Placemaking in Action: Factors That Support or Obstruct the Development of Urban Community Gardens

Andreas Wesener, Runrid Fox-Kämper, Martin Sondermann and Daniel Münderlein
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Andreas Wesener: School of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Environment, Society and Design, Lincoln University, 7647 Lincoln, New Zealand
Runrid Fox-Kämper: Spatial Planning and Urban Design, ILS-Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development, 44135 Dortmund, Germany
Martin Sondermann: Research Department I “Society and Culture”, Academy for Spatial Research and Planning (ARL), 30179 Hanover, Germany
Daniel Münderlein: Institute for Landscape Planning and Landscape Architecture, University of Kassel, 34117 Kassel, Germany

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-29

Abstract: The paper examines factors that support or obstruct the development of urban community garden projects. It combines a systematic scholarly literature review with empirical research from case studies located in New Zealand and Germany. The findings are discussed against the backdrop of placemaking processes: urban community gardens are valuable platforms to observe space-to-place transformations. Following a social-constructionist approach, literature-informed enablers and barriers for the development of urban community gardens are analysed against perceived notions informed by local interviewees with regard to their biophysical and technical, socio-cultural and economic, and political and administrative dimensions. These dimensions are incorporated into a systematic and comprehensive category system. This approach helps observe how the essential biophysical-material base of the projects is overlaid with socio-cultural factors and shaped by governmental or administrative regulations. Perceptual differences become evident and are discussed through the lens of different actors.

Keywords: community gardens; enablers; barriers; placemaking; socio-cultural phenomenon; perception gaps (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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