The change of the Allotment Garden Development Plan of Berlin

a report on a way to conserve urban gardening spaces in growing cities

Abstract

In growing cities, the pressure of urbanisation is threatening traditional allotment gardens. The City of Berlin revised its Allotment Garden Development Plan (KEP) in 2019 to respond to the emerging demand for potential construction land due to the rapidly increasing population. This article reports how the KEP changed to discuss an effective way of balancing conservation of urban gardening spaces with the demand for urban development. While the previous KEP focused mostly on the existing legal zoning system to secure allotment gardens, the new KEP used statistical and spatial analysis to elaborate on the significance of allotment gardens. Furthermore, the renewed categorisation system for allotment gardens shows more explicitly whether each garden site should be secured or can be developed. In summary, Berlin’s KEP became a more data-driven plan and shows development possibility clearly.