Urban Agriculture Practices in the Transmission of Intangible Cultural Heritage SOMUT OLMAYAN KÜLTÜREL MİRASIN AKTARIMINDA KENTSEL TARIM UYGULAMALARI
Milli Folklor, vol.19, no.145, pp.48-60, 2025 (AHCI, Scopus, TRDizin)
- Publication Type: Article / Article
- Volume: 19 Issue: 145
- Publication Date: 2025
- Doi Number: 10.58242/millifolklor.1477940
- Journal Name: Milli Folklor
- Journal Indexes: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
- Page Numbers: pp.48-60
- Keywords: intangible cultural heritage, sustainable cities, Sustainable Development Goals, traditional knowledge, Urban agriculture
- Ankara Haci Bayram Veli University Affiliated: Yes
Abstract
Cities, whose production and consumption activities have undergone major changes with industrialization, were shaped by agricultural and non-agricultural activities. While cities were the places of factorization, mass production and non-agricultural activities, the countryside remained the place of agriculture and animal husbandry activities. However, despite this differentiation, in countries like Türkiye, where the peasant population is rapidly urbanizing, it has been very difficult to demarcate agricultural activities as belonging to the village or the city. In Türkiye, the relationship between the city and agriculture has not been severed; it has continued in shantytowns and urban peripheries in big cities, and in the gardens of houses and even apartment buildings in small cities. However, these activities are production activities carried out by individual efforts to meet the needs of the family. However, urban agriculture, which is the subject of this article, is the expansion of agricultural production activities from residential gardens to urban spaces and is largely implemented by community members to meet the various needs of a community such as learning, producing, socializing and sharing. The agricultural and traditional production relationship, which fundamentally expresses the connection between hu-mans, nature, and production and was historically associated with rural areas, has increasingly been replaced by urban agriculture and traditional production relationships in contemporary times. These areas, often referred to as urban gardens, urban orchards, neighborhood orchards, community gardens, etc., offer many cultural as well as agricultural, economic and social benefits. Due to these benefits, they need to be considered as a place of traditional knowledge and the ways of transmitting this knowledge in the city. This article discusses the aspects of urban agricultural practices that can contribute to the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. It is known that the measures to be taken against the climate and food crisis are a priority for cities and they are priority spaces in this regard. In this respect, urban gardens are areas that can be associated with many Sustainable Development Goals, including responsible production and consumption, sustainable cities and communities, and healthy and quality living. On the other hand, they should be evaluated within the framework of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage due to their relationship with the use, transmission and preservation of traditional knowledge and community participation. In this respect, this study, through examples from Türkiye and around the world, has addressed many positive functions of urban agriculture such as teaching and passing on traditional knowledge and production methods from generation to generation, developing a sense of community belonging and solidarity, raising awareness about environmental awareness and nature conservation, providing urbanites with access to clean and healthy food, contributing to the development of cultural spaces by creating a sharing environment in cities, and making suggestions related to the safeguarding of cultural heritage.