Nurturing Socio-ecological Spaces Through Urban Gardening Practices in India: An Exploration of Alternate Imaginations

Due to largely opaque processes of consumption and production in urbanised spaces, the dependence of humans on food ecosystems is largely invisibilised. To counter this challenge, a growing awareness about industrial food production and consumption patterns along with a need to create alternatives has given rise to a range of small-scale food-growing initiatives in urban areas. This study focuses on urban spaces in seven Indian cities to examine how alternative, localised practices—such as urban gardening—can foster civic participation and promote relational well-being. Based on a qualitative study involving growers’ narratives, we argue that urban gardening can nurture a generative space to meaningfully engage with the local socio-ecological systems. Drawing on Soja’s concept of ‘Thirdspace’, the study explores ways in which the gardening space serves as a hybrid site embedding growers’ evolving imagination and negotiated meaning of cultivated spaces. The study characterises ways in which community gardening can be an educational, social practice to bridge personal motivations with political commitments aligned with ecological sustainability.