office for National Statistics and Ordnance Survey to quantify (i) the number of parks within 500 and 1,000 metres of urban postcodes (i.e., availability), (ii) the distance of postcodes to the nearest park (i.e., accessibility), and (iii) per-capita space in each park for people living within 1,000m. We examined variability by city and share of flats. Around 25.4 million people (~87%) can access public parks or gardens within a ten-minute walk, while 3.8 million residents (~13%) live farther away; of these 21% are children and 13% are elderly. Areas with a higher share of flats on average are closer to a park but people living in these areas visit parks that are potentially overcrowded during periods of high use. Such disparity in urban areas of England and Wales becomes particularly evident during COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown when local parks, the only available out-of-home space option, hinder social distancing requirements. Cities aiming to facilitate social distancing while keeping public green spaces safe might require implementing measures such as dedicated park times for different age groups or entry allocation systems that, combined with smartphone apps or drones, can monitor and manage the total number of people using the park.

First Report of Colletotrichum karstii Causing Fruit Anthracnose of Carissa grandiflora in Spain.

The species Carissa grandiflora A. DC., commonly called Natal plum, is a shrub native to the coastal region of Natal, South Africa. In southern Spain, Natal plum is used as an ornamental plant due to its beautiful flowers and red ripen fruits. In March 2019 and 2020, we surveyed nine public gardens in the cities of Cadiz and Sanlucar de Barrameda (Andalusia, Spain); and Natal plum fruit showing anthracnose symptoms were observed in six (55% prevalence) of them. Affected fruits showed necrotic and circular lesions with acervuli in the center (Fig. 1a) causing the complete mummification of the fruit (Fig. 1b). Affected fruits were collected from four gardens and disinfested according to Moral et al. (2010). Six fungal isolates were recovered from small (3-4 × 1-2 mm) pieces of the affected fruits in Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA), and hyphal tips from them were transferred to fresh PDA to obtain pure cultures. The six isolates were initially identified as Colletotrichum karstii according to their morphology and the sequences of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 (ITS) region (Damm et al. 2012). The six Colletotrichum isolates showed similar colony morphology and their ITS sequences were identical. Overall, C. karstii isolates showed cylindrical and straight conidia that were 12.1 to 14.2 μm long and 4.9 to 5.6 μm wide (n = 50). The aerial mycelia of the fungus varied from grayish-white to dark gray. A multilocus approach was conducted for more precise identification of the Colletotrichum species. For that, ITS, beta-tubulin (TUB2), actin (ACT), partial sequences of the chitin synthase 1 (CHS-1), histone 3 (HIS3), and a 200-bp intron fragment of the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) of a representative isolate (FITP19001) were amplified and sequenced according to Damm et al. (2012). GenBank Accession Nos. for ITS, TUB2, ACT, CHS-1, HIS3 and GADPH: MT757643, MT759805, MT759806, MT759807, MT759808 and MT759809, respectively. Sequences showed 100% identity with homologous sequences belonging to C. karstii (GenBank taxid:1095194). To test Koch's postulates, 10 unripen and 10 ripen C. grandiflora fruits, harvested from asymptomatic plants, were inoculated. For each group, five fruits were inoculated using a drop of 10 µl of 5 × 104 conidia per ml suspension of C. karstii (FITP19001) and another five fruits were inoculated using a mycelial plug of the same isolate. Inoculated fruits were incubated in a humid chamber at room temperature (19-24ºC) under light for two weeks. Non-inoculated control fruits were treated with sterile water or a PDA plug and incubated under the same conditions. The pathogenicity test was conducted twice. After 10 days, typical anthracnose symptoms developed on both unripen and ripen inoculated fruits, but not on non-inoculated controls. Overall, the severity of anthracnose lesions was higher on ripen fruits than in the unripen fruits. Likewise, the severity of symptoms was higher on the fruits inoculated using a mycelial plug than on those fruits inoculated with a spore suspension. The species C. karstii was reisolated from lesions of all inoculated fruits as described above but not from non-inoculated fruits. The species C. karstii has been described affecting numerous species worldwide (Damm et al., 2012). Previously, C. gloeosporioides was reported causing fruit anthracnose of Natal plum in Florida (Alfieri et al., 1984). To our knowledge, this is the first report of C. karstii causing anthracnose on the fruit of Natal plum in Spain and worldwide.

O design no desenvolvimento de cidades humanas inteligentes

Cidades humanas inteligentes desenvolvem-se em abordagens participativas e centradas no cidadão. Os espaços públicos requalificados atraem mais pessoas e recursos. A inovação social gera soluções novas e duradouras para grupos sociais e comunidades por meio de participação e colaboração. O design contribui para resolução de problemas centrados no usuário. Neste contexto, a pesquisa analisou a atuação do designer como um ator social de articulação estratégica e desenvolvimento de projetos em inovações sociais, visando a concepção e construção de cidades humanas inteligentes. Sua aplicação aconteceu num estudo de caso: Projeto Inova Verde, no qual foi desenvolvida uma horta pública para ressignificação de um espaço abandonado numa universidade brasileira na cidade de Florianópolis. O projeto foi articulado por designers de um núcleo de pesquisa e extensão universitária. Considerou-se que o designer tem potencial para articular a integração entre comunidade, espaço e objetivos de projeto, contribuindo no desenvolvimento de cidades humanas inteligentes.

Modern public spaces in Canada: A revaluation

Modern post-war built heritage, such as public spaces, gardens and campuses, is hardly considered worthy of conservation in Canada. Yet the history of built form and the projects of this era deserve attention because they reflect a period of profound change. This article focuses on post-war landscape architecture projects in Canada, especially those with surviving traces, to acknowledge them and, hopefully, help prevent their demolition. Two specific cases are used to shed light on the characteristics and the historical and architectural value of modern landscape architecture in the 1960s and 1970s: the University of Victoria campus and the rooftop garden at Hotel Bonaventure Montréal. At a time of growing awareness of the heritage of public spaces, this article seeks to contribute to the knowledge and understanding of projects created during this period, to help establish an idea of Canadian modern landscape architecture and underscore its value.

Two additions to the Iberian myrmecofauna: Crematogaster inermis Mayr, 1862, a newly established, tree-nesting species, and Trichomyrmex mayri (Forel, 1902), an emerging exotic species temporarily nesting in Spain (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Exotic ants are a growing component of urban and disturbed habitats worldwide. Sampling in two Iberian Mediterranean localities revealed several exotic species. The tree-nesting, black acrobat ant Crematogaster inermis Mayr, 1862, has been detected nesting outdoors on a Robinia pseudoacacia tree in a public garden in Valencia (Spain) and represents a new addition to the continental European fauna. Collection details, a morphological description, biometry, and the remarkable presence of short spines in smaller specimens are also given for this species. A case of an ephemeral establishment of several exotic ant species in a palm grove is also discussed. This case includes C. inermis and Trichomyrmex mayri, also a novelty for the Iberian Peninsula.

APLIKASI Dolichoderus sp. UNTUK PENGENDALIAN Helopeltis spp. PADA TANAMAN KAKAO

ABSTRAK 
 An activity which aim to improve the Dolichoderus sp function in controlled Helopeltis spp which has been implemented in public cocoa garden. The activity is set two artificial nest each at two contrast side on cocoa branch. Result of study is show that cocoa tree after three months of the artificial nest installation the level of Helopeltis spp attack is run in to lower is being 8,86% by first time before artificial nest installation the level of Helopeltis attack is 46,6%. The artificial nest is very help to increase the Dolichoderus sp population. Which knowing as the predator or Helopeltis spp natural enemy on cocoa tree.

East Village at Knutsford: A Case Study in Sustainable Urbanism

With increasing pressure to ensure that sustainability features in homes are commercially viable, demonstration projects are vital to highlight the real-world challenges and opportunities for innovation. This paper documents the incorporation of sustainability objectives into the “East Village at Knutsford” residential “living laboratory” development, within the Knutsford urban regeneration precinct, approximately 1.5 km east of the Fremantle central business district in Western Australia. The sustainability objectives for the project include being a “Net Zero Energy Development” using 100% renewable energy and maximizing the self-supply of energy, reducing mains water consumption as much as is practical, and using the landscape design to complement these objectives without compromising a best-practice urban greening outcome. The paper documents the design initiatives and strategies that have been included to achieve these objectives in a commercially viable project and the results of modelling where it has been used to test the design against the objectives to ensure their validity. The key features that have been incorporated into the townhouses component of the development are outlined, illustrating integrated design and systems thinking that builds on previous demonstration projects, incorporating solar energy storage and electric vehicle charging plus significant mains water savings by adopting water-sensitive features in the homes and the within the private and public gardens. The expected grid energy and mains water consumption levels in the homes through modelling compared to the metropolitan average is 80% lower. The project is presented as an important step in the application of available technologies and design features to meet stated sustainability objectives, highlighting the benefits of an embedded living laboratory research approach.

Cytogenetic disturbances in the apical meristem cells of the urban plantations depending on the level of anthropogenic impact

The scope of this research covered cytogenetic indexes of the apical meristem cells of the urban plantations of small-leaved linden (Tilia cordata L.) and silver poplar (Populus alba L.) growing in the areas of different anthropogenic pollution load, such as parks, public gardens, and urban plantation areas along the municipal motorways. The cytogenetic disturbances of the linden and poplar apical meristem cells were studied based on the incidence of micronuclei and nucleus protrusions of different forms. Buds for the analysis were collected from the tree height of 1.5-2 m in the spring season, in March-April. The collected buds were preserved in aceto-alcohol, then the apical meristem cell microslides were prepared and coloured with acetocarmine. The karyological characteristics were analysed and quoted according to the method of L. P. Sycheva. It was demonstrated that the cytogenetic disturbances with the greatest incidence of micronuclei and nucleus protrusion of various types are significantly more frequent in the apical meristem cells of the small-leaved linden and silver poplar buds collected from the plantations along the urban motorways compared to the same indexes of the trees growing in parks and public gardens. Compared to the same cells of silver poplar, the apical meristem cells of the small-leaved linden buds were found to be more sensitive to the technogenic pollution of the environment. The apical meristem cells of the buds of the studied trees and small-leaved linden in particular may serve as the genotoxicity indicators of the urban environment.

Peronospora aquilegiicola made its way to Germany: the start of a new pandemic?

AbstractPeronospora aquilegiicola is a destructive pathogen of columbines and has wiped out most Aquilegia cultivars in several private and public gardens throughout Britain. The pathogen, which is native to East Asia was noticed in England and Wales in 2013 and quickly spread through the country, probably by infested plants or seeds. To our knowledge, the pathogen has so far not been reported from other parts of Europe. Here, we report the emergence of the pathogen in the northwest of Germany, based on morphological and phylogenetic evidence. As the pathogen was found in a garden in which no new columbines had been planted recently, we assume that the pathogen has already spread from its original point of introduction in Germany. This calls for an increased attention to the further spread of the pathogen and the eradication of infection spots to avoid the spread to naturally occurring columbines in Germany and to prevent another downy mildew from becoming a global threat, like Peronospora belbahrii and Plasmopara destructor, the downy mildews of basil and balsamines, respectively.

“The idea of beautifying the surroundings”: Bloemfontein’s (Mangaung) Batho location a “garden location”? (ca. 1918-1939)

In 1918, the Municipality of Bloemfontein saw the establishment of Batho as the new location for the town’s black and coloured people as an opportunity to not only establish a so called model location but also a garden location. Batho’s founding must be viewed within the historical context of British-style town and urban planning, as well as the racist and segregationist policies implemented by the Union Government. The model location ideology not only encompassed proper layout and improved amenities but also meant striving towards aesthetic ideals. Such ideals implied the beautification of Batho by means of laying out domestic and public gardens, as well as the mass planting of trees. In order to turn Batho into a garden location, the Town Council implemented certain initiatives which included efforts to secure a reliable water supply and to introduce special water tariffs; the allocation of allotment gardens; the provision of a fresh-produce market for location residents; the distribution of trees free of charge, and other tree-planting initiatives; and, finally, the provision of a public “park” for Batho. While some of the motivations behind these initiatives were, indeed, driven by aesthetic ideals, others were deeply rooted in segregationist thinking and ideology. The municipality’s efforts and initiatives, as well as the Batho residents’ reactions to these, were key factors in the quest to turn Batho into a garden location. These efforts, initiatives, and reactions are investigated and critically assessed in order to determine whether the municipality’s attempts to create a garden location were “successful”. This article focuses on the period considered to be Batho’s “golden age”, that is, 1918-1939.

COVID-19 and heatwaves: a double whammy for Indian cities

COVID-19 and heatwaves: a double whammy for Indian cities

First Report of Leaf Spot Caused by Alternaria alternata on Phlox maculata in Italy

Phlox maculata (common name spotted phlox), Polemoniaceae family, is an herbaceous perennial plant with showy panicle inflorescences, commonly grown in mixed borders. During summer 2019, about twenty 5-year-old plants of P. maculata growing in a garden located in the Biella province (northern Italy) showed symptoms of a leaf spot, starting from the basal part of the foliage. Symptoms consisted in brown spots with not well-defined margins, irregularly circular to polygonal in shape, up to 2 to 3 mm in diameter, sometimes confluent. The internal part of spots dried. Chlorosis and yellowing surrounded the spots, involving the most part of affected leaf surfaces, due to the spread of the disease. The ornamental value of affected plants was significantly reduced. Several symptomatic leaves were washed in sterile water for 1 min. Isolations were carried out, taking several small fragments of tissues from the margins of the spots and placing them on potato dextrose agar. Fungal colonies that developed were dark green at the end of development. Successively, single-spore colonies were obtained, and pure cultures were transferred on potato carrot agar (PCA, Simmons 2007) under a light/dark regime of 11 h/13 h. On this medium, colonies formed branched conidiophores with brown, multicellular conidia, ovoid to obclavate in shape, containing one to four (average 2.4, n = 50) transverse septa and zero to one (average 0.1, n = 50) longitudinal septa. Conidia measured 10.8 to 29.3 × 5.3 to 11.2 µm (average 18.7 × 7.6 µm, n = 50). If present, the beak was 2.1 to 11.0 µm (average 5.5 µm) long. These morphological characteristics permitted identifying the fungus isolated from P. maculata as Alternaria section alternata (Woudenberg et al. 2015). The fungal DNA from the 19/33 isolate was extracted using the E.Z.N.A. Fungal DNA Mini Kit (Omega Bio-Tek, Darmstadt, Germany), and PCR was performed using the ITS (White et al. 1990), the rpb2, and the endoPG primers (Woudenberg et al. 2015). Three sequences with 529 bp (ITS), 889 bp (rpb2), and 452 bp (endoPG) (GenBank accession nos. MN871825, MN871979, and MN871978, respectively) were produced. A BLASTn analysis of these sequences exhibited 100% identity with the reference strain CBS 117.44 of A. alternata (Fries) Keissler in rpb2 and endoPG portions (accession nos. KP124772 and KP124001, respectively) and 99.6% identity in ITS region (accession no. KP124303). One P. maculata fungal isolate (19/33) was grown on PCA. A spore suspension obtained from 15-day-old cultures was sprayed at the concentration of 10⁵ CFU/ml onto leaves of three healthy plants of P. maculata. Three control plants were treated with sterile water. All plants were closed in moist plastic bags for 7 days and maintained at temperatures ranging from 15 to 28°C. The first symptoms of leaf spot appeared 10 days after the inoculation, and A. alternata was reisolated from affected leaves. Control plants remained symptomless. The pathogenicity test was repeated once using the isolate 19/40, obtaining the same results. To our knowledge, this is the first report of A. alternata on P. maculata in Italy as well as worldwide. The spread of A. alternata on P. maculata and the difficulty to manage this disease, particularly in public gardens, may discourage the use of this ornamental in Italy.

Brazilian landscape styles and tree biodiversity in public garden squares

The main features of the Brazilian contemporary landscape style are the recovery of degraded areas and the use of indigenous species. This study aimed at analyzing the vegetation of the Curitiba-PR public garden squares to verify if the areas created during the contemporary period (from 1990 on) have a greater diversity of tree species than other squares and, therefore, are more significant for biodiversity conservation. For this, 32 of the city's 454 squares were sampled as determined by statistical calculation, then classified by creation year and landscape style. Trees species, families, and individuals were identified and classified as to their origin; and the variables richness; average species; number of individuals; density of individuals; and the Shannon, Pielou, and Odum indexes were analyzed. The 15 contemporary style squares presented 399 individuals of 54 species and 27 families, with 43.61% of the individuals and 50.00% of the species of exotic origin; individuals average of 26.60 ±9.72 per square and 43.09 ±35.13 per hectare; species average of 6.93 ±4.98 per square and 13.95 ±10.63 per hectare; and diversity indexes of Shannon 3.39, Pielou 0.85, and Odum 9.02. The squares in the contemporary style presented higher diversity indexes, but they have, on average, fewer species, families, and individuals, in addition to a greater proportion of exotic species and individuals. These results indicate that these squares did not follow the typical characteristics of the contemporary style and are of no greater significance for biodiversity conservation when compared to other squares.

Tivoli – Negotiating Directory Society in the Public Pleasure Garden 1797-1798

This paper examines the 1797-1798 public debate surrounding the Tivoli Garden, Paris. The paper explores and analyses how opposing publications in the Parisian press utilised the garden as a locus to negotiate abstract societal changes following the revolution, including women’s access to the public sphere, class identities, and consumer culture. In doing so, this paper shows how the ideas of Rousseau, particularly those presented in La nouvelle Héloïse (1761), influenced public debate over the pleasure garden, and thus adds a new chapter to the study of Rousseau’s influence on the arts. Furthermore, this paper examines the popularity of the Tivoli garden, from the perspective of the Parisian public following the Terror. This paper proposes that the highly theatrical public pleasure garden functioned as a designated testing ground for transgressive social behavior. This allowed for the rules and norms of society to be developed, tested and learned following the French Revolution. By presenting the public pleasure garden as a significant space in the societal development of post-revolutionary society, this paper presents an entirely new perspective on Parisian public pleasure gardens. Keywords: Tivoli, Rousseau, Directory, Journal des dames et des modes, Theatricality  

Analysis of Public Garden Awareness in Citizen Gardener Training Course

Focusing on the significant changes in interpretation of public garden, the aim of this study was to investigate the cognitive image, effect and communality by analyzing the perceptional difference in urban garden between garden education participants, potential participants, and general citizen group. Principal images were “familiar, affective” (relationship with nature), “progressive, sociable” (attitude toward garden activities), “expansive, autonomous” (spatial evaluation), using 24 adjectives representing urban garden image. Through factor analysis by principal components based on the factor loadings of education participants group, factor 1 could be named “Public Role and Communality of urban garden” (Potential Dimension), factor 2 explains “Differentiation as a Public Landscape” (Evaluative Dimension), and factor 3 as “Aesthetic Experience” (Active Dimension). In particular, participants were more aware of the social and environmental effects of urban garden, and the average value of communality index was higher than that of potential participants (3.4 & 3.31) and general citizens (2.69). The urban garden can play a social, environmental, economical role being recognized as lifelong education or community activities beyond just acquiring knowledge. The significance of citizen gardener education could be reaffirmed and needed to systemize for continuity.

Ecological and Biological Behaviorof Nesting Colony of Bubulcus ibisin North-Western Algeria

We studied a colony of the Western Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis located in the public garden on the northern outskirts of Chlef, north-western of Algeria, a site with 13 tree species; in this locality Cattle Egrets nested only on Ficus elastica, Jacaranda mimosifolia and Pinus halepensis. We observed the birds, each two weeks during the wintering period and weekly during the breeding season (February to August). To count the colony population, we used the method described by Dragonetti & Giovacchini (2009), called perimeter counts. Egg and nestling were recorded on 20 randomly selected nests and from different locations in each ofthe three nesting trees until all fledging. The number of Cattle Egrets at this site varied according to season, and was higher during the breeding season (1902 individuals) than during the wintering period (1210 individuals). Depending on the morphology of the trees hosting this colony, numbers of these birds varied from one tree to another. The nests observed are placed at relatively low heights, contrary to what has been described by some authors. Reproductive success is affected by the environmental conditions of the area and also by the physical and perhaps biochemical characteristics of the nest trees, but no difference in the location or orientation of the nests was noticed.

Sensory gardens as places for outdoor recreation adapted to the needs of people with visual impairments

The article addresses the question of adapting public spaces, including parks and gardens, to the needs of people with disabilities for the purpose of outdoor recreation. According to the principles of universal design, public spaces should enable social inclusion, which implies respect for current needs of diverse populations. The study described in the article focuses on the needs of people with vision impairment regarding outdoor recreation and adjustments that need to be made in the infrastructure of parks and gardens. The aim of the study was to answer three key questions: (1) How can outdoor experiences be made accessible to people with visual impairments? (2) How can outdoor experiences be encouraged, rethought and redesigned for people with visual impairments? (3) What barriers stop people with visual disabilities from participating in outdoor leisure in sensory gardens? These questions are answered using insights from desk research, data from an inventory of selected sensory gardens and interviews with blind and partially sighted respondents. The study, conducted between June and August 201, covered 15 gardens located in various parts in Poland: in cities, rural areas and areas of natural value. The interviews, involving 32 respondents, were held directly in the gardens in cooperation with the Polish Association for the Blind. The results were used to formulate recommendations for good practice in the field of universal garden design, which can provide sensory experiences for everyone, including people with visual impairments. The observed development of sensory gardens seems to reflects a great interest in this type of outdoor sites, which are conducive to recreation, education, integration, and social inclusion. Solutions applied in sensory gardens should provide inspiration for creating universal gardens, accessible to everyone.

Urban courtyards: ideologies of domesticity and the landscape of welfare in communist Bucharest

ABSTRACT This article addresses the emergence of urban landscapes as a form of welfare tied to the provision of housing in pre-communist and communist Bucharest. Despite the importance of welfare landscapes in post-war capitalist Western Europe, this notion has been little addressed in relation to former communist countries in the Eastern Bloc. The case of Romania is exemplary in articulating how the phenomenon emerged within a planned economy where urban planning and housing provision were exclusively state-controlled. Welfare landscapes shifted during the communist regime, from their prior manifestation as a dense network of garden courtyards and public gardens to become a regulated system of parks with specific ideological purposes. This article proposes that state-planned welfare landscapes were paralleled by ‘urban courtyards’ that rescued the memory of the pre-communist garden city and informally established different extents of a ‘good life’ within standardised housing ensembles.