A calm revolution hits roots high above the overcrowded streets of Barcelona. On some roofs of the city, empty rooms are now filled with vegetables and fruit trees. Do not only offer food, but also a new sense for those who need it most urgently.
Urban roof gardens are an environmentally friendly and green initiative that grows in the city of Barcelona. These urban farms have several functions, such as making Barcelona a greener city, or offering a social space for people with disabilities, older people or others and at the same time to benefit their general well -being.
Barcelona is a large city with a high population density and makes it one Limited area for green rooms. In order to solve this problem, several organizations have developed innovative ideas to make the Catalan capital more environmentally friendly by using non -occupied rooms as plant -producing opportunities.
One of these initiatives is “The roof garden”, A project that began in 2016 in the city council of Barcelona at the headquarters of the area of social rights from the city council of Barcelona.
Now, with a series of nine gardens in the belt, the roof garden not only focuses on the green aspect of your garden, but also on the social aspect that this urban farm brings.
“This initiative was mainly designed for People with disabilities. We know that this type of projects are a great advantage for your quality of life. ” Ferran Urgell, Catalan News shared from the community institute for people with disabilities. In recent years, the institute has carried out the effects of urban agriculture on people with disabilities.
A study from 2018 shows that urban roof garden in general, especially for people with intellectual disabilities and mental disorders, is an advantage for their quality of life.
'' This is a quiet space. There is no noise up here, no pollution. You have another side of the city that you can also appreciate while working with the essential life data, such as plants and food, ”explains Urgell.
Another advantage that comes from days on the roof between the plants can be seen on a social level. Gardening on the roof improves aspects such as self -determination, social integration, personal development and interpersonal relationships. Gardening also improves physical health because the work done can be regarded as physical contractions. A concept that is also known as '' Agrofitness ''.
The garden on the roof houses people with different types and levels of disability. Around 170 people are currently working all year round on maintaining the garden.
The vegetable garden
Another initiative like the roof garden is “The orchard of the market” (translated into “The Market Garden”). A unique urban agricultural project that covers 1.750 m² of the roof over the Vall d'Hebron market.
L'Hort Del Mercat is an initiative of the Horta-Guinardó des District District City Council of BarcelonaIn cooperation with the Municipal Institute of Markets.
The goals of the project include the development of a sustainable ecological management model. To support this, the garden offers workshops and training and offers a community composting area in which organic waste is recycled both from the market and the resident and used as a fertilizer for the garden.
Another goal is Strengthening community cocosionJust like “the roof garden”. The space is open to everyone and organizes a wide range of activities to meet different interests and needs, and promotes the inclusion of different individuals, community groups and institutions from the neighborhood and the broader city.
Arnau MontserratCoordinator at L'Hort Del Mercat explains the need for a common space like this: “We produce plants, agrofiteness and relationships. Our people mainly come from the neighborhood. We have students, cooperation with associations and regular visitors. ''
L'Hort del Mercat shows its importance for the older community in Barcelona. “Retirement is probably half of the people who work more often in the gardens,” says Montserrat to Catalan news.
The garden in Vall d'Hebron flourishes and attracts a wide range of insects, including bees, Improvement of biological diversity. The market garden is more than just an urban experiment. L'Hort del Marcat gives the Catalan capital a rural note.
'' We are part of a big movement. A large network of green infrastructure, “explains Montserrat. '' We promote this kind of presence of agriculture in the urban landscape and bring people in contact with nature that heals for them. ''
While the roof garden and the L'Hort del Mercat are institutional efforts, some residents of Barcelona have taken the roof breeding into their own hands. Robert Strauss, An American who has been living in Barcelona for several years did this by planting his own roof garden in Gràcia's neighborhood.
“I have been in the garden for many years before I moved to Barcelona, and when my family and I came to the city, we looked around and we couldn't find a place to the garden.”
Strauss that has been on the roof for 13 years Unused red roofs of Barcelona. We were lucky enough to have a house with many terraces. We decided that we would try to start on the roof. ”
Although Strauss has its own roof garden, it is not only in his house in Gràcia, but also voluntarily at weekly The orchard of the market. Bring together “career” in his urban agriculture and bring together individual initiative.
Regardless of whether it is managed by institutions or passionate persons, Barcelona's roof gardens prove that green spaces can thrive in the most unexpected places. More than just urban farms, they are Communities in the sky, Promotion of sustainability, inclusion and a new vision for city life.