Urban gardens as an urban transition strategy for the sustainability in the city of Málaga

Abstract

Urban agriculture has been an emerging phenomenon for several decades, and it has contributed new meanings to agricultural practice, beyond the productive one, it has endowed it a social function aimed to different population groups. And it can be seen as an opportunity to recover abandoned spaces, giving them a new identity in the city. In Malaga city 19 urban gardens have been inventoried, promoted by both public and private organizations. The aim of this paper is to analyze them: information, both cuantitative and cualitative, has been obtained from interviews with promoters of these orchards in order to highlight their most outstanding features in terms of operation, socio-economic characteristics of the users, management, motivations and typology. Our findings show not only the diversity of existing projects, but also their benefits related with the personal development of users, the family economy and the urban environment.