To preserve the spread of urban gardening, activists are beginning to map and document the many haphazard community gardens to gain recognition from landlords and city officials in hopes of warding off bulldozers.
It's undoubted that an urban food revolution is taking place in America's cities. And despite the growing number of urban farms and community gardens, and the growing appreciation for their benefit to communities (see here, here, and here.), threats from a lack of land tenure have driven activists to develop hard data supporting their contributions to local food systems and the economy.
"They're proactively surveying gardens in New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago in hopes that hard data - servings harvested, revenues earned, and more - will make landlords think twice before summoning the bulldozers," says Grist's Christopher Weber.
For example, from sixty-seven of the estimated five-hundred community gardens in New York City, 87,690 pounds of food was yielded, with an estimated value of over $200,000. With firmly documented numbers like these, activists hope landlords and city governments will be more welcoming of urban gardens, and view them as a more permanent fixture of urban systems, rather than something haphazard and temporary.
Read the full story: Counting the harvest: How numbers can save urban gardens
Pittsburgh to Gain a 23-Acre, $10 Million Urban Farm
The Hilltop Urban Farm project is moving along in Pittsburgh. Few, if any, community gardens have been built on this scale before.
Urban Farming Model Takes Off In Boston Suburb
A suburban farming model based on shared private garden plots springs up in Needham, Massachusetts. Could Kate Canney's experiment be an antidote to the challenge of finding farmland that plagues prospective farmers nationwide?
The Community-Building Power of Communal Gardens
Planted to solve a perceived food desert problem, urban gardens are harvesting more than just fresh, nutritious food. Neighborhoods surrounding gardens are seeing surprising declines in violent crime.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
Philadelphia to invest $2 billion into upgrading city airports as PHL places last in customer satisfaction
Modernizations to Philadelphia's airports will include baggage system upgrades and a new automated parking garage guidance system.
The LA housing policies making developers turn away from the city
Despite LA’s housing shortage, developers say the city’s "mansion-tax" and pandemic-era policies make it an unappealing place to build housing.
New density bill would require 7 California cities to establish regional transit hubs
The bill would also require major cities in California to permit high-rise residential buildings.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello