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Current Trends: Community Garden Design in India
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Mukta Rai Saxena
G.D. Goenka University, Gurgaon
Mukta.rai@gmail.com
Abstract
Introduction: India is an agriculture based country and
farming is linked to each one of us either in our childhood
memories or as a hobby of gardening. Due to rising health
issues in the city, the current trend today is to promote
farming as an activity in cities by encouraging community
gardens that act as healthy recreational spaces along with
source of organic vegetables and assist in sustainable
development of the city.
Aim: The aim of this paper is to explore the concepts of
community gardens, its multi-dimensional benefits to the
urban people, the issues and ways to promote community
gardens in India.
Approach:
The approach is to conduct an extensive literature study
of gardens and community participation. The study shall
help in understanding the benefits of such gardens in
cities. Few case studies explore the elements and ways to
organize the gardens and its feasibility in Indian context.
Result:
The research helps us to understand the role of the
community gardens, the elements and models to organize
such gardens and the tangible and intangible benefits the
community can achieve after successfully organizing such
gardens in India.
1. Introduction
India is an agricultural land were the majority of
people are in the villages. There has always been a concept
of sharing the food amongst our family and community.
As urbanization set it, people have been migrating to the
cities for want of employment opportunities and
education. More and more villagers are quitting the
village ways and settling in cites. The cities are turning
magnets to the youth who leave their agricultural field and
are attracted to the glitter of the city. The cities are
growing on a magnanimous scale and struggling for want
of area. The result is a high density development with
people restricted to apartments and living in polluted city
environment. The lifestyle of the urban people has taken a
down turn in terms of health and happiness.
The landscape architects and environmentalist are
finding ways to mitigate the ill effect of the city and make
the cities sustainable. Out of the various solutions to
promote the wellbeing of individuals and the community
alike, the concept of Community Gardens was introduced
in the western countries. The concept has well been
appreciated and benefitting the community. This paper is
exploring the elements and effects of the community
garden on the resident and also tries to analyses its
relevance in Indian context.
2. Approach and Method
Before we begin our research, we need to understand
the concept of the community gardens. Community
gardens are common green areas in the vicinity of a
community that are jointly used by all for growing of
vegetables and flower. These are publically functional in
terms of finance, access and management. Community
gardens are set up by local group of people or welfare
organizations that motivate people to contribute and
participate in its functioning there by enjoying its material
and intangible benefits. As per Comstock,” Community
gardens are proven to reinforce ties to one’s environment”
[1]. It provides a community with a central location for
social gathering, communal project participation, and
healthy outcomes.
Figure 1 (Community garden)
We look at various literature studies to understand the
origin and the elements that go in making a community
garden. Following this we look at case studies abroad and
in India that show some semblance to community
gardening.
The Origin of Community Gardens: The community
gardens originated long back in 100 BC in the United
Kingdom and Celtic fields of Lands’ End, Cornwall,
which are still in use today. During the reign of Elizabeth
I (1558-1603) the land attached to the tenant cottages was
allotted to the Manorial or common man. These lands were
enclosed and treated as community gardens. Later on the
allotment Act of Parliament was established in 1908 to
meet community demand for the gardens. [9] The concept
further progressed ahead when there was food crisis
during the World war and a need was felt to have locally
grown food in the cities as well. Similarly in Australia, the
development of community gardens was initiated in
Victoria in the mid to late 1970s. As per Grayson, 2000 it
began in the suburb of Nun wadding, and later with the
development of the inner city Collingwood Children’s
Farm and the suburban Brunswick City Farm, community
gardens were developed by state governments on a
number of public housing estates. [13]
In India, the concept of community gardens was initiated
in the villages for marginalized farmers who were unable
to sustain on the fragmented small fields. This was done
in 2001, by CYSD, an NGO, which began its intervention
of promoting group farming in Tumajore. Group farming,
alternatively known as community farming is a livelihood
approach conceived by CYSD (Centre for Youth and
Social Development). It consists of a group of small and
marginal farmers, and landless poor in a village who work
together to utilize the cultivable waste lands or under-
utilized lands to earn their livelihoods. The participating
farmers either take community or individual land on lease
or pool land of individual farmers in a continuous patch
for effective and profitable farming. With its effective
impact, this initiative has now spread to other nearby
villages as well. (Report by Seema Gupta and Ganesh
Parida)
The Indian cities on the other hand have something called
urban agriculture that predominantly has individuals
growing for their own needs. Even though these are not
on a community level scale, they do help out the urban
poor and the migrant populations in providing them food.
These is termed as urban agriculture and plays an
important role for making a city more resilient and safe in
term of not only food and economy but also improving
standard of living of urban poor by increasing means of
livelihood.
Case Study of Philadelphia Green
In 1995, with over 15,000 vacant lots and 27,000 vacant
structures in the city, Philadelphia Green started
encouraging associations with community development
corporations in open space efforts. This resulted in the
New Kensington Project open space management plan that
incorporated several elements of vacant land management.
By 1999 local residents had taken part in cleaning 370
parcels, building sixty-two community gardens,
improving 158 side yards, developing a demonstration
garden, and initiating various education programs. Today,
Philadelphia’s gardening future includes the ownership of
twenty-one gardens through the Neighborhood Gardens
Association/ A Philadelphia Land Trust. [17]
Case Study of the Waterloo Community Gardens,
Australia
A Community Development Project (CDP) was first
established on the Waterloo Housing Estate through a
collaboration of the University of New South Wales
(UNSW) and the Department of Housing (DoH). The DoH
first constructed the Waterloo community garden in 1997
in a dilapidated children’s playground. This first
community garden comprised 28 pie-shaped plots within
the existing circular enclosure of the playground. Support
for the project was also provided by the South Sydney City
Council via a community grant and the involvement of
Council’s Community Gardens Officers. The Royal
Botanic Gardens also supported the project by providing
plants and expert horticultural advice. The project was a
huge success and eagerly taken up by the adjoining
tenants. Popularly called the Cook Garden, this garden
lead to designing of two other community gardens. These
have been developed on an individual allotment basis
where individuals determine what to plant. Each of the
three community gardens has its own water supply, a
lockable tool box and composting bin, and is surrounded
by a painted steel fence with masonry pillars with a keyed
entry gate.
A qualitative research was done on people using these
gardens and the results of their “research outcomes are
presented in the report, “A Bountiful Harvest: Community
Gardens and Neighbourhood Renewal in Waterloo” [2].
Case study of New Delhi
The research by Pranati Awasthi explains how the urban
agricultural laborers have occupied the fertile banks of
Yamuna and practice agriculture, however there resources
are minimal and the flood threats loom over them. Due to
development activities of the Delhi metro, the Yamuna
banks areas have been used for infrastructure
development. As a result such urban agricultural lands
have reduced even more [1].
Apart for these workers, there is a substantial number of
people who manage to have home grown fruits and
vegetables in their backyard gardens in the city. However
these cannot be termed as the community gardens because
they do not help in providing the community level
benefits.
A few developers have planned to launch few projects in
Delhi area where they suggest to dedicate one tree to each
resident who takes care of it. This new idea could be very
well taken further by means of having community garden
spaces in the residential complexes and jointly owning the
maintenance of the same. This can promote the concept of
community gardens and initiate building of a better
neighborhood.
3. Discussion and Direction
Understanding the Benefits of the Community
Gardens
Community gardens have many benefits as listed below.
a) There are various factors that influence the
wellbeing of an individual, a family and a community.
These factors are termed as determinants of health.
“The ‘determinants of health’, were first referred to by
Dahlgren and Whitehead in 1991 in their landmark
paper “What can be done about inequalities in
health”[12] The determinants of health are not just
factors of wellbeing, like the environment or the
landscape, but also personal and social setups. These
social set up help in reducing the stress levels in the
people. They promote a sense of security and comfort
when people work in a team. As concluded by research
having a garden of your own or a garden immediately
adjacent to your apartment has a significantly positive
impact on stress. With respect to stress reduction,
having your own verdant garden seems to be more
important than visiting urban open green spaces [15]
Findings from several studies have converged in
indicating that simply viewing certain types of nature
and garden scenes significantly ameliorates stress
within only five minutes or less. [16]. Research has
proved that the health benefits are numerous for the
gardeners. As well as eating better and being more
active, gardeners are more involved in social activities,
view their neighborhoods as more beautiful, and have
stronger ties to their neighborhoods [12]. all
community gardeners stated that their main reasons for
gardening were to be outside in nature and to get their
hands dirty. Most community gardeners give away
some of the produce they grow to friends, family and
people in need; 60 percent specifically donate to food
assistance programs [12].
b) Research have also proved that youth and the
school kids also benefit for the community
gardens by venting out their stress.
c) Gardens provide food and shelter for birds and
insects
d) Help in preserving heirloom flowers and
vegetables
e) Organic farming practices - prevent
introduction of chemicals into the system
f) Compost (cycling outputs back into the system)
g) Rainwater harvesting
h) Ecological and Environmental Ethic
i) Community gardens can result in greening of
vacant lands in the city, the increased green
cover may improve the sustainability of the city.
j) The fresh fruits and vegetable grown by the
individual help in understanding the worth of the
farming sector
k) Motivation to reduce food wastage.
l) Promotion of terrace gardening as community
gardens reduces the heat island effects.
Figure 2 community terrace garden
Introducing Community Gardening in Indian Cities.
Having understood the benefits of the community garden
we look at possibility to establish them in Indian cities.
There is lot of potential to set them here in India.
a) Through Government incentives: The city has lot of
open waste government lands that turn into garbage
dumps eventually. The government can promote the
community gardens for the wellbeing of the citizens
and also for promoting sustainability and food
security. These government lands could be leased out
to groups of interested citizens. Neighbors could be
recruited to take ownership and help protect the
investment. These local advocates serve as the eyes
and ears of the neighborhood. They have the potential
to most directly benefit from this project. The
neighborhood gardeners, master gardeners,
agricultural extension offices, and local botanical
garden experts in the area could provide expertise,
donate materials, or donate labor. Sponsors and others
who can not only provide operating capital can also
provide political support for the project (e.g.,
businesses that contribute to community
beautification and highway adoption projects).
b) Through Resident Welfare Associations. The
concept can also be introduced as an option for the
group housing residents who could use the common
area for such activities. Organized by the resident
welfare associations, the residents can all get to enjoy
nature and its bounties.
c) Through Neighbourhood schools: The local school
can take the initiative to set up the community
gardening areas and inculcate the respect fun and joy
of farming. The children can really benefit from such
group activities as they start to reconnect with the
nature. They learn and appreciate the various
ecosystems that coexist with farming and help in the
sustainable development of the city. Global issue of
obesity in city kids can be tackled in a healthy way.
d) Through Cooperative set ups and other
organisations: The cooperative milk industry of
Amul and many similar cooperative movements have
been very successful in India. On similar lines, the
community gardens could be established where the
people with like mind interest form cooperatives that
work on community gardens. Newspaper reports
showcase achievements in this direction with
community gardens and vegetable produces
happening all over India including places like
Rajarhat, Bangalore, Nagpur and Puducherry.
4. Conclusion
Studies have proved that these community garden spaces
are essential for the physical social and mental health and
hence appropriate directions and approach may be made
during city planning and detailed planning to help the
community to achieve a healthier lifestyle. These
community gardens can help in city dweller to have access
to organic fresh vegetables along with a great sense of
pride and satisfaction to be a part of growing the same. The
worth of food is understood and food wastage is reduced.
The community gardens are an essential means to
reconnect the people today with the nature. Landscape
architects today should try to either allocate a land in their
project or guide local people to understand the importance
and help in the sustainable development of the city.
5. Acknowledgements
I acknowledge the support of all my colleagues and
friends who helped me during this research.
6. References
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