This study investigates the creation and management of community gardens. It explores the processes of community involvement associated with their development and the factors that influence personal involvement with a project. Relationships between place attachment and involvement are examined within this framework to.investigate common assumptions that relate feelings of attachment to pro-active behaviour. The research project was developed in collaboration with a community development organisation supporting neighbourhood regeneration in an area of Sheffield. This facilitated an in-depth field based approach encompassing participant observation, interviews and visualethnographic techniques. Investigation of three case study gardens reveals a complex framework of factors influencing involvement; incorporating relationships with place, personal values, social relationship and practical issues. The role of attachment to place is found to be important in the initiation of involvement, although differing in character from traditional concepts of place attachment. The process of community involvement is found to encourage strong feelings of place attachment among both those taking part and those simply observing. The role of this attachment in the continuation of involvement is less evident however, moderated by a range of more practical factors. The presence of a facilitating organisation in encouraging sustained involvement was a highly influential factor in the development and management of community gardens in this study. However, the consistency of support available from grant-reliant community organisations can vary and the research highlights the importance of securing long-term support mechanisms. Efficient facilitation, both at a group and neighbourhood level, is needed to ensure that the benefits community gardens provide to individuals and communities can be sustained.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:485875 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Hinchley, Andrew J. |
| Publisher | University of Sheffield |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/10307/ |
Page generated in 0.0015 seconds