Opportunities and risks of integrating urban allotments as niche innovations into transformative, sustainable urban development

Thomas Weith and Julian Gatawis from the research group ‘Spatial Planning and Urban Design’, together with their former colleagues Jette Ostheller and Barbara Schröter, have published an article in the journal “Discover Cities”, published by Springer Nature. This article focuses on the unique role of urban gardens, particularly urban allotments. With their high variety, they represent a key component of green infrastructure, fulfilling ecological, social and productive functions. Despite this multifunctionality, they are often only marginally included into local planning and development, meaning that their ecological and social potential remains underused and their long-term development is in danger. The article also explains how urban allotments can contribute to transformative and sustainable urban development as part of integrated concepts, rather than merely as isolated pilot projects. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44327-026-00331-y. Further current selected papers can be found here.