Ines Cabral

Allotment gardens and community gardens provide important ecosystem services to urban communities, such as local climate and water regulation, as well as habitat provision for biodiversity. Using the city of Leipzig as a case study, we assess the effect of urban gardening type and intensity of management on ecosystem services and biodiversity by comparing allotment and community gardens. Employing a stratified sampling design, we assessed 30 allotment plots of different management intensity, including vacant plots, and six adjacent community gardens along a gradient of urbanity, using in-depth field surveys, remote sensing analyses and interviews. Our results show a bimodal relationship of overall vascular plant species richness with management intensity with highest species richness in medium intensively-managed plots, as they provide space for both cultivated edible and ornamental species as well as native, spontaneous species. In comparison to allotment gardens, community gardens provide a higher ratio of permeable soil surface and a slightly higher microbial soil activity, implying important differences in water regulation and nutrient cycling properties. With regards to climate regulation, old mature trees make a considerable contribution to above ground carbon storage, but are largely restricted to communal areas of the allotment estates due to code regulation. Based on our results, we discuss the impact of allotment gardening association codes and garden type and ways forward for gardeners and urban planners to promote biodiversity and ecosystem services provision.

Este artigo resulta de uma sequência de estúdios de bio construção onde a temática do material natural é abordada como um veículo de materialização de arquitectura de emergência. Pretende-se neste artigo reflectir sobre uma metodologia de ensino na concepção da arquitectura de emergência assente no pressuposto da exploração das capacidades de materiais biodegradáveis e reciclados quando viáveis após eventos catastróficos ou quando disponíveis em período de crise.

This paper is the outcome of several workshops on bio construction, where natural materials were used as a way of materializing emergency architecture. Our goal is to develop a teaching methodology for emergency architecture conceptualization, which could be supported by the exploration of biodegradable or recyclable materials after catastrophic events or under economic crisis.

By integrating social, ecological and economic perspectives the assessment of ecosystem services (ES) provides valuable information for better targeting landscape planning and governance. In this chapter, it is summarized different participatory approaches for assessing ES in urban areas of three countries. In Belo Horizonte, Brazil, a conceptual framework for the vacant lots ES assessment is presented as an attempt to integrate landscape, social and political dimensions. In Leipzig, Germany, a combination of site surveys, interviews, and remote sensing, provides a valuable dataset that fostered a comparative study between two forms of urban gardening. In Lisbon, Portugal, the study based on interviews offers a social insight into the horticultural parks situation, which demands a better dialogue with the municipality. In general, the studies demonstrate the potential benefits of utilizing the ES assessment approaches on urban landscapes, especially for better understanding the interactions among people and nature in urban sites.

Urban gardens can contribute to climate mitigation and adaptation through a range of provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystem services as multifunctional nature-based solutions in a city. Besides providing food, urban gardens contribute to water regulation through unsealed soils, to improved air circulation and cooling through plant transpiration and shading, offering microclimate oases to many users, such as gardeners, visitors and immediate neighbors. In combination with other green and blue infrastructures, urban gardens can thereby help to mitigate and adapt to the urban heat island effect. They also provide important habitat for wildlife and genetic diversity. Urban gardens create opportunities for leisure and recreation and thereby promote health and well-being, as well as a sense of place, cultural identity and social cohesion-important factors for societies to adapt to change. Exploring case studies across Europe we discuss differences between garden types and their contribution to achieving sustainability goals for city communities.

Os tipos dominantes de uso da terra nas zonas rurais da Europa são a intensificação ou abandono. As aldeias em Portugal localizadas em zonas remotas tendem a ser afectadas por abandono agrícola, ficando despovoadas, e em ruinas, expostas ao risco de incêndio, conduzindo à perda de paisagens culturais. Desenvolvemos e aplicámos estratégias de intervenção com vista ao repovoamento nas aldeias de Inverno de Castro Laboreiro para obter uma paisagem multifuncional baseada  em serviços de ecossistema, património e cultura. Para isso usámos métodos participativos e desenvolvemos estratégias para repovoamento das Inverneiras, definindo actividades para diversificar a economia local e aumentar a resiliência. Adicionalmente, mostramos como no caso particular da aldeia de Pontes, esta pode ser reabilitada de acordo com os seus recursos locais como alimentos, energia e água. Por fim recomendamos eventos culturais que combinem novos povoadores e população local, visando melhorar a coesão social da população.