Arch. Myriam B. Mahiques Curriculum Vitae

Monday, April 4, 2011

What is Guerrilla Gardening?


Some months ago, I´ve seen a front lawn with an intensive plantation, that included vegetables, in Dana Point. I like this intention of planting everywhere in the neighborhoods, though it´s not always so ¨pacific´..... Let us see what Guerrilla Gardening is:

¨PURPOSE:To introduce more greenery and gardening into the urban environment.
OVERVIEW:First coined by Liz Christy and her Green Guerrilla group in 1973, guerilla gardening is now an international movement. Although there are many per-mutations, guerrilla gardening is the act of gardening on public or private land without permission. Typically,the sites chosen are vacant or underutilized properties in urban areas. The direct re-purposing of the land is often intended to raise awareness for a myriad of social and environmental issues, including sustainable food systems, improving neighborhood aesthetics, and the power of short-term, collaborative local action.When applied to contested land, guerilla gardeners of-ten take action under the cover of night, where veg-etables may be sowed, or flower gardens planted and cared for without incurring great risk. Guerilla gardening is an exellent tactic for instantly im-prove an urban neighborhood. Often times, gardens are cared for years after they were first created illegally. In-deed, the first garden started in vacant New York City lot by the Green Guerilla’s became so loved that it is now maintained by volunteers and the New York City Parks Department. This is how tactical urbanism is in-tended to work.¨

From ¨Tactical Urbanism¨, p. 11

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