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Urban Agriculture in shared spaces: The difficulties with collaboration in an age of austerity

Author

Listed:
  • Rebecca St Clair

    (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK)

  • Michael Hardman

    (University of Salford, UK)

  • Richard P Armitage

    (University of Salford, UK)

  • Graeme Sherriff

    (University of Salford, UK)

Abstract

The expanding critical literature on Urban Agriculture (UA) makes links between the withdrawal of state services and the institutionalisation of volunteering, while observing that challenging funding landscapes can foster competitive environments between third-sector organisations. Where these organisations are forced to compete for survival at the expense of collaboration, their ability to collectively upscale and expand beneficial activities can be compromised. This paper focuses on a lottery-funded UA project and draws predominantly on observations and interviews held with project staff and growing group volunteers. Research conducted in Wythenshawe, Manchester (UK), highlights difficulties experienced by organisations attempting to function in an environment disfigured by depletion, illustrating conflicts that can arise between community groups and charitable organisations competing for space and resources. Inter-organisational dynamics are considered at two scales: at the grassroots level between growing groups, and at a structural level between project partners. In a landscape scarred by local authority cutbacks and restructures, a dearth of funding opportunities and increasingly precarious employment, external initiatives can be met with suspicion or hostility, particularly when viewed as superfluous interventions. The resulting ‘siege mentality’ reflects the need for organisational self-preservation but perhaps paradoxically results in groups with similar goals and complementary ideologies working against each other rather than in cooperation.

Suggested Citation

  • Rebecca St Clair & Michael Hardman & Richard P Armitage & Graeme Sherriff, 2020. "Urban Agriculture in shared spaces: The difficulties with collaboration in an age of austerity," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(2), pages 350-365, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:57:y:2020:i:2:p:350-365
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098019832486
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nathan McClintock & Michael Simpson, 2018. "Stacking functions: identifying motivational frames guiding urban agriculture organizations and businesses in the United States and Canada," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(1), pages 19-39, March.
    2. Megan Horst & Nathan McClintock & Lesli Hoey, 2017. "The Intersection of Planning, Urban Agriculture, and Food Justice: A Review of the Literature," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 83(3), pages 277-295, July.
    3. Church, A. & Mitchell, R. & Ravenscroft, N. & Stapleton, L.M., 2015. "‘Growing your own’: A multi-level modelling approach to understanding personal food growing trends and motivations in Europe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 71-80.
    4. Cynthia Hardy & Nelson Phillips, 1998. "Strategies of Engagement: Lessons from the Critical Examination of Collaboration and Conflict in an Interorganizational Domain," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(2), pages 217-230, April.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Evans, Alicejane & Hardman, Michael, 2023. "Enhancing green infrastructure in cities: Urban car parks as an opportunity space," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).

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