Go Green and Go Home: Top 5 Cities Cultivating Urban Gardening
Friends who urban garden together stay together.
According to Urban — a green project by the European Union and Erasmus+ Programme — community urban gardens provide an opportunity for constructive activities, community contributions, relationship building and interpersonal skill development. Plus, urban gardening contributes to climate change adaptation and the ecosystem dimension. As you can see, urban gardening is about more than just beautifying spaces.
Conserve Energy Future lists various benefits of urban farming. First, it can cultivate an interest in agriculture, especially among children. It also boosts food security, contributes to local economies by creating jobs, and it creates an environmental awareness. Last, but certainly not least, urban gardening also improves overall human body wellbeing. All that digging, mowing and raking? It burns calories (while you’re having fun), and researchers have linked gardening with reduced risks of obesity, diabetes, and heart diseases, Conserve Energy Future writes.
The benefits of urban farming are plentiful, no matter from which angle you look at it. Here are a few cities from across the world who are cultivating urban gardening:
Paris, France, paves the green road to urban farming
Photo by Sirisvisual on Unsplash
Forget about the Eiffel Tower as a must-see attraction, Paris is home to rooftops and walls that consist of 100s of hectares of vegetation. Thanks to the Parisculteurs initiative of 2016, the city is covering unused spaces to maintain biodiversity. The programme also addresses the sustainable use of resources, while incorporating social integration.
Brussels, Belgium, brings the focus back to home-grown goodness
Photo by Sergio Otoya on Unsplash
Brussels takes the phrase “from farmer to fork” seriously by supporting local urban and rural farms, in an aim to reduce food wastage. According to the agriculture blog Agritecture, a demand from residents for organic and locally grown produce has grown, resulting in a policy that calls for 30% reduction waste.
London, UK, looks to green labs for urban farming
Cities looking for rooftop and tunnel farming inspiration need to look no further than royal hub London, where urban agriculture and community gardening is as popular as a cuppa’ morning tea. Programmes such as Green Lab are creating agritech incubator workspaces for farming entrepreneurs and, much like in Brussels, there is great focus on creating communities that use and support sustainable food sources.
New York City, USA: an urban jungle garden
Photo by Megan Bucknall on Unsplash
The Big Apple takes a bite out of urban farming, despite its little space for anything other than a yellow taxi and a slice of Brooklyn deep dish pizza. Believe it or not, but this concrete jungle has over 500 community gardens and nearly 750 school gardens. Not to mention the 21, 000-square-foot urban garden that is GrowNYC Teaching Garden, where vegetable beds are made from recycled materials. Talk about the city where (urban gardening) dreams come to life.
Singapore takes green steps towards urban farming
Source: Community In Bloom Garden at Jurong Central Park / Facebook
Singapore is known for focusing on local organisations and innovations, and urban farming is no exception. Locals are encouraged to participate and cultivate urban farms, which the government supported through Community in Bloom. This project saw the construction of 1,500 community gardens.
