• A response to Barry Brannan, Comment 1, HERE:
Garden allotments in Switzerland
Barry, not sure if it is necessary to play Asia versus Europe regarding food production within city/suburban environments.
There is a tremendous, ever growing interest for garden allotments in European cities. Large areas are routinely separated out for these gardens and, with the help of City Councils, fiercely defended against the onslaught of land hungry developers.
Just returning from extensive travel in Europe focussing on liveability models we can confirm the above.
Over the last decade or so the rules of cultivation in such allotments have been strongly tightened and the use of fertilizers and pesticides vigorously regulated.
While food production on the many relatively large suburban blocks could be a good idea (provided that they organise themselves into co-operatives for know-how sharing and marketing) we note that despite much talk about this over many decades, much fewer suburbanites here plant food compared to other countries.
Taking advantage of existing sprawl may have some merit, if
a) further sprawl is prevented and
b) suburban planting is done with a degree of serious organization and pressure to succeed.
Justifying further sprawl with the idea that it would be good for food production is too narrow a view and can be a counterproductive.
Results on the ground show that by far the greatest success achieved in personal/family/interest group planting can be seen where the allotments are in close proximity of medium density urban environments.
• The Importance of Green Spaces in a City
INTRODUCTION
The importance of green spaces in a city is almost universally recognised. Planning techniques to ensure there is a proportion of local open space available in any new development are standard professional practise across the world in all city forms and types. This does not always ensure that the best kind of greening occurs and in old parts of cities there is a need to find new ways to make open space available.
Below are some case studies of more creative processes that have made nature a more significant part of the urban system.
REHABILITATION OF URBAN WATER WAYS
The rehabilitation of urban wetlands and creeks has become a symbol of the greening of the city.
Register (1986) has shown how to rehabilitate an urban drain in Berkeley where one of the first city drains was converted back into an attractive piece of urban ecological landscape. This drain runs through a dense urban area. A similar refurbished creek which was once a concrete drain in Zurich is part of a high density housing complex with agricultural allotments adjacent to it.
The refurbished creek, in inner Zurich was once fed into the sewer system in order for the water to be cleaned up before entering the Lake of Zurich. This drain was exhumed by the developer of an urban village and now percolates through the area and assists in giving the development a more natural quality. The urban village, located on the junction of a light rail line and trolley bus line to reduce car use, is built on a disused quarry site near the centre of Zurich. It contains a number of ecological features which contributed to the developer being granted some significant density bonuses. For example, all water that falls on the site is captured there and the on-site compensation basin has become an attractive water feature of the development with boardwalk and seating area integrated with it. The developer also allowed land surrounding the water area to undergo a natural ecological succession by only providing soil and hollow logs so that native plant species and local small mammals and frogs would reinhabit the area.
Photo 1. An urban village in Zurich on an LRT line.
The development incorporates a number of ecological features described above.
Photo 2. A view from Uetliberg in Zurich, showing a green corridor linked to an exhumed waterway.
Extensive community allotments are visible in the foreground associated with older-style cooperative housing.
Zurich has other examples where creeks, previously diverted to the sewer system, are being brought back to the surface, in order to create havens for birds and many aquatic species. It is possible to do this now become the sources of the original pollution have been cleaned up and the creek water no longer requires treatment before entering the lake. Another creek in Zurich has been brought back along a street. It is possible to identify these sites in Zurich through the serpentine green corridors that are created, providing important links between rural areas and open space across the city.
URBAN AGRICULTURE
The expression of nature in cities is not restricted to the rehabilitation of water-courses, but extends to other features such as agricultural or garden allotments dotted throughout the city, (a particularly strong tradition in European cities), extensive common garden areas around housing complexes, urban forests and community gardens. There are many good examples of these other forms of urban nature around the world.
Zurich again is a showpiece of a medium density, transit-oriented European urban region (47 persons/ha) which has retained an exceptionally green character through its extensive use of garden allotments, its commitment to preserving large forested areas on the ridges all around the city, and its retention of extensive common garden areas around almost all apartments and other housing areas.
Photo 3 to 7. Sections of housing in the inner area of Zurich demonstrate how high density apartments are embraced with extensive green areas, including generous community allotments.
Garden allotments consist of sizeable pieces of land divided into a series of small parcels which are used by individuals and families as a place to grow a wide array of flowers, vegetables and fruit. In Zurich, they are often found abutting or adjacent to forested areas, creating an urban landscape that in parts looks more like the country than the city. Each allotment usually features a small shed or miniature ‘house’ which is used to store gardening equipment and other items such as barbeques for summer recreation. They are not supposed to be used as residences, but in practice many do use them in this way in summer time for short periods. Composting of organic waste on these sites is standard practice, as it is in the common garden areas around virtually every apartment complex in Zurich.
Photo 8. A community allotment with extensive horticulture and vegetable growing is nestled between apartments on three sides.
Photo 9 and 10. Community allotments provide opportunities for Zurich’s residents to develop highly productive garden areas and small buildings that receive heavy usage during spring and summer months.
An interesting aside to this very prevalent commitment to composting, is the city’s policy on garbage disposal. Garbage can only be disposed of in special bags purchased from local supermarkets at a very considerable price. Garbage left on the street in any other form of container is not collected. For economic reasons it is important for residents to utilise each bag to its maximum extent, so that the disposal of green wastes in this way would be almost unthinkable. Interestingly, supermarkets in Zurich are also forbidden to supply plastic bags for shopping. Customers must bring their own bags or pay a significant sum to purchase strong paper bags at the checkouts.
The effect of the garden allotment approach to green space and productive land in the city is to consolidate, in quite large areas, a lot of the open space which in lower density cities would be scattered across the landscape in the form of often underutilised front and back yards. These large allotment areas in Zurich appear in the most unlikely places, such as next to a large warehouse distribution center, virtually in the CBD of the city near the central railway station.
Photo 11. A large community allotment adjacent to a grocery distribution outlet near the centre of Zurich and the main railway station.
As well, the common garden areas around apartment complexes in Zurich, which are often concealed from view from the road, boast extensive communal space. This land is frequently exploited in a creative way to produce colourful and diverse gardens, as well as very productive fruit and vegetable plots.
Photo 12 and 13. Most medium density private and public housing developments in Zurich are surrounded by highly productive land that provides a sense of spaciousness and contact with nature. The photo on the right shows one of the forested ridge tops that characterise the Zurich region.
It would appear that in a city such as Zurich, despite lower standards of private open space, the access to nature and productive land is of a higher standard than in automobile cities where the demands on land for sprawling housing, roads and car parks is so intense that it defeats the possibility of preserving significant pieces of nature in the midst of the city.
Download:
allotments_Zürich.doc
