Participatory Design and Self-building in Shared Urban Open Spaces: Community Gardens and Casitas in New York City (Urban Agriculture)

"The book investigates the development of community gardens with self-built structures, which have existed as a shared public open space land use form in New York City's low-come neighborhoods like the South Bronx since the 1970s. These gardens have continued to be part of the urban landscape until today, despite conflicting land use interests, changing residents groups and contradictory city planning. Both community gardens and self-built structures are created in a participatory design and self-built effort by urban residents and are an expression of the individual gardeners' preferences, their cultural background and the decisions made by the managing residents' group in regards to the needs of their neighborhood. Ultimately community gardens with self-built structures are an expression of the people's will to commonly use this land for open and enclosed structures next to their homes in the city and need to be included in future urban planning."-- Provided by publisher Foreword 6 Contents 10 List of Figures 13 Chapter 1: Introduction 19 References 24 Chapter 2: The Emergence of Shared Gardens and Self-Built Structures in European Cities 25 Germany with Focus on Berlin 27 Austria with Focus on Vienna 49 Great Britain with Focus on London 56 France with Focus on Paris 66 References 72 Chapter 3: The Emergence of Shared Gardens and Self-Built Structures in North American Cities 75 The Emergence of Shared Gardens and Self-Built Structures in Cities in the United States 75 Philadelphia as United States’ Case Study 81 The Emergence of Shared Gardens and Self-Built Structures in Canadian Cities 86 Toronto as Canadian Case Study 88 References 90 Chapter 4: The Emergence of Community Gardens in New York with Focus on the South Bronx 92 Social and Economical Background of the South Bronx 92 Community Gardens and Urban Land Use 105 Community Gardens and Community Open Spaces 107 Community Gardens Versus Housing 114 References 126 Chapter 5: The Impact of Stakeholders on the Development of Community Gardens in the South Bronx 129 The Federal Government 129 The State and the Municipal Government 134 Banks 155 Insurance Companies 157 Landlords 158 Tenants 161 Organizations 162 References 165 Chapter 6: Organizing, Planning and Governing Community Gardens 168 Community Garden Members and the Economic Situation 169 Community Garden Members and the Social Situation 171 Community Gardens, Community Organizing and Community Change 179 Community Gardens and Community Planning 186 Community Gardens and Governance 192 Community Gardens and Public Attention 195 Community Gardens and Affordable Housing 199 Community Gardens and Open Space Planning 201 Interdependency between City Planning, Housing and Community Gardens 203 References 209 Chapter 7: Community Gardens and Self-Built Structures as a Form of Cultural Expression 212 Community Gardens, Shared Design Aesthetic and Culture 212 Design of Community Garden Elements and Cultural Context 215 The Casita as Puerto Rican Cultural Expression 220 The Casita in Puerto Rican Culture 222 The Development of the Casita in the Puerto Rican Context of the South Bronx 226 Other Self-Built Structures 230 The Batey 232 The Stage 234 The Chicken Coop 236 The Pig Roast 237 The Shrine and Other Artifacts 239 Rincon Criollo as Case Study of Community Gardens with Self-Built Structures 243 References 261 Chapter 8: Participatory Design of Community Gardens and Self-Built Structures: Lessons from Field Experiences 263 Participatory Design and Construction of Community Gardens 263 Participatory Design and Use of Shared Open Spaces 266 Involvement of Professionals in the Participatory Design Process 268 Participatory Building Process and Materials 269 Lessons from the Participatory Design of the “Gardenhaus” 271 Citywide Regulations for Self-Built Structures in Community Gardens 272 Participatory Development of the Gardenhaus 276 Looking Back at the Design of the Gardenhaus Structure 281 Lessons from the Participatory Design of the “Gardens for Healthy Communities Initiative” 282 The “Gardens for Healthy Communities Initiative” 283 Looking Back at the “Gardens for Healthy Communities Initiative” 289 References 291 Chapter 9: Conclusion 293 Reference 294 Front Matter ....Pages i-xviii Introduction (Carolin Mees)....Pages 1-6 The Emergence of Shared Gardens and Self-Built Structures in European Cities (Carolin Mees)....Pages 7-56 The Emergence of Shared Gardens and Self-Built Structures in North American Cities (Carolin Mees)....Pages 57-73 The Emergence of Community Gardens in New York with Focus on the South Bronx (Carolin Mees)....Pages 75-111 The Impact of Stakeholders on the Development of Community Gardens in the South Bronx (Carolin Mees)....Pages 113-151 Organizing, Planning and Governing Community Gardens (Carolin Mees)....Pages 153-196 Community Gardens and Self-Built Structures as a Form of Cultural Expression (Carolin Mees)....Pages 197-247 Participatory Design of Community Gardens and Self-Built Structures: Lessons from Field Experiences (Carolin Mees)....Pages 249-278 Conclusion (Carolin Mees)....Pages 279-280