The thesis deals with the phenomenon of allotment gardens. Lots of them have been closed down currently and their functions have been questioned. The aim of the thesis is to find out a historical context of allotment gardens and a current state in a chosen one situated in Prague. The emphasis is put on social, economic and environmental aspects. These aspects are chosen because of the evaluation of the allotment garden in terms of the sustainable development and its environmental, economic, social institucional and social individual parts. The first part of the thesis provides general insight of the issues. It also deals with history of allotment gardens, reasons of their foundation and their development during the time. The second part of the thesis consists of the case study of two allotment gardens on Libeň Island in Prague. They physically adjoins each other and have a common historical development. People from both sites are connected with personal relationship. That is the reason why they could be considered as the one society. This part presents how it works inside these two allotment gardens as well as their importance for gardeners and for wider society with particular atention of environmental, economic and social aspects mentioned before. To illustrate the atmosphere of the place part of...

Cette thèse est consacrée à l’évolution de la notion de jardin collectif et de leur place dans la ville. Elle s’appuie tout d’abord sur une mise en perspective historico-géographique de la notion de jardin dans le bassin méditerranéen, entre orient et occident, de l’antiquité à nos jours. La notion de jardin a pris, en effet, au cours du temps des acceptions très différentes, jardins nourriciers ou jardins d’agréments, mais aussi jardins privés, jardins publics et jardins collectifs. Nous resserrons ensuite notre approche sur les jardins collectifs, jardins ouvriers, jardins familiaux et aujourd’hui jardins partagés. Pour cela nous focalisons notre recherche sur l’agglomération lyonnaise de la fin du 19ème siècle à nos jours. Cette analyse historico-géographique s’appuie à la fois sur un travail d’archives et sur une cartographie des jardins. Pour associer, profondeur historique et approche spatiale, nous interrogeons les facteurs historiques, politiques, démographiques, économiques et sociaux qui, durant cette période, se révèlent déterminants dans la localisation et les usages des jardins collectifs. Cette analyse des dynamiques spatiales de création de jardins tout au long du 20ème siècle, reflète l’évolution de leur place et de leurs fonctions dans la ville. Ceci nous permet de révéler à la fois des valeurs et des fonctions attribuées aux jardins qui ont une forte stabilité dans le temps, alors que d’autres renvoient à des conceptions et à des préoccupations historiquement comme géographiquement situées. Pour cela, nous attachons une attention particulière à resituer la question des jardins collectifs dans les transformations des politiques urbaines, avec pour la période récente la montée en puissance des préoccupations liées au développement durable et à la place de la nature en ville. / This PhD thesis deals with the evolution of the notion of collective garden and their place and functions in the city. Firstly, on the basis of an historical and geographical perspective, it provides a background of the notion of garden in the Mediterranean area, between East and West, from the ancient world to the modern day. The concept of garden has taken over time very different meanings, food-producing garden or pleasure garden, but also private gardens, public and community gardens.Then our approach focuses on collective gardens, namely workers' gardens, family gardens and community gardens. Our research focuses on the city of Lyon and its metropolitan area from the late 19th century to today. This historical and geographical analysis is based on both an archival work and a cartographic approach. To mix historical depth and spatial approach we inquire about the historical, political, demographic, economic and social factors that determine the location and the uses of collective gardens. This analysis of the spatial dynamics throughout the twentieth century reflects the evolution of their place and their functions in the city. This allows us to identify the values and functions of collective gardens that have a high stability over time, while others refer to conceptions and concerns which are historically and geographically situated. We thus pay particular attention to place the issue of community gardens in transformations of urban policies, characterized for the recent period by the increasing influence of sustainable development concerns and emerging issues on the place of nature in cities.

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore how a landscape architect may help to address environmental decay and the threat of food scarcity that are the results of rapid urban growth. For this urban renewal scheme, it is proposed that the underutilized open spaces within the city are reclaimed and interconnected in order to maximize their potential, forming a continuous landscape network. It is believed that this landscape network needs to function beyond mere beautification in order to be successful and productive. A multifunctional strategy is thus brought forward, as emphasis is placed upon providing for food security and realizing the city’s wasted resources. Along with related economic and ecological advantages, ways in which open space may be more sustainably managed are explored. Acknowledging the sheer lack of municipal funds, community involvement is believed to be the catalyst of this vision. Surrounding neighbourhoods are hence proposed to be the maintainers of their surrounding open spaces, decreasing the monetary pressures on the authorities. Emphasis is placed on ways in which communities may be incorporated through designing for flexibility, pride of ownership and sense of belonging. A new identity that ties in with the original genius of place is ultimately promoted through this meaningful utility parkland. An abandoned stretch of land along the Walker Spruit between Pretoria’s Sunnyside East and Clydesdale suburbs served as a model for testing the hypothesis of a spatially continuous, linear and productive community park. / Dissertation ML(Prof)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Architecture / Unrestricted