Contested Greenspace Solidarities?
Asymmetric Valuation Compromises and Civic-Material Tensions in Copenhagen Allotment Gardens
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Abstract
Urban allotment gardens constitute urban natures with a rich history as well as potential public redevelopment land. While many cities in Europe struggle to protect allotment gardens from competing land-use forces, in Copenhagen, allotments are classified as valuable urban nature and enjoy special protection. We analyze the social and political conditions and consequences of this unique situation. Taking a closer look at the governance arrangements and what we refer to as asymmetric civic-public compromises enabling the protection, we show how this is resulting in new material conflicts between civic and municipal actors. We argue that the conflicts are related to the unresolved issue of competing visions of civic, green, and market sustainability shaping contemporary urban development in Copenhagen and beyond and which are starkly revealed within allotment gardens.
Contributor Notes
Nicola C. Thomas is JSPS post-doc researcher at Hosei University in Tokyo, Japan. Her current research looks into civic-public urban greenspace collaborations in post-industrial Japanese cities. Previous research at the HafenCity University Hamburg, University of Copenhagen and University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland looked at allotment garden policies in Europe in relation to sustainability politics. Her work is located at the intersection of sociology and urbanism and she has published in urban studies, environmental planning and urban sociology. nicolacharlotte.thomas.78@hosei.ac.jp; ORCID:
Anders Blok is associate professor of sociology at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. His current research looks at civic engagement with urban nature and wider sustainability politics, comparing civic engagement scenes across Danish cities (and beyond). He has published widely in environmental sociology, urban studies, science and technology studies, and social theory. Recently, he is co-editor (with Celia Roberts and Ignacio Farías) of The Routledge Companion to Actor-Network Theory (Routledge 2020) and co-editor (with Ignacio Farías) of Urban Cosmopolitics: Agencements, Assemblies, Atmospheres (Routledge 2016). abl@soc.ku.dk; ORCID: