Naslov
Cultivating Alternative Spaces – Zagreb's Community Gardens in Transition: From Socialist to Post-socialist Perspective

Autori
Slavuj Borčić, Lana ; Cvitanović, Marin ; Lukić, Aleksandar

Izvornik
Geoforum (0016-7185) 77 (2016); 51-60

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
community gardens ; socialism ; post-socialism ; Zagreb ; activism

Sažetak
This paper provides an in-depth analysis of community gardens in a (post)socialist setting during a time of key changes in their perception and management. Community gardens in Zagreb emerged in two specific economic and socio-cultural contexts and a diachronous approach to the study of urban gardens offers a unique insight into differences and similarities reflecting and contrasting those periods. Semi-structured interviews and non- participatory observation were employed. Results show that community gardens in Zagreb are multilayered places which satisfy diverse needs of the urban residents, including home grown food, socializing, recreation, contact with the nature, and supplementation for low pensions. They can also be seen as examples of heterotopias or alternative spaces during both examined periods. In the socialist period they were secluded, private, pseudo-rural places in a semiauthoritarian, communal, and (supposedly) urban and industrial society. In post-socialist Zagreb, characterized by an uncontrolled and unplanned spatial context reliant on neoliberal market-oriented principles, social insensitivity and exclusion, the new gardens are depicted as beacons of communal involvement, grassroots movements, and the ability of citizens to stand together and make their voices heard.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Sociologija

POVEZANOST RADA