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Shared Space, Shared Ideology : Building Social Capital and Third Place in Stockholm's Suburban Allotment and Forest Gardens

This thesis explores how four community gardens (Forest Gardens and Allotment Gardens) in Stockholm's multicultural suburbs enhance social connections among members and build community within the surrounding areas, through the lenses of social capital and third place, respectively. This case study aims to investigate participants’ perspectives on their relationships with other gardeners and visitors from the local neighborhood, utilizing semi-structured interviews and field/participant observations to collect qualitative data. The findings suggest that the shared ideologies among members in Forest Gardens, especially around the principles of permaculture, differentiate this typology from Allotment Gardens, in which the shared space aspect is more prevalent. Forest Gardens raise bonding social capital, stimulating deeper friendships and offering third places for the local communities, while Allotment Gardens promote bridging social capital, encouraging social learning through casual interactions with a diverse group of members, yet not so likely to include outsiders, functioning more as clubs. As a main contribution, this study highlights the importance of investigating the influence of members’ shared ideologies in the way social relationships are shaped in gardening communities, and not only examining gardening practices and spaces. On this basis, further research on the Pallet Collar Garden typology in Stockholm is recommended.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:su-230049
Date January 2024
CreatorsFonteles Castro Pinto, Rafaella
PublisherStockholms universitet, Kulturgeografiska institutionen
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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