The institutionalisation of urban community gardens in Cape Town, South Africa

Abstract

Urban community gardens, once seen as a counter to neoliberal subjectivity, are now perceived as inadvertently reinforcing neoliberal dominance, challenging the progressive goals of urban gardening. This study investigates how the state shapes urban community gardens in alignment with neoliberal principles, potentially diluting their intended advantages. By analysing policies and interviewing state actors supporting urban gardening initiatives and activists, I argue that the state actively cultivates neoliberal subjectivities in these contexts. Unfortunately, state policies and projects often fail to address the root causes of food and nutrition insecurity in urban areas. This neoliberalisation of urban community gardening diminishes their potential to act as tools for advancing food justice in historically disadvantaged communities in Cape Town. Nevertheless, there is hope in the agency of gardeners who are not passive participants in this process. I conclude that relying on the state to implement projects for a more equitable food system may not be a dependable strategy. Instead, urban gardeners must carefully select their allies to effectively pursue their goals.

CULTIVATING FOOD JUSTICE: Redefining Harvest Sales for Sustainable Urban Agriculture in Low‐Income Cape Town post Covid‐19

“…Many urban gardeners in the global South engage in gardening to generate income and alleviate their socioeconomic conditions (see Simatele et al, 2012;Smart et al, 2015;d'Alessandro et al, 2018;Rao et al, 2022;Kanosvamhira, 2023a). Gardeners typically generate income by selling to neighbours, vendors and markets (Bbun and Thornton, 2013;d'Alessandro et al, 2018;Kanosvamhira, 2023c;Kanosvamhira and Tevera, 2022). These UCGs, which sell their harvest for income generation, do present some challenges to neoliberal urbanism (for example, combating the unequal food system through production as opposed to consumerism).…”

Exploring relations between community gardens and cultural institutions in terms of diverse governance models: A case study of Warsaw and Poznań, Poland

“…Such institutionalization standardizes these gardens and integrates them into the abstract spaces of planners, policymakers, and markets (see e.g., McKay, 2011;Bach & McClintock, 2021). Consequently, the perception of community gardens varies widely, ranging from guerrilla gardens that resist neoliberal subjectivity (Schmelzkopf, 2002;Crossan et al, 2018) to spaces perceived as reinforcing neoliberal domination (Rosol, 2012;Kanosvamhira, 2023). As a result, these gardens offer a venue to experiment with different governance approaches, as they can be described as "hybrid parts of the city that belong both to the built environment and the green infrastructure, to both public and private spheres, and to both planned and unplanned spaces" (Fox-Kämper, 2016, p. 366).…”