What if luxury were a little green space? In our gray, concrete cities, an ecological revolution is taking shape: community gardens.
These communal spaces, which can be found all over the world, are as ecological as they are social. Zeweed introduces you to these green spaces that belong to all those who care for them.
In France, this initiative dates back to the end of the 19th century. Jardins ouvriers (which changed their name to “jardins familiaux” after the Second World War) were oases of greenery made available by municipalities to the working classes.
The idea was to offer greater social equality, since green spaces had previously been reserved for the wealthy, who could afford houses with gardens, second homes and trips to the countryside.
At a time when food was in short supply, it was the garden that provided the worker with the means to feed his family… while keeping him away from places of debauchery, such as the cabaret where he spent all his wages.
Behind a certain progressivism, however, hints of paternalism emerge from the concept’s primordial compost.
Today, the spirit of the community garden lives on. In some working-class neighborhoods, such as Font-Vert in Marseille, these spaces are sometimes the source of a veritable metamorphosis in the community that hosts them. This is shown in a report extracted from a France 2 program broadcast in 2016:
The community garden is at once a source of exchange (each member teaches the others the techniques and best practices he or she has previously acquired), of savings (local residents have access to fresh vegetables at lower cost) and even of social networking, as demonstrated by the mechoui at the end of the video.
A small party that serves as a “reward”, to congratulate the volunteers for their year-long work on the garden.
Different configurations exist, and the association Le jardin des possibles offers a hedonistic version focused on sustainable development: the shared garden.
On the grounds of a convent in Royan, France, volunteers set up veritable works of green, reminiscent of French gardens; and they also have the opportunity to cultivate their own acre of land (under the supervision of a more seasoned gardener).
Cultural events are organized around the garden, including exhibitions, yoga workshops and introductions for youngsters.
By raising children’s awareness of what nature has to offer, a virtuous circle is set in motion, benefiting the whole community.
Their garden also helps to reduce the amount of municipal waste, since a compost area open to all allows food scraps to be thrown away and used as fertilizer.
Similar projects can be found in Belgium, Germany, Canada, Japan and England, but my favorite is undoubtedly the most poetic of them all, in Paris.
In the “petite ceinture” (formerly reserved for trains that ran around the city, until 1934), numerous plots of land have been developed by neighborhood associations in the 14th and 18th arrondissements of Paris.
An area long neglected has become a healthy lung for the City of Light.
Who says public transport can’t be made fun?
