11. The Sedláčkova Edible Park

Hana Drštičková, Anastasia Blokhina


 

Public space is always interwoven with flows of power that shape its character; it can be seen as a battleground for the interests of various actors. One example of such a battlefield is Sedláčkova Edible Park.

The park began to emerge in 2014 as an attempt of a few people from the neighborhood to make use of a piece of land that had not been managed by the local government administration, and thus had a form of “terrain vague,” a place without a clearly defined function. Prior to its transformation, the overgrown, sometimes impenetrable, unmaintained space was mainly used as a shortcut between other points, as a transit space. For some (mainly homeless) people the undergrowth provided a refuge precisely because of its oblivion; nevertheless, these people were never included in the debate about the use of the place and its future more generally. This insight adds its own separate aspect to this story when thinking about terrain vague such as this. 

Thanks to intense efforts of some of the local residents, the area has taken on the form of an Edible Park over the last few years, in spite of bureaucratic and communication obstacles from the local government. The area has been cleared of litter, overgrown shrubs have been trimmed back, pioneer species of woody shrubs have been removed and replaced by fruit trees, a pond was formed, which was particularly useful in the drier summer months, cultural events have been held here, etc.

 

However, the Sedláčkova Edible Park will most likely disappear soon, to be replaced by an architect-designed park that will be centrally maintained via official structures. The attempts to bring the park under management of neighborhood groups have so far been unsuccessful. Even so, and perhaps because of this, the Edible Park presents a fascinating case study of a guerrilla gardening project that goes beyond the common minor interventions in the landscape, and brings questions about the very nature of public space and the right to intervene in it into mainstream discussion.