The industrialized agricultural system has resulted in ecological, economic, and social imbalances in several ways. Community gardens have become a trending interest to minimize the negative consequences of the modern agriculture system, especially in food insecure disadvantaged neighborhoods. Although community gardens have numerous economic, environmental, and social benefits, they have faced considerable degradation in some of the neighborhoods. Also, many of them have been lost to other land uses due to the lack of powerful public support. To achieve greater public support, knowledge about people’s perceptions and attitudes towards the community garden environment is important. This knowledge can help to develop more successful community gardens that can foster an increased involvement and support of community gardens.
Community gardeners and non-community gardeners in five different low-income and low-access neighborhoods were chosen as study participants in the City of Roanoke, Virginia. Quantitative and qualitative data were used together for this study. Factor analysis, descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and T-Test procedures were used for the quantitative phase. Content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data.
Findings showed that people’s preferences are based on several factors including content and spatial organization of the environment, maintenance level of the community garden site, and the opportunities that community gardens offer to its users and residents. Particularly, participants preferred well-maintained community garden landscapes equipped with well-constructed raised beds, pavilions, pathways, and sitting structures offering opportunities for gathering and social events. Participants negatively responded to untidy community garden scenes with features such as unorganized garden spaces, uncontrolled weeds, overgrown vegetation, and poorly constructed structures. Results also showed that mental health and stress relief, outdoor exercise and physical health, community pride, and food access were the main motivation themes to participate in community gardening. On the other hand, theft and damage, difficult access, too much effort, and no personal interest were the main motivations not to participate in community gardening. Findings from this study may help gardeners, community garden program managers, planners, and designers to develop more successful community garden projects that can expand involvement and support for community gardens and increase the permanence of these landscapes in urban neighborhoods. / Ph.D. / The modern agricultural system has resulted in several negative ecological, economic, and social impacts. Community gardens have become a trending interest to minimize these negative impacts, especially in low-income and low-access neighborhoods. Although community gardens provide economic, environmental, and social benefits, they have been lost to other land uses due to the lack of powerful public support. To achieve greater public support, knowledge about people’s landscape preferences and their attitudes towards the community garden environment is important. This knowledge can help to increase public involvement and support and to develop more successful community gardens.
Community gardeners and non-community gardeners in five different low-income and low-access neighborhoods were chosen as study participants in the City of Roanoke, Virginia. Participants were asked to rate a series of community garden scenes. They were also asked about their opinions on community garden design and their motivations to participate or not to participate in community gardening.
Findings showed that people’s landscape preferences are based on several factors including organization of landscape elements, maintenance level of the community garden site, and the activities that community gardens offer to its users and residents. Particularly, participants preferred well-maintained community garden landscapes equipped with well-constructed raised beds, pavilions, pathways, and sitting structures offering opportunities for gathering and social events. Participants negatively responded to untidy community garden scenes with features such as unorganized garden spaces, uncontrolled weeds, overgrown vegetation, and poorly constructed structures. Results also showed that mental health and stress relief, outdoor exercise and physical health, community pride, and food access were the main motivation themes to participate in community gardening. On the other hand, theft and damage, difficult access, too much effort, and no personal interest were the main motivations not to participate in community gardening. Findings from this study may help gardeners, community garden program managers, planners, and designers to develop more successful community garden projects that can expand involvement and support for community gardens and increase the permanence of these landscapes in urban neighborhoods.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/111072 |
| Date | 11 May 2022 |
| Creators | Kordon, Sinan |
| Contributors | Architecture and Design Research, Bohannon, C. L., Clements, Terry, Kim, Mintai, Niewolny, Kimberly L. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Coverage | Roanoke, Virginia, United States |
| Rights | Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
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