Abstract
Increasing human populations are challenging cities to grow sustainably while maintaining green spaces that deliver ecosystem services and well-being benefits. Community gardens are green spaces that provide food, community, and health benefits, but gardens often are non-permanent due to development and green space loss. Thus, investigating their significance and benefit across urban regions is critical for research and policy alike. This study investigated the role of community gardens in providing human well-being benefits across three counties in the California Central Coast—a region undergoing massive urban transformation in the last century. We measured how multiple aspects of self-reported gardener well-being varied in relation to the social opportunities of surrounding neighborhoods and the biophysical features of the landscapes in which the gardens were embedded. The results document improvements in gardener well-being through gardening across social and biophysical gradients. Gardeners are motivated by diverse reasons, varying from gardening in order to connect to nature, to gardening for improved food access, or to enhance time spent with family. Community gardens are therefore important for supporting many well-being benefits. Policies to maintain and protect gardens should prioritize neighborhoods with needs for connecting to nature and enhancing social interaction within the community.
Highlights
Population growth, the increased density of built infrastructure, and the reduction of vegetation cover are extending regional urbanization across landscapes [1]
Our investigation into community garden use and benefits shows the importance of urban gardens in the provision of well-being benefits across a range of biophysical landscape and social contexts within the Central Coast of California
We show that urban gardens can play different roles for supporting community members’ well-being and that garden use correlates with levels of urbanization in the surrounding landscape as well as housing and environmental availability in the surrounding region
Summary
Population growth, the increased density of built infrastructure, and the reduction of vegetation cover are extending regional urbanization across landscapes [1]. Urban planners are carefully considering how to integrate green spaces so that cities can grow sustainably and to support the benefits to society provided by these spaces [3]. Resident exposure to the natural environment through active engagements such as gardening, for example, can reduce the stress and anxiety associated with urban life and provide mental health benefits [6,7]. Urban green spaces can provide physical health benefits through increased physical activity which can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease [8] and type 2 diabetes [9], and exposure to the outdoors that can boost immunoregulation [10,11] and lower mortality risk [8]. Urban green spaces contribute to physical, mental, and social dimensions of human well-being [12]
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