Moving towards a green tomorrow : urban allotment gardens and the "new green city"

Abstract

This article will present empirical results from an ethnographic research project looking into the transformation of the Pergolenviertel allotment garden site in Hamburg, Germany. Due to a new housing policy coming into action in 2011, the site was to be closed down and the land used for a new large scale housing project. A group of the affected plot holders however protested against the intended plan by starting a local initiative and filing a law suit against the plan. As a result, the original development plan was changed to allow for approx. 150 of the original 330 urban allotment gardens to remain on the housing development site, together with the new buildings. This was a decision that planners from the district planning department called a pioneering moment for Hamburg’s urban development. Based on interviews with key stakeholders, the article will retrace the transformation process and ask how in the process different, often conflicting visions of the future land use were articulated and negotiated, and whether the compromise can be considered as a pathway towards a new, green city of tomorrow.