Urban gardens are a way to create more sustainable and less dependent communities.
If we reduce the travel between the origin of the food products and the consumer we are contributing to the reduction of the ecological footprint, with the reduction of transport and energy costs.
To this we can add the socio-economic advantages that the gardeners will be able to gain, by being able to reduce costs by taking advantage of the natural cycle of the harvest, with the use of seeds for planting.
And we can add to the list of advantages the fact that having a vegetable garden or knowing a gardener neighbor to whom we can give the organic material from our consumption, we can speed up the composting process, thus reducing the waste that goes to landfills and turning it into something rich in nutrients to fertilize the soil.
Currently there are 20 municipal horticultural parks in various parts of the city, representing about 800 plots, in a total of 9.1ha devoted to agricultural production.
These horticultural parks are part of Lisbon's green structure and are inserted in urban parks and gardens, where other valences coexist, such as lawn areas, playgrounds, kiosks, cycling paths, among others, so they can be visited by everyone.
The first horticultural parks in Lisbon were inaugurated in 2011, Quinta da Granja and Campolide. These facilities are available to the population, by application, and include plots and associated infrastructure (paths, fences, access gates, shelters for storage of agricultural tools, irrigation system). It is also provided, by the City, training in organic horticulture and permanent technical support to its gardeners.
The Lisbon City Hall makes new plots available to the community through a contest. The selection criterion is the distance from the applicant's residence address to the vegetable park in question. In the event of a tie (when candidates live at the same distance), the order is based on the earliest application submitted (considering, for this purpose, the date and time of delivery of the respective file). For more information, please contact can be obtained here.
Credits: aerial photo courtesy of Rodolfo Gonçalves; second photo courtesy of Catarina Lopes
O LPP / Lisbon For People é um jornal local dedicado à cidade e à área metropolitana de Lisboa, editado de forma totalmente independente e sem fins lucrativos. Com uma edição em papel e outra online.
