In recent years, urban agriculture and community gardening have increased in popularity almost as much for resulting social and economic benefits, as for the more traditional nutritional and beautification aspects of the activities. However, challenges still exist for those looking to start and maintain an urban agriculture or community gardening program that has the capacity to retain its impact into the future. This study creates a decision-making framework for activists, residents, and community leaders interested in starting programs that will change the community for the better and succeed for years to come.
This study examines nine long-running, successful urban agriculture/community gardening (UA/CG) programs from the United States. Selected programs have been in existence for at least five years and have been successful in their capacity to unite low-income or otherwise disadvantaged groups, build social capital within their communities, and also maintain organizational and financial stability. The history behind each program’s formation, the community problems addressed, and the contexts within which they operate were delineated. An operational framework then detailed the everyday activities, partnerships, leadership structure, and operational characteristics of the programs in this study.
The communities within which these nine programs operate are outlined in terms of demographic, social, and economic statistics, in order to develop community typologies.
The case study and community typology research contributed to the development of a Best Practices Matrix. This matrix provides a tool to interested parties for selecting operational features of future or newly formed UA/CG programs based on a community’s unique characteristics and issues.
Programs that face similar community issues, such as brownfields or food deserts, are found to share more common operational features. Programs in communities that have fewer social or economic problems, such as unemployment and poverty, also share common operational features at a higher rate than communities that do face these problems. Additionally, it was discovered that most programs do not own the land used for farming or gardening activities. This is contrary to the idea that ownership or keeping land in trust is the most fail safe method of ensuring that land is used for agricultural purposes in the future and the UA/CG program can continue operations uninterrupted.
Formational and broad-based guiding principles for long-term success emerged from the study of the nine cases. Programs generally address a specific community need, involve participants in meaningful ways that foster a sense of ownership, have a dedicated core leadership, partner with local governments, and form alliances with organizations that have related goals.