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German Kleingarten (Schrebergarten)

The main form of urban agriculture in German is citizen farms, that is, the government or farmers rent out farmland located in cities or suburbs to urban residents for the purpose of planting flowers, vegetables, fruit trees or operating family farming. Its main purpose is to allow citizens to experience the process of agricultural production and management and enjoy the pleasure of farming. Because the Kleingarten caters to people’s needs for returning to nature, leisure experience and obtaining safe food, it is welcomed by urban residents.

Main approach Township or county governments provide public land or lease land to farmers, and then lease it to urban residents who do not have agricultural land to cultivate and experience agriculture. The tenants shall apply according to the conditions announced by the government. The Tenant has entered into leases with the Government for a period of 25 to 30 years, and a management committee will be formed by the Tenant to take charge of the management of the Kleingarten. The annual rent of the Lessee shall be DM150 per person, and the annual dues of DM50 to the Management Committee of the Legal Person shall be used as the public affairs and environmental maintenance expenses of the Management Committee. At the same time, each Lessee shall be required to do at least one hour of voluntary labour per person per year to clean up the environment of the Park. It is up to the lessee to plant flowers, grass, fruits, vegetables, or yard operations in the citizen farm, but the products cannot be sold and can only be distributed to relatives and friends for consumption.

Five functions of the citizen farm: • Provide the pleasure of experiencing farming; • Provide healthy and self-sufficient food; • Provide places for leisure, entertainment and social interaction; • Provide a natural, green and beautified green environment; • Provide the best place for retirees or the elderly to spend their time.

Kleingartenanlage in Munich, photo taken from the Olympiaturm / Source: Dan Mihai Pitea via Wikipedia

Crates used for the cultivation of different spices, fruits and vegetables, commonly used in community farms.

The Yerba Buena Street Life Plan

At the outset of the project in 2010, there was little binding the distinct pockets of the Yerba Buena District together despite geographic proximity within the 12 city blocks and 11 miles of streetscapes. The historically industrial neighbourhood is plagued by broad transportation-oriented streets and banal streetscapes that neglect human scale, yet there are many noteworthy assets that have turned the district of warehouses and auto shops into one of the most enterprising neighbourhoods including small businesses, major corporations, and site of both the dot-com and current tech booms, complete with numerous hotels, bars, and restaurants. The district boasts the city’s highest concentration of museums and art galleries, and institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Moscone Convention Center, and Metreon and Westfield Malls. Simultaneously, the residential population includes senior, international, affordable housing, luxury residences, and a constant rotation of tourists for Moscone Convention Center’s conferences and the proximate cultural destinations. In an era where funding for public landscapes is diminishing, communities are more than ever required to develop new methods to contribute to the design of their public landscapes. Landscape architects can play an important role in leading citizen groups towards increasing the democratization and amount of public open space, both in the planning and the activation. The Yerba Buena Street Life Plan is a new standard for district-level planning, funded through a community benefit district, and a unique approach to empowering local community organizations to participate in improving their public realm. Projects range from small-scale improvements to district-wide strategies, to major open space projects, all of which can be implemented independently, and were vetted by the community. The Street Life Plan was conducted with the ultimate goal of implementing a multitude of small initiatives with the binding cause of nurturing public, urban life in the remnant open spaces amongst the hard landscapes of this district. The projects are meant to transmit a character for the district and prioritize comfort, delight, and sociality.

Improvements to Jessie East alley would turn the underused street into a neighbourhood gathering space with dining, public seating, and art, and has attracted interest for implementation that has brought it from a Street Life proposal to an active project.

Proposed as an innovative streetscape element to harness solar energy and activate sidewalks, this is now progressing to become a neighbourhood gathering place, providing workspace with electricity and wireless internet access.