City of Reykjavík rented vegetable gardens (matjurtagarðar), Iceland
Reykjavík, Iceland · Operator: レイキャビク市(Reykjavíkurborg)
Overview
A municipal scheme under which the City of Reykjavík rents out about 600 plots to residents on annual terms. Sites lie at seven locations inside the city — Vesturbær, Fossvogur, Laugardalur, Árbær, Grafarvogur, Kjalarnes and Meðalholt — plus Skammadalur in neighbouring Mosfellsbær. With a short, cool summer, growers concentrate on potatoes, cabbages and turnips.
Citizen participation
Residents apply each year for a plot and grow their own vegetables. Access begins on 1 May, earlier if the weather allows. Water is available at every site, but tools, plants and seed are not supplied. Free workshops at the Reykjavík Botanic Garden cover raising seedlings, tool maintenance and seasonal work.
Operating model
Paid rental of city land. For 2026 the fee is 7,760 krónur for a roughly 100 sq m plot at Skammadalur, 6,420 krónur for a standard plot and 5,180 krónur for an 8 sq m raised bed; the 2025 figures were 7,500, 6,200 and 5,000 krónur. Harvests are for the tenant's own household.
Impact
About 600 plots are let each year, giving residents a place to grow their own food. Applications open on 15 March; the round for summer 2026 has closed. No figures for participant numbers or yields are published.
Land tenure
City-owned land allocated to residents under an annual paid rental.
Crops
- ジャガイモ
- キャベツ類
- カブ
Scale
市が貸し出す区画は約600。うち約200区画は隣接するモースフェルスバイルのスカンマダールにあり1区画約100㎡、市内の標準区画は約20㎡、レイズドベッドの小区画は8㎡。開設年は公表されていない
Sources(2)
This entry is compiled from the public sources, official sites and research below.
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