Case studies Ireland

Overview:

Allotments are a traditional form of urban agriculture and have historically been linked to industrialisation and urbanisation. While the historical and cultural origins of allotments may be grounded in the predicament of the rural working class (Crouch, 1992) they also quickly became part of the fabric of the urban landscape. Throughout the 19^th and 20^th Centuries the number of urban allotments increased across Europe. Flandrin (1999) argues that the outstanding features of these two centuries include a never-ending Industrial Revolution, a rural exodus and incredible urban growth even in non-industrial countries. During Europe’s industrialisation large numbers of workers and their families migrated from rural areas to the cities. Allotment gardens were established to help improve their socio-economic situation (Kasch, 2001 cited in Holmer et al, 2003, p. 29).

Food security became increasingly important during the first half of the 20^th century, during World War I and II, and within this allotments became a major source of food provision. As the war effort came to a close allotments began to decline. Later from the 1970s onwards as cities went through a process of urban regeneration and post-industrial growth the urban allotment culture began to further dwindle.

In recent years this relationship has begun to shift and allotments are once again on the increase. This may be due to an increase in gardening and cookery programmes, environmental issues, issues of sustainability, economic downturns, a demand for greener spaces in urban areas, a demand for alternative leisure and community spaces, and a response to concerns of unhealthy diets among others. Gorz (1982) argues that now few people are economically reliant on an allotment and contemporary allotment sites represent an activity chosen for spare time but also because of their cultural significance (Cited in Crouch, 1992, p. 234). While Gorz (1982) argues that allotments provide spaces of recreation it must also be acknowledged that this is not the case in all contexts. There is a growing literature on the resurgence in urban agriculture and its link to economic necessity. Different groups engage in urban agriculture for a variety of reasons and gardening is arguably not choice and recreation for all participants. There is also an increasing awareness of the need for cities to counter issues of food security and climate change through a greater emphasis on self-sufficiency. The burgeoning  of allotments; community gardens and other urban agriculture initiative can also be linked to the response to food price inflation; a desire to reduce food miles and the growing provision of land in de-industrialised cities and post-industrial landscapes undergoing contemporary economic downturns.

In all contemporary allotments provide space for a variety of populations and experiences and opportunities for both working classes and middle classes to grow fresh fruit and vegetables. Allotments are becoming an increasing part of the landscape of the contemporary city. In some sites and plots there is a shift in an understanding of these spaces as only representing spaces of growth to a representation of these sites as lived places.

The history of allotments in Ireland is closely tied to the country’s long link with Britain and can be traced back to a charitable organisation called the Vacant Land Cultivation Society which initially provided allotments free of charge to the poor of Dublin. In 1916, during World War I allotments expanded in Britain in order to find alternative ways of producing food. This scheme was extended to Ireland and in 1916 the City Allotments Schemes was established in Belfast and Dublin (Hennessy, 2004). Allotments developed in Ireland over the following decades and in the 1940s there were up to 40,000 around the country. However it is noteworthy that allotments declined rapidly in the Irish landscape and it is argued that by 2004 they had virtually disappeared (Shaw, Galway Advertiser, April 23, 2009). In 2009 the then Minister for State and Food, Trevor Sargent launched a campaign called ‘Get Ireland Growing’. This campaign was picking up on a trend already underway. The website www.Irishallotments.net has reported a steady rise in people looking for local allotments since 2008. The disappearance in allotments in the Irish landscape is at least in part attributable to the decline in sites available due to a high demand for development land in and around the cities during Ireland’s economic boom. However, their revival and promotion by local authorities and other sectors means that allotments are once again a feature of the urban and suburban landscape. Allotments have become part of the everyday social and spatial life worlds of urban and suburban and dwellers. Allotments have become an increasingly prevalent landscape in the Greater Dublin Area as demand and provision increases.

 

Abstract:

In our case study allotment gardens are referred to as spaces where individuals lease out, or are assigned, a particular bounded space to cultivate. In this way while the space of the allotment garden may be public the space of individual plots is privately utilised. Allotment gardens while providing space for cultivation are also creative spaces. These spaces are creatively produced within a communal framework and are therefore public spaces. However they represent a blurring of the boundaries between public and private space within the wider urban landscape. Allotment gardens exist in contrast to other recreational spaces in the city which are designed by planners for public use.  This case study aims to capture this creative process through an understating of  the following: boundaries and the spatial composition of allotments; how place in the allotment gardens is understood, imagined and imaged and how plot holders produce a sense of place; personalisation of plots and allotments as lived spaces. This case study provides a sociological and ethnographical study of allotment gardens in the Greater Dublin Area with a view to capturing the aestheticization of these spaces alongside their spatial configuration. This will provide a framework to explore social interaction within the allotment gardens and wider processes of interaction beyond their boundaries.

Objectives:

• A visual and spatial understanding of sites
• What is the aesthetic characteristics of allotment gardens
• How do plot holders view and understand these spaces
• How are these landscapes visualised, understood and ultimately lived

 

Potential of allotments gardens

• The creative potential of allotment gardens in an urban context
• The capacity allotment gardens provide for local action
• The capacity of allotment gardens to provide a space for learning and information exchange and in contributing to environmental awareness
• Potential for generating mixing between different cultural groups
• An examination of the social impact of allotments.
• The role of Allotment Gardens in the social tissue of the urban landscape

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