NEU ERSCHIENEN: Continuity and Change: Socio‐Spatial Practices in Bamberg’s World Heritage Urban Horticulture

von Heike Oevermann, Daniel Keech, Marc Redepenning, Li Fan und Patricia Alberth

Heike Oevermann, Daniel Keech, Marc Redepenning, Li Fan und Patricia Alberth: Continuity and Change: Socio‐Spatial Practices in Bamberg’s World Heritage Urban Horticulture, in: Urban Planning 8 (2023), H. 1, 13. S.
https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v8i1.6034 (open access)

 

Abstract

The German city of Bamberg offers lessons in how continuity and change interact within the context of the inner‐urban
land use of commercial horticulture, thereby informing sustainable urban transformations in historic cities. The case of
Bamberg shows that urban food production is not just well‐established, but a consistent and centuries‐old cultural struc‐
ture that influences the fabric of today’s city. In this article, we discuss what forms of urban horticulture (and thus also
food production) are evident from Bamberg’s past and which may prevail in the future. Two questions structure our ana‐
lysis. First, how are historical sites and spatial structures of horticulture shaped in the tension between continuity and
change? Second, which practices/forms of urban horticulture are taken up and how are they updated by which actors?
Both the heritage and contemporary practices of urban horticulture, it is argued, can be conceived of as a resource to cre‐
ate sustainable places and ways of life for citizens. Two new contributions result from this work. First, the article highlights
the ongoing cultural heritage dimensions of urban horticulture in a field still dominated by eco‐technical contributions
associated with post‐industrial innovation in urban planning; in this respect, heritage should be recognised as a dynamic
that shapes urban change. In addition, secondly, the application of Luhmannian concepts of evolution in social systems
reinforces the interdependence of continuity and change in urban settings.

Keywords

Bamberg; food production; Germany; heritage; urban horticulture; World Heritage