Greening in the margins: children's perception on the sustainability of urban gardening in informal settlements in San Jose del Monte City, Philippines

Aireen Grace Andal

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference proceeding contributionpeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the views of urban poor children on the sustainability of urban gardening in mid-tier cities. The focus is on children engaged in urban micro-gardening in an informal settlement in San Jose del Monte (SJDM) City, Philippines. Informal settlements in SJDM comprise households under poverty that use vacant lands for micro-gardening as part of their general urban survival. Through remote qualitative interviews with 9–12 years old children (n = 25), this article analyzes children’s opinions on the ecological benefits of their micro-gardens and the potentials they see in urban farming. Responses show contrasting sentiments. On the one hand, children perceive micro-gardens as helpful to the city’s ecological sustainability and well-being. They consider urban gardens as a major household survival strategy against food insecurity. But on the other hand, these children have little hopes that urban policymakers will notice their contributions towards the city’s sustainability. They do not expect significant improvement occurring in their micro-gardens and they fear to lose their micro-gardens due to threats of eviction. Such views of the children put into question the city’s green governance and urban garden’s capacity to address equity issues on sustainable food security in cities. This paper proposes that mid-tier cities have the potential to accommodate the vision of sustainable development through urban farming designs. However, this effort could only gain traction by having appropriate city policy acknowledgement of poor households as contributors to urban sustainability. The discussions raised in this work speak more broadly to the field of urban studies to recognize marginalized children’s voices and their contributions to sustainable development.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdvanced Technologies, Systems, and Applications VI
Subtitle of host publicationProceedings of the International Symposium on Innovative and Interdisciplinary Applications of Advanced Technologies (IAT) 2021
EditorsNaida Ademović, Edin Mujčić, Zlatan Akšamija, Jasmin Kevrić, Samir Avdaković, Ismar Volić
Place of PublicationCham, Switzerland
PublisherSpringer, Springer Nature
Pages721-734
Number of pages14
ISBN (Electronic)9783030900557
ISBN (Print)9783030900540
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022
Externally publishedYes
EventInternational Symposium on Innovative and Interdisciplinary Applications of Advanced Technologies (IAT) 2021 - Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Duration: 24 Jul 202127 Jul 2021

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Networks and Systems
PublisherSpringer
Volume316
ISSN (Print)2367-3370
ISSN (Electronic)2367-3389

Conference

ConferenceInternational Symposium on Innovative and Interdisciplinary Applications of Advanced Technologies (IAT) 2021
Country/TerritoryBosnia and Herzegovina
CityMostar
Period24/07/2127/07/21

Keywords

  • Children
  • Food security
  • Mid-tier cities
  • Sustainable development
  • Urban farming

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