Gradski vrtovi (Urban Gardens), Zagreb
Zagreb, Croatia · Operator: ザグレブ市(Grad Zagreb)
Overview
Zagreb's municipal allotment scheme, launched by a mayoral decision on 4 April 2013, divides city-owned land into plots where residents grow vegetables, berries, herbs and flowers for their own use. It has spread to 16 locations — including Stenjevec, Novi Zagreb (east and west), Peščenica-Žitnjak, Sesvete, Trnje, Maksimir and Podsused-Vrapče — with more than 2,252 plots. The city issues a gardening manual that encourages organic practice.
Citizen participation
Open to Zagreb residents who do not own, co-own or rent other cultivable land. Applicants are ranked by a points system covering social status, veteran status, pensioner status and household size. Plots are granted free of charge for two years, renewable if kept in good order.
Operating model
A municipal programme: the city prepares its own land and lends plots to residents free of charge, providing shared tool sheds, composting stations, water tanks and seating.
Impact
Free two-year tenancies and an allocation rule weighted towards social need have given lower-income households, pensioners and large families access to growing space in the city. Shared areas with composting facilities and gathering space also host workshops and neighbourhood activities.
Land tenure
Crops
- 野菜
- ベリー類
- ハーブ
- 花き
Scale
245,000 m² — 16カ所・約24.5ha、区画数2,252超。1区画は最大50㎡
In the media(1)
Web articles and features that cover this case.
Sources(1)
This entry is compiled from the public sources, official sites and research below.
Related cases
Seseragi Community Garden (Machi no Namagomi Ikashi-tai)
JPHino, Japan
A community garden in Hino City, Tokyo, started by citizens who believe 'kitchen waste is a treasure.' It collects and composts the kitchen waste of around 200 households and grows vegetables and flowers pesticide-free as a food-cycle garden. Naomi Shimpo studied its management and governance in detail in her 2021 and 2024 papers.
acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com+3
Baicaoyuan Community Garden
CNShanghai, China
Baicaoyuan ('herbal garden') is a roughly 200 m² resident-run garden in the central square of a Yangpu neighbourhood. Supported by Clover Nature School, it is a representative resident-managed community garden.
archive.shine.cn+1
Hongxu Habitat Garden
CNShanghai, China
Completed November 2019, a ~450 m² community 'habitat garden' reclaimed from a rubble dump, with native plants, a pond and vegetable beds that provide habitat for urban wildlife while connecting residents to nature. It is the first of Shanghai's habitat-garden network (24 gardens by 2023).
nature.org+1
Biohuerto Ayllu 21 (Villa El Salvador, Lima)
PELima, Peru
In an arid peripheral district of Lima, older women turned wasteland into a 1,400 m² agroecological garden. A resident-led response to food insecurity and the climate crisis, it puts urban agriculture at the heart of neighbourhood food and social life.
es.wikipedia.org+2