Urban gardening and democratic planning: critical perspectives on examples from Greece and Germany Sofia Nikolaidou 1 , Martin Sondermann 2 1 Centre of Social Morphology and Social Policy, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens, Greece, so_nikk@hotmail.com 2 Academy for Spatial Research and Planning (ARL), Hannover, Germany, sondermann@arl-net.de Abstract A wide range of new collective forms of urban gardening are broadly emerging worldwide via alternative citizen-led practices and public participation. This illustrates the increasing significance of the role of civil society in urban governance mechanisms and poses questions on the democratic diŵeŶsioŶ of urďaŶ plaŶŶiŶg aŶd deǀelopŵeŶt ;Adaŵs & HardŵaŶ ϮϬϭϰ, ErŶǁeiŶ ϮϬϭϰ, Nikolaïdou et al 2016, Rosol 2010). Based on research on urban gardening initiatives in Greece and Germany, this paper analyses in a comparative perspective various aspects of practices that emerge in different governance settings. The purpose is to highlight forms of cooperation between civil society and political-administrative actors and critically examine the democratic potentials, limitations and opportunities of cooperative urban development. The focus of analysis is on governance-settings and practices. In conclusion it is shown, that despite different socio-economic and political contexts similar conflicts arise in both countries: The traditional state-centred forms of decision and policy-making processes are challenged by the recent urban gardening movement that prioritises civic engagement encompassing innovative and experimental practices in urban development. In Germany the decentralised planning system and a longer tradition in communicative planning facilitate the development of cooperative planning cultures in urban greening on local level. In Greece, by contrast, urban planning is much more centralised with a deficient practice of collaboration. Corresponding with the recent rise of urban gardening initiatives and a stronger movement towards direct democracy in Greece, planning cultures in both countries currently seem to change towards an active role of civil society and a more democratic urban development. Keywords: urban gardening, collaborative governance, democratic planning, grassroots initiatives