Grey areas and green spaces: revealing the conflicts and gaps in the formalisation process of urban agriculture in Bogotá

In Bogotá, Colombia, urban agriculture started as a spontaneous activity practiced by residents in the poorest areas of the city. Over the years, the socio-economic changes affecting the country as well as many other areas in Latin America have amplified and diversified this phenomenon. In 2023, urban gardens in Bogotá were reported to be more than 7,000. Although institutional programmes in support of urban farming in Bogotá date back to 2004 and the local Botanical Garden was appointed to their management in 2015, the modalities and spaces of urban farming in the city still maintain a strongly informal character, and farmers often occupy land to grow food without official permission. Local authorities are willing to embrace UA’s bottom-up and informal character to benefit from the impacts of this practice, although with inconsistent approaches. For example, they encourage the practice but they fall short of providing the infrastructures and land necessary to implement or sustain these gardens. This article examines the stories of 15 urban gardens in Bogotá that were collected in 2022 as part of a doctoral investigation. It analyses the stance and perspective of two main actors (local authorities and farmers) when these gardens enter a process of top-down recognition. It also analyses the influence that such dynamics bear on the character of the built environment in this city. One of the findings is that urban gardens often arise from the desire of citizens to improve the society in which they live. This often stems from dissatisfaction with institutions and the state in general. Yet this dissatisfaction does not always manifest itself as a protest but rather as an attempt to build an alternative socio-physical context.