I'm thinking of doing my Master's thesis on Guerrilla Gardening since it ties in well with my obsession with urban space and my love of plants. I'm very excited about it, and so thought I'd share a little blurb from my proposal intro. If you have any questions, insights, or know of any academic studies that have been done on this topic, I'd love to hear from ya!

Guerrilla Gardening

The Guerrilla Gardening movement is characterized by the reclamation of urban environments. In essence, it consists of transforming urban spaces, such as unused City land or vacant lots, into food gardens, flower beds, and/or political art forms, using a do-it-yourself (d.i.y.) approach.

The term ‘Guerrilla Gardening’ was coined in the 1980s after the Green Guerrillas, who pioneered the movement in New York. In Manhattan's lower east side, the Green Guerrillas planted gardens among the burnt-out slum tenements. Full-scale community gardens eventually emerged from the initial squats by activists and low income tenants.

Following the gardens’ establishment, local traditions and ethnic minorities prospered. The communities were empowered by their ability to have access to and connection with nearby land, despite the zero tolerance policy of New York’s mayor at that time, Rudolph Giuliani, under whose rule many of the gardener’s activities were criminalised.

The application of Guerrilla Gardening itself is ancient; Gypsies practiced it for generations, planting crops along the roadside and then returning to collect the harvest.