Share the (urban) Love


Pop-Up City shares 3 examples of inspiring urban sharing projects.  Share the love!

Pop up seed sharing stations are the latest venture to gain popularity in the USA and Canada.  These stations encourage the community to exchange seeds and gardening know-how with each other.  'Eating in Public' also provide info about how to set up your own one of these models - anywhere.  Although I haven't seen any seed stations like those described in Melbourne, there are networks to swap seeds with others both online and at community gardens.  Wouldn't it be great to see more of seed stations around to encourage people to grow their own produce.



Tool sharing 'libraries' are not really new, however, they are getting more prevalent.  They also now offer more online interaction as well as face-to-face interaction between users, who can share their ideas as well as use the service for borrowing tools.  Melbourne actually has a tool library officially opening up this week in Brunswick, so check it out if you're a fan of DIY.

The last of the 3 featured examples of tactical urbanism is the Fruit Fence. These are basically clip on bags that hook to wire fences and form planters for fruit and veg (hooray more food!). They are meant to include self watering systems, though community care is proposed to be managed by twitter posts and sms. Given the planter's location on fences, these bags are claimed to be perfect for climbing plants like beans, peas and strawberries. According to 'pop up city' "the Fruit Fence planter bag encourages a sense ownership over cityspace, and shared responsibility for taking care of the city." And food.

Read more at Pop Up City.