Urban Gardens vs. Community Gardens: Tensions and Trajectories for Urban Agriculture in Istanbul

Abstract

Through a discussion of ongoing urban gardening practices in Yedikule Bostanlari and Kuzguncuk Bostani, this paper analyzes the food movement’s convoluted relationship with urban agriculture in Istanbul. The paper argues that as urban agriculture initiatives both are significant for generating community and proposing alternative uses for urban space by fostering food production in the city. Yet, the kind of community they generate and the type of urban agriculture they espouse to conserve are different. More importantly, as urban food production spaces, they do relatively little to mitigate the effects of structural problems that the food movement has underlined. As such, even though they are examples of urban agriculture in practicum, their aspirations do not readily associate with those of the food movement.