Family Urban Agriculture in Russia : Lessons and Prospects

The book results from research carried out by the authors since 1999 on urban gardening collectives in Russia, then from the extension of this research towards collective urban gardening in France, with some investigations in other European Union Member States and Brazil. This research was carried out within the framework of Kazan University (currently, the Institute of Administration and Territorial Development of the Federal University of Kazan) and the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA). It enabled the creation of an international research network entitled Sustainable Development of Cities: the Relationship between City-Dwellers and Nature. This research was developed with help from a three-year research contract (October 2009 – September 2012) with the GESSOL programme of the French Ministry of Ecology, on the theme of the use of urban and peri-urban soils for the sustainable development of cities. The final report of this research contract provides the basis for the book. Preface 6 Contents 9 List of Figures 13 List of Tables 15 List of Boxes 17 Chapter-1 18 Introduction 18 1.1 The Russian Experience in the Rediscovery of Urban Agriculture 18 1.2 Family Urban Agriculture in Russia Faced with the Ignored Relationship Between Urban Housing and Nature 19 1.3 A Dialogic Perspective to Identify the Universal Character of the Russian Experience 31 1.4 Networking Practices 34 Chapter-2 38 The Palimpsest of Urban Gardening in Russia 38 2.1 Current Situation 38 2.1.1 Large-Scale Multifunctional Gardening 38 2.1.2 Considerable Space for Allotment Gardens, Vegetable Gardens, and Dachas 43 2.2 Foundations 47 2.2.1 Words and Their Representations 47 2.2.2 Gardening, Science, and Social Transformation 51 2.3 1920s–1930s: The Allotment Garden Melting Pot 59 Chapter-3 64 A New Civil Right Won Under the Soviet Regime 64 3.1 The Consequences of War and Famine 64 3.2 A planned Policy 82 3.3 Winning the Right to Use Plots of Land as Holiday Destinations 87 Chapter-4 91 A Post-Soviet Phenomenon 91 4.1 The Crisis Period 1986–2000 91 4.2 Development and Transformation of Urban Gardening 93 4.2.1 A New Wave of Garden Creations 94 4.2.2 Privatisation: Towards a World of Small Landowners 95 4.2.3 Varying Trends 97 4.2.4 “Abandoned” Garden Plots 97 4.2.5 Development of Low-Density Housing: Cottages and Villages of Cottages 99 4.2.6 Future Changes 100 4.3 Consolidation of Allotment Gardens 108 4.3.1 A model Covering 10 Million Garden Plots 109 4.3.2 Improvements in the Plots of Land and Allotment Gardens 110 4.3.3 Governance Changes 111 Chapter-5 114 The Russian Urban Grower: Representations and Practices 114 5.1 The Urban Grower and His Garden 114 5.1.1 The ideal type of the Urban Grower of Russia 114 5.1.2 The Existential Relationship Between City-Dweller and Nature: Boris Pasternak 115 5.1.3 The Desire for a Peaceful Modern World 119 5.2 The Urban Grower and the Soil 124 5.2.1 The Influence of Dokuchaev and His Disciples 124 5.2.2 Pollution and its Representation 125 5.2.3 Cultivation Practices 127 5.3 A Crucial Issue: the Education of Children 132 5.3.1 Urban Children’s Representations of Soil, Earth, and Their Relationship with Nature 132 5.3.2 Possible Strengthening of an Educational Policy on Soil and Gardening 135 Chapter-6 138 In Favour of a New Perspective 138 6.1 Family Urban Agriculture as Part of the Wealth of Nations 139 6.1.1 The Therapeutic Effect: A “shock absorber” for Stress Caused by the Economic and Social Chaos of the 1990s 139 6.1.2 Contribution to the Food Supply 140 6.1.3 Improving the Environment 142 6.2 Integral Human Habitat as a Condition for Wellbeing 144 6.2.1 Individual and Social Development: By Cultivating Nature, Man Cultivates Himself 145 6.2.2 Restoring One’s Strength 148 6.2.3 Harmonising Lifestyles 150 6.3 Family Urban Agriculture to Eradicate Poverty 151 Chapter-7 153 A Continental Rhizome: Gardening Policies and Visions of Society 153 7.1 The Scandinavian and German Model 154 7.2 Post-Communist Countries 157 7.2.1 Countries of the Former Soviet Union 157 7.2.2 The Former Communist Countries of Central and Eastern Europe 159 7.3 Gardening, Socialism, and New Societies with Market Economy 164 7.3.1 Ideological Opposition of the 1940s and 1950s 165 7.3.2 Changing Policies of the 1950s and 1960s 166 7.3.3 The Transition to Other Kinds of Societies 168 Chapter-8 172 Western and Southern Europe viewed from a Russian Perspective 172 8.1 Substantial Inequality in Access to Nature 174 8.1.1 Integral Human Habitat of Detached Houses and Second Homes 174 8.1.2 Apartments Disconnected from Land 175 8.2 The Microcosm of Family Allotment Gardens 177 8.2.1 An Uneven Level of Institutionalisation, a Small Place and a Limited Range of Functions 178 8.2.2 A Legacy of the Industrial Revolution: Potential Poverty Alleviation 182 8.2.3 An Unused Potential 188 8.3 Current Reorganisations 193 8.3.1 Migratory Movements and Population Changes in Allotment Gardens 194 8.3.2 New Allotment Gardens to Tackle Poverty, the Deterioration in Social Ties, Antisocial Behaviour, and Violence 195 8.3.3 Activists Inventing Thriftier, More Autonomous Lifestyles with Greater Solidarity 201 Chapter-9 204 Universal Meaning 204 Appendix 209 Annex 1. The Capitals: Moscou, Saint-Pétersbourg, Kazan 209 Annex 2. The Collective Gardens “War Veterans” (СНТ “Ветеран войны”) 211 Annex 3. The Collective Gardens “No. 7 of the Aircraft Engine Manufacturing Company/KMPO Kazan”: massif Soukhaya rieka (СНТ Сад No7 КМПО/“Сухая река”). 212 Annex 4. The Collective Gardens “Victoria Island” (СНТ “Виктория-остров”) 213 Glossary 213 Land, Soil, Topsoil 213 Landholding and Ownership in Russia 214 Historical Forms 214 Other Current Forms 214 Allotment Garden Buildings 215 General Summary 215 Summary of Each Chapter 216 Chapter 1. Introduction 216 Chapter 2. The Palimpsest of Urban Gardening in Russia 216 Chapter 3. A New Civil Right Won Under the Soviet Regime 217 Chapter 4. A Post-Soviet Phenomenon 217 Chapter 5. The Russian Urban Grower: Representations and Practices 218 Chapter 6. In Favour of a New Perspective 218 Chapter 7. A Continental Rhizome: Gardening Policies and Visions of Society 219 Chapter 8. Western and Southern Europe Viewed from a Russian Perspective 219 Chapter 9. Universal Meaning 220 Bibliography 221 From the back cover: A significant phenomenon that affects nearly two-thirds of Russian city-dwellers, family urban agriculture with its allotment gardens, allotment vegetable gardens, and dacha allotments grew out of a unique history and cultural representations. The contemporary Urban Grower in Russia holds a legacy of the famines and traumatisms of the Second World War, which prompted Soviet authorities to encourage the development of allotments and gardening education, which they had previously opposed. The school system gave Urban Growers a literary education that connects working the soils and working plants with beauty, the good life, and culture. Urban Growers have won the right to build a small house on their garden plots to make a place for holidays that enlarge their living space. The allotment gardens of Russia are the most developed sign of a rhizome that extends over the neighbouring countries of Asia and a large portion of Europe. Its history and current forms are different from the allotments of Western Europe. But some similarities are identifiable. The similarities observed suggest a possible common future, insofar as the Russian experience conveys universal teachings. It opens the way for thinking of an alternative to the single-family house that is accused of polluting and destroying the soil. It shows the possibility of reorganising the use of urban and periurban soils to increase the resilience to crises in terms of food security and resistance to emotional and psychological stress. It questions the representations of the international community on integral human habitat by showing how people need immediate, direct, and active contact with nature. This experience offers many useful references for resolving common problems of the major cities in the world: food security, poverty, violence, environmental issues, and housing crises. Interrupted for almost a century, a new international scientific dialogue including the Urban Grower of Russia can become established on these subjects, which are decisive for the future of a definitively urban world. A significant phenomenon that affects nearly two-thirds of Russian city-dwellers, family urban agriculture ĺl with its allotment gardens, allotment vegetable gardens, and dacha allotments ĺl grew out of a unique history and cultural representations. The contemporary Urban Grower in Russia holds a legacy of the famines and traumatisms of the Second World War, which prompted Soviet authorities to encourage the development of allotments and gardening education, which they had previously opposed. The school system gave Urban Growers a literary education that connects working the soils and working plants with beauty, the good life, and culture. Urban Growers have won the right to build a small house on their garden plots to make a place for holidays that enlarge their living space.℗l The allotment gardens of Russia are the most developed sign of a rhizome that extends over the neighbouring countries of Asia and a large portion of Europe. Its history and current forms are different from the allotments of Western Europe. But some similarities are identifiable. The similarities observed suggest a possible common future, insofar as the Russian experience conveys universal teachings. It opens the way for thinking of an alternative to the single-family house that is accused of polluting and destroying the soil. It shows the possibility of reorganising the use of urban and periurban soils to increase the resilience to crises in terms of food security and resistance to emotional and psychological stress. It questions the representations of the international community on integral human habitat by showing how people need immediate, direct, and active contact with nature.℗l This experience offers many useful references for resolving common problems of the major cities in the world: food security, poverty, violence, environmental issues, and housing crises. Interrupted for almost a century, a new international scientific dialogue including the Urban Grower of Russia can become established on these subjects, which are decisive for the future of a definitively urban world Front Matter....Pages i-xvii Introduction....Pages 1-20 The Palimpsest of Urban Gardening in Russia....Pages 21-46 A New Civil Right Won Under the Soviet Regime....Pages 47-73 A Post-Soviet Phenomenon....Pages 75-97 The Russian Urban Grower: Representations and Practices....Pages 99-122 In Favour of a New Perspective....Pages 123-137 A Continental Rhizome: Gardening Policies and Visions of Society....Pages 139-157 Western and Southern Europe viewed from a Russian Perspective....Pages 159-190 Universal Meaning....Pages 191-195 Back Matter....Pages 197-215