Informal Urban Agriculture - The Secret Lives of Guerrilla Gardeners

The book explores how unused and under-used urban spaces - from grass verges, roundabouts, green spaces - have been made more visually interesting and more productive, by informal (and usually illegal) groups known as "guerrilla gardeners". The book focuses on groups in the English Midlands but the work is set in a broad international context and reveals how and why they undertake this illegal activity. Guerrilla gardening is usually viewed uncritically and promoted as a worthwhile activity: this study provides a more balanced evaluation and focuses on its contribution in terms of local food production.

List of contents

Preface.- Chapter 1. Guerrilla Urban Agriculture: Unearthing the Hidden Movement.- Chapter 2. Cultivating the City.- Chapter 3. Unearthing the Unpermitted Movement.- Chapter 4. On the Ground with Guerrillas: An Ethnographical Reflection.- Chapter 5. Deconstructing the Key Messages.- Chapter 6. Who Owns this Space? Authorities and Guerrilla Gardeners.- Chapter 7. Exploring Impact: Consulting Actors Surrounding Guerrilla Gardening Sites.- Chapter 8. Guerrilla Gardeners, Urban Agriculture, Food and the Future.-Full Book Reference List.

Summary

The book explores how unused and under-used urban spaces – from grass verges, roundabouts, green spaces – have been made more visually interesting and more productive, by informal (and usually illegal) groups known as “guerrilla gardeners”. The book focuses on groups in the English Midlands but the work is set in a broad international context and reveals how and why they undertake this illegal activity. Guerrilla gardening is usually viewed uncritically and promoted as a worthwhile activity: this study provides a more balanced evaluation and focuses on its contribution in terms of local food production.

Product details

• Authors: Michae Hardman, Michael Hardman, Peter J Larkham, Peter J. Larkham, Peter Larkham, Peter J. Larkham
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.01.2016
• EAN: 9783319347912
• ISBN: 978-3-31-934791-2
• No. of pages: 208
• Dimensions: 157 mm x 13 mm x 237 mm
• Weight: 346 g
• Illustrations: X, 208 p. 35 illus., 34 illus. in color.
• Series: Urban Agriculture; Urban Agriculture
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Biology > Agriculture, horticulture; forestry, fishing, food; B, Sustainability, Social Inequality, Sustainable Development, Social & ethical issues, Agriculture, Urban & municipal planning, Social Structure, Social Inequality, Social Structure, Ecological science, the Biosphere, Biomedical and Life Sciences, Urban Ecology, Urban ecology (Biology), Gesellschaftliche Gruppen, Gemeinschaften und Identitäten