Editing Permaculture (section)

=== Suburban and urban permaculture ===

[[File:South Central Farm 4.jpg|thumb|[[South Central Farm]] was one of the largest urban gardens in the United States before its demolition in 2006.]]

The fundamental element of suburban and urban permaculture is the efficient utilization of space. ''Wildfire'' journal suggests using methods such as the [[keyhole garden]] which require little space.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ReBKAAAAYAAJ |title=Wildfire |date=1992 |publisher=University of Virginia |volume=6 |pages=22}}</ref> Neighbors can collaborate to increase the scale of transformation, using sites such as recreation centers, neighborhood associations, city programs, faith groups, and schools. Columbia, an [[ecovillage]] in [[Portland, Oregon]], consisting of 37 apartment condominiums, influenced its neighbors to implement permaculture principles, including in front-yard gardens.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Spencer |first=Jan |date=Winter 2017 |title=Green and Resilient Neighborhoods: Portland, Oregon and Beyond |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/03837e98df0a0a8d1e29a5550efaddf1/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=48912 |journal=Communities |volume=177 |pages=49–54 |via=ProQuest}}</ref> Suburban permaculture sites such as one in [[Eugene, Oregon]], include rainwater catchment, edible landscaping, removing paved driveways, turning a garage into living space, and changing a south side patio into passive solar.<ref>{{cite web |title=Suburban Permaculture |url=https://www.suburbanpermaculture.org/ |access-date=12 January 2021 |website=Suburban Permaculture}}</ref>

[[Vacant lot farm]]s are community-managed farm sites, but are often seen by authorities as temporary rather than permanent.<ref name="Korsunsky 2019">{{Cite journal |last=Korsunsky |first=Alex |date=2019 |title=From vacant land to urban fallows: a permacultural approach to wasted land in cities and suburbs |url=http://206.189.126.38:8081/index.php/JPE/article/view/22949 |journal=Journal of Political Ecology |volume=26 |pages=293–294 |doi=10.2458/v26i1.22949 |s2cid=199175607|doi-access=free }}</ref> For example, Los Angeles' [[South Central Farm]] (1994–2006), one of the largest urban gardens in the United States, was bulldozed with approval from property owner Ralph Horowitz, despite community protest.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kuipers |first=Dean |date=23 April 2020 |title=Digging the Dirt on an L.A. Farm |url=https://www.altaonline.com/dispatches/a7718/dean-kuipers-los-angeles-farm/ |website=Alta Online}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ngo |first=Audrey |date=20 August 2018 |title=Hope Grows at the Once 'Magical' Site Of LA's South Central Farm |url=https://laist.com/2018/08/20/new_hope_sprouts_in_fight_to_bring_back_las_historic_south_central_farm.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820181314/http://www.laist.com/2018/08/20/new_hope_sprouts_in_fight_to_bring_back_las_historic_south_central_farm.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 August 2018 |website=LAist}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Alpert Reyes |first=Emily |date=2 July 2019 |title=Latest battle over South Central Farm ends – this time not with arrests, but a vote |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-south-central-farm-alameda-industrial-businesses-20190702-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

The possibilities and challenges for suburban or urban permaculture vary with the built environment around the world. For example, land is used more ecologically in [[Jaisalmer]], [[India]] than in American [[planned city|planned cities]] such as Los Angeles:<ref name="Korsunsky 2019"/>

{{blockquote|the application of universal rules regarding setbacks from roads and property lines systematically creates unused and purposeless space as an integral part of the built landscape, well beyond the classic image of the vacant lot. ... Because these spaces are created in accordance with a general pattern, rather than responding to any local need or desire, many if not most are underutilized, unproductive, and generally maintained as ecologically disastrous lawns by unenthusiastic owners. In this broadest understanding of wasted land, the concept is opened to reveal how our system of urban design gives rise to a ubiquitous pattern of land that, while not usually conceived as vacant, is in fact largely without ecological or social value.<ref name="Korsunsky 2019"/>|author=Korsunsky (2019) |title="From vacant land to urban fallows: a permacultural approach to wasted land in cities and suburbs" }}