From vacant land to urban fallows: a permacultural approach to wasted land in cities and suburbs
While vacant land in cities has long been considered a sign of decline, a growing literature now suggests that such land can serve valuable social and ecological functions. In this article, I argue that such approaches advocated to date, while beneficial, operate within a New Urbanist framework that...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Arizona Libraries
2019-07-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Political Ecology |
| Online Access: | https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/JPE/article/view/22949 |
| _version_ | 1830360143949201408 |
|---|---|
| author | Alex Korsunsky |
| author_facet | Alex Korsunsky |
| author_sort | Alex Korsunsky |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | While vacant land in cities has long been considered a sign of decline, a growing literature now suggests that such land can serve valuable social and ecological functions. In this article, I argue that such approaches advocated to date, while beneficial, operate within a New Urbanist framework that is essentially concerned with filling in vacant land with new 'green' projects. Unfortunately, such approaches are limited by a conceptualization of the city that treats inner city vacant lots as paradigmatic and makes invisible the systematic creation of functionally vacant land through zoning and building practices in low-density residential areas. Inspired by degrowth scholarship, I suggest that permaculture may provide the basis for an alternative approach based in the concept of fallowing more suited to the full range of vacant land present in American cities and suburbs. I explore the implications of such an approach through the practice of two permaculture-inspired intentional communities in the Pacific Northwest.
Key words: vacant land, permaculture, New Urbanism, intentional communities, commons, degrowth |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T03:13:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-65ec08c8f7754ce39fb73552815b162c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1073-0451 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T03:13:30Z |
| publishDate | 2019-07-01 |
| publisher | University of Arizona Libraries |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Political Ecology |
| spelling | doaj.art-65ec08c8f7754ce39fb73552815b162c2022-12-21T19:55:25ZengUniversity of Arizona LibrariesJournal of Political Ecology1073-04512019-07-0126128230410.2458/v26i1.2294922618From vacant land to urban fallows: a permacultural approach to wasted land in cities and suburbsAlex Korsunsky0Vanderbilt UniversityWhile vacant land in cities has long been considered a sign of decline, a growing literature now suggests that such land can serve valuable social and ecological functions. In this article, I argue that such approaches advocated to date, while beneficial, operate within a New Urbanist framework that is essentially concerned with filling in vacant land with new 'green' projects. Unfortunately, such approaches are limited by a conceptualization of the city that treats inner city vacant lots as paradigmatic and makes invisible the systematic creation of functionally vacant land through zoning and building practices in low-density residential areas. Inspired by degrowth scholarship, I suggest that permaculture may provide the basis for an alternative approach based in the concept of fallowing more suited to the full range of vacant land present in American cities and suburbs. I explore the implications of such an approach through the practice of two permaculture-inspired intentional communities in the Pacific Northwest. Key words: vacant land, permaculture, New Urbanism, intentional communities, commons, degrowthhttps://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/JPE/article/view/22949 |
| spellingShingle | Alex Korsunsky From vacant land to urban fallows: a permacultural approach to wasted land in cities and suburbs Journal of Political Ecology |
| title | From vacant land to urban fallows: a permacultural approach to wasted land in cities and suburbs |
| title_full | From vacant land to urban fallows: a permacultural approach to wasted land in cities and suburbs |
| title_fullStr | From vacant land to urban fallows: a permacultural approach to wasted land in cities and suburbs |
| title_full_unstemmed | From vacant land to urban fallows: a permacultural approach to wasted land in cities and suburbs |
| title_short | From vacant land to urban fallows: a permacultural approach to wasted land in cities and suburbs |
| title_sort | from vacant land to urban fallows a permacultural approach to wasted land in cities and suburbs |
| url | https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/JPE/article/view/22949 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alexkorsunsky fromvacantlandtourbanfallowsapermaculturalapproachtowastedlandincitiesandsuburbs |