Chapter 35 Food, homes and gardens: public community gardens potential for contributing to a more sustainable city

Abstract

Community gardens are multi-functional urban land uses that supplement traditional open spaces. They are critical for urban living in their contribution to recreation, food security and sustainable urban development. In New York City community gardens were first created by groups of residents during the 1970s; public spaces on vacated land, individually used for social gathering, to grow food and beautify neighbourhoods. These gardens have been maintained over the years in common management by resident groups, while being registered and overseen by GreenThumb, the City’s community garden programme. Due to economic pressure on land the number of community gardens fluctuated during the last 30 years. Today there are about 600 gardens in the city, with over 300 gardens situated on public land. In recent years, in answer to climate change and the current economic crisis, specific elements within these gardens have been increasingly employed by gardeners to maximise food production, to conserve water or to deal with waste issues. The municipality has also begun to recognise the importance of maintaining sustainable gardens and their contribution to urban food security. Beehives, chicken coops, rainwater harvesting, and structures are examples of community garden components that were recently legalised in New York City, financially supported by NGOs or regulated in new ways. The chapter will look in detail at the employment and function of those garden components by employing methods of qualitative data analysis, discussion of secondary literature, and of participant observation to evaluate how the city’s community gardens are performing in the interrelation of city and residents to prove their contribution to a sustainable 21st century city.