Institutions for Collective Gardening: A Comparative Analysis of 51 Urban Community Gardens in Anglophone and German-Speaking Countries

Ida Göttl,Marianne Penker

doi:10.5334/ijc.961

Abstract

Groups of urban gardeners collectively grow vegetables, fruits and flowers in an increasing number of community gardens all over the world. Despite a growing body of literature on community gardens, there is a particular gap for a transcontinental bigger N-study on the organisation of community gardening, which we want to fill with a comparative document analysis of 51 urban community gardens in six anglophone and German-speaking countries. Specifically, we want to understand how community gardens are organised as spaces for long-term collective action. We systematically collected and analysed documents such as membership rules, handouts to new members, formal statutes, or blog entries. A cluster analysis helped to identify three types of community garden organisations, which vary in terms of organisational form, membership and exclusion rules, individual versus collective cultivation of the garden area, and the degree of regulation, fees, and waiting lists. Our findings show that there is no single blueprint for a long-term community garden organisation, but that self-organisation or nested forms of organisation and more or less open social boundaries result in distinct places of collective gardening. Comparing organisational types across geographical contexts, the European gardens analysed showed bigger organisational diversity, more open social boundaries and more collectively used areas compared to North American gardens.

Highlights

Filling the gap on cross-country and cross-continental comparisons of community garden organisation, this paper explores how community gardens in six anglophone and German-speaking countries are organised as spaces for long-term collective action
We identified community gardens in urban areas based on the definition of “communal urban gardening” (Birky and Strom 2013), i.e. gardens in urban areas with a form of collective organisation
We identified a higher diversity of community garden organisations in the European gardens, many of them putting a particular focus on the inclusion of the bigger community

Summary

Introduction

The community garden movement started in the United States of America (USA) a century ago (Lawson 2005) and has developed in many European cities since . These collectively organised community gardens are often seen as new forms of gardening opposing the idea of traditional allotments (“Kleingärten” in Germany and Austria, “Familiengärten” in Switzerland). Despite a growing body of international literature, we still know little about the communalities and differences in the organisation of community gardens across countries. Guitart et al (2012) recommended to geographically enlarge the research area to be able to contrast different conditions, challenges and potentials of gardens in the USA with those in other countries Considering the rising number of scientific publications on community gardens, Guitart et al (2012) analysed the English language literature and came to the following conclusion: Most research on community gardens has been carried out on socio-political themes like social capital, gender roles and quality of life (52%). Guitart et al (2012) recommended to geographically enlarge the research area to be able to contrast different conditions, challenges and potentials of gardens in the USA with those in other countries

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