The most beautiful urban gardens in Italy, in all regions

URBAN GARDENS IN ITALY

A social phenomenon, but not only: a real trend, which if it were to consolidate at the current growth rates, could very soon change part of the landscape and lifestyles of our cities, medium, small and large. We are talking about the urban gardens, Some synergistic, who represent the other face of Italians "people with green fingers"(21 million citizens cultivate a piece of land), and a paradigm of a new urban planning and a new attention to a territory that we have often devastated and must now, piece by piece, try to recover. The boom in urban gardens, tripled in just a few years, is also a very good indicator of another change in our lifestyles: citizens move forward, and take responsibility for protecting, caring for and enhancing, even with small and good local cultivation, spaces of green in their territory. Thus protecting them, for example, from the ever-watchful eyes of property speculation.

But what exactly are these exponentially growing urban gardens, thanks in part to contributions and donations from private individuals, citizens, and businesses? How do individual citizens, perhaps united in an association, manage a city's agricultural space? And what benefits do urban gardens bring to everyone? Starting with those we present here as the most beautiful in Italy.

ALSO READ: How to create an urban garden near your home. Choosing plants, containers, and soil

Promoting the proliferation of urban gardens in Italian cities is first and foremost an urban planning choice, which constrains a land otherwise destined to fall, sooner or later, into the dirty dynamics of building speculation. In fact, they are tools to bring citizens closer to the administration, contributing to the growth of social relations of urban communitiesFrom the city center to the outskirts. Simply apply to the municipality for allotment of plots designated for urban gardens, wait your turn on the waiting list, and prepare your green thumb.

Another fundamental reason for choosing to actively dedicate oneself to urban greenery is purely economic. It is undeniable, in fact, that the urban garden is also a response to economic crises, a space from which to launch new avenues for economic and commercial initiatives. A driving force both for the – too often tiring – household economies and for the budgets of our cities' municipalities.

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL URBAN GARDENS

• TURIN

In the neighborhood Nice Millefonti, was born in Turin Vegetable gardenThe first Urban Garden in the Piedmontese capital, a social space open to the entire local community. The garden is managed in collaboration with neighborhood and street associations, schools, merchants, and anyone who wishes to participate. co-production of fresh "zero-mile" products.

• MILANO

In Nail Street in the neighborhood Barona, where before there was a Plot unused for years, today there are many private urban gardens. The idea was to Claudio Cristofani Ten years ago, they decided to invest in a sector that was still in its infancy. Initially, there were only 10 plots, but now, ten years later, there are around 180. Many families are on the waiting list, waiting for a spot to become available, at a cost of just €1 per day per family.

• GENOA

In Genoa there is thegarden largest urban park in Italy: over 7 hectares (about 70 thousand square meters) of hilly land intended for the cultivation of fruit and vegetables.Vegetable garden Collective, this is its name, was given on free loan to the “4 Valli Committee”, which brings together a series of local farmers and breeders.

• BOLOGNA

It is the city with the most urban gardens in Italy and is also home to the the largest urban garden in Italy, with a cultivated area of ​​47 hectares of municipal land, equal to 52 times Piazza Maggiore, in the Borgo Panigale area. The Arvaia cooperative is working at full speed here («pea» in the Emilian dialect), where the members have grown from 7 people to 270 in just a few yearsArvaia's crops provide fruit and vegetables, mostly organic, to 150 families and employ dozens of young people. In short, they are part of Bologna's new urban economy.

• FLORENCE

One of the most praiseworthy initiatives regarding urban gardens started from Florence, where the architect James Salizzoni, under the direction of the municipal administration and Coldiretti, has signed a beautiful Community garden, in the heart of the city, in the Borgo Pitti area.

• Roma

Campagna Amica has created an urban garden in Rome in the reception center's forecourt, between Via Salaria and the railway. This is a rather run-down area on the northern outskirts of the capital, which the Astalli center has leased to house young migrants. The center's residents, along with their educators and the Campagna Amica garden's personal trainer, have set up six Farmer Giò's kit. The young people are now expert farmers and cultivate salads, tomatoes, pepperoni, zucchini, eggplant and a nice one aromatic garden.

• NAPLES

After the sites of the Shield and San Domenico Street, the third urban garden was also inaugurated. It is located in the area Arin of Chiaiano, above a 30 million litre Serino water storage tank: olive trees, rosemary, myrtle, laurel hedges and cherry trees have been planted on approximately 23 hectares.

And while even in the popular neighborhood of Ponticelli groups of citizens are dedicated to the cultivation of cabbages and broccoli in the green area of via Cilea, in the Vomero district, it is always the residents who take care of the production and sale of organic products.

HOW TO MAKE A ORTHO URBAN

REGIONS WITH THE MOST URBAN GARDENS

URBAN GARDENS AROUND THE WORLD: 

• Ron Finley, the gardener who transforms wasteland in Los Angeles into urban gardens
• City Gardens: How Detroit Became the Capital of Urban Farms (Photos)
• Vegetable gardens at the North Pole: how potatoes are grown among the glaciers.