Housing and gardening: Developing a health equity-focused research agenda

Abstract

There is increasing evidence of the health and wellbeing benefits of gardening. However, such benefits are not shared equally across groups in the community. It is important from a social justice perspective to understand the contextual factors that influence opportunities to garden, and how they are distributed in society, how well, and to whom. Despite being a primary site in which people garden, little is known about how characteristics of housing (e.g., property rights, dwelling type) may influence gardening opportunities. Identifying housing-related barriers or enablers to gardening could suggest potential strategies to increase participation in gardening or provide gardening opportunities for those with less conducive housing situations. Building on the small body of knowledge of housing characteristics relevant to gardening opportunities and participation, we propose a new research agenda aiming to understand the relationships between housing characteristics, socio-economic status, and gardening. Through identifying ways to engage more people from diverse housing situations and socio-economic positions in the act of gardening, we hope that this new research agenda can help to promote health equity.