A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book

Guerrilla Gardening? Urban Agriculture and the Environment




AuthorsRauno Lahtinen

EditorsSimo LaakkonenJ. R. McNeillRichard P. TuckerTimo Vuorisalo

PublisherPALGRAVE, HOUNDMILLS, BASINGSTOKE RG21 6XS, ENGLAND

Publication year2019

Book title The Resilient City in World War II : Urban Environmental Histories

Journal name in sourceRESILIENT CITY IN WORLD WAR II: URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORIES

Journal acronymPALG STUD WORLD ENV

Series titlePalgrave Studies in World Environmental History

First page 105

Last page126

Number of pages22

ISBN978-3-030-17438-5

eISBN978-3-030-17439-2

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17439-2_6(external)


Abstract

During World War II, all countries at war were threatened by a severe decline in agricultural production. Wartime urban agriculture is a well-known phenomenon, yet most studies discuss it in a highly cursory way, and the environmental dimension has been neglected. This chapter explores the situation in Turku, which was Finland’s third-largest city during the war. From a contemporary perspective, the wartime city could be considered an ecological society. City residents raised their food themselves, and all possible waste was recycled. But the shortages also led to negative phenomena, such as animal abuse, declines in hygiene, the poaching of fish and animals, and the stripping of forests. Lahtinen argues that the wartime urban agriculture was literally a loot-based economy, the sustainability of which proved untenable.



Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 18:03