Edible alleys in the discourse of urban horticulture: a case study on densely built urban renewal districts in Chiayi, Taiwan

Alleys are relatively hidden from views.
They are narrow pathways, back alleys, blind alleys (cul-de-sacs), or gap spaces between buildings.
Passages are considered a small constitutive unit of a city playing a strategic role in sustainable urban daily life, and constituents of the alley landscape need to be noticed.
In particular, edible landscape spontaneously introduced by the residents was less concerned from the viewpoint of urban horticulture.
Despite that revitalization of neglected alleys with greening has been carried out in urban renewal worldwide, scholarly literature paid attention to the social and cultural implications of paths as a whole and falls short of the informal edible alleys greening in densely built East-Asian cities.
Thus, this study adopted a case study strategy to explore how alley greening reflects the integrated outcome deriving from formal planning by the authorities and informal use by the inhabitants in Chiayi City, Taiwan.
Field investigations, content analysis, and comparisons with previous research were conducted.
Based on the historical course of urban development and the current trend of edible greening, this study conceptualized the edible alley greening embedded in the context.
The results can shed light on greening for alleyways and sustainable neighborhood revitalization.

IV Asian Horticultural Congress – AHC2023

T.I. Lee

alleyway, urban lane, urban greening, neighborhood regeneration, edible landscape

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2024.1404.202