The tree on platform one is…

By Andy Marks

Growing food in the city. A good idea which ever way you look at it. Guaranteed fresh food. Cutting food miles and packaging. Showing off to your friends and family, even recruiting them to muck in with planting.

But many a city dweller may ask, where can we grow? With space at such a premium and high-rise living often the norm. Well, inspiration can be found in the most unlikely of places.

Take Londoner Laura Laker. A frequent commuter, drudging through railway stations in and around the city. Grey platforms, grey walls, grey skies, and forlorn planters sparked a rather beautiful idea. Emboldened by her friends at Transition Towns, Laura approached the management at her local railway station, Haringey Green Lanes, and suggested a planting and growing scheme on land at the station.

Now you might think the powers that be in areas such as public transport and land management would be both un-enthused and slow to respond, but in fact they welcomed the idea, and got all excited about community projects. Hurrah!

With help from local residents, other Transitioners, and our friends at conservation charity BTCV, Laura realised her ambition to show passers-by that it is possible to grow food even in unlikely places. Given the conditions, it was decided that fruit trees would be a good choice, specifically three apple trees, three redcurrant bushes, blackcurrants and blackberries. Station staff even volunteered to water them.

If further inspiration were necessary, get a copy of The Carbon Army’s Grow Your Own Food guide from BTCV, which is full of handy tips and delicious recipes. Do share your cultivation successes with fellow VivaCity types below…
 

why vivacity

This is the century of the city.

Over half the world’s population now live in cities. This is projected to rise to three-quarters of all people in 2050. With population increases, this means 6.75 billion of us will be city dwellers, an increase of 3.75 billion from today. As the future success or failure of mankind lies in cities, new ways of using them are needed.

The city represents an incredible paradox. We have never been closer together physically, but we have never been further away from each other emotionally. At vivacity we celebrate city movements around the world that change and re-define the way we interact with and use cities. Whilst cities cannot cope with the numbers now and the resultant strain on the world’s natural resources and eco-systems are already painfully evident, we believe that human spirit and endeavor will overcome, as it has done before.

vivacity promotes city movements that are connecting people & creating new types of communities. They are typically low impact, highly sociable, enabled by technology, using public and private spaces in new ways and empowering people to act locally.

vivacity promotes new ways of feeling alive, new ways of being invigorated, and new things to be a part of. We call it grassroots stuff in the city. We hope you get involved and share your experiences with us.

who we are

Andy Marks vivacity founder and editor

Social entrepreneur, lecturer, writer and curator, Andy Marks is an agent of positive social change practicing at the intersection or fault-line of business, society and culture. Andy is the founder of research and consultancy network Salad Worldwide, an advisor to some of the world’s leading companies on Corporate Responsibility and an advisor to a number of non-profit organizations. Andy is an expert on grass roots city movements, and a founding partner of an upcycling enterprise launching in 2010.

Julian Broadhead contributor

With a background in advertising, branding and corporate responsibility, Julian works with blue-chip companies from a wide range of industries and sectors, advising on strategy and new ways of connecting with people. He is currently developing a number of new opportunities in the environmental sector, with a particular emphasis on making environmental action more accessible.

Shane Solanki – contributor/distributor/carburettor/carbon-ara

Artist, writer, performer, producer and director, Shane’s first short film was commissioned by the BBC and directed by Peter Cattaneo. His first record was produced by Mercury Prize Winner Talvin Singh. He worked for years to forge the unique identity of independent record label Ninja Tune. We at Vivacity like to think of him as a grass roots detective, covertly operating under the pseudonym of the Last Mango in Paris; imagine him skulking around the world in a beige macintosh, recording and documenting our shift into a society where social responsibility and public creativity are norms.

contribute

become a vivacity scout

As more and more of us live in urban areas, individuals and communities can feel overwhelmed and isolated by the sheer intense-city of it all.

However we at vivacity believe that human spirit and endeavor will overcome as it has done so many times before. That is why we are celebrating movements around the world that are changing and re-defining the way we interact with the city. We would like to hear from you about grassroots movements or activities that bring people together face to face and use cities in new ways. The more original and imaginative the better.

Please email us describing a movement you would like to see on vivacity using a maximum of 300 words. info@vivacity.me