Crisis and post-crisis urban gardening initiatives from a Southern European perspective: The case of Barcelona

Urban Farm DB summary

In Barcelona, Spain, the characterization and evolution of urban gardening initiatives in the context of the 2007-2008 economic crisis and post-crisis were investigated. Using qualitative methods including participant observation, literature review, and semi-structured interviews, three prominent initiatives (54 gardens by the end of 2016), namely the Network of Municipal Gardens, the Network of Communitarian Gardens, and the Empty Plots Plan, were analyzed. The results show that urban gardens within the city are an expression of different, non-exclusive meanings that explicitly or implicitly mobilize notions of political gardening in a crisis and post-crisis context.