Sense of belonging and governance arrangement in community gardens in the Washington Metropolitan
Open Access DepositedWhere is the “community” in community gardens
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Community gardens have been widely promoted in the literature and municipal policies as spaces where urban residents can build community and grow their own food. However, research has shown that these benefits are not always evenly distributed among gardeners. Using qualitative methods, including interviews, focus group discussions, and participant observation with gardeners in the Washington Metropolitan Area, this study investigates how gardeners experience belonging within community garden environments and how governance arrangements shape their participation. The findings show that belonging within community gardens is shaped by everyday social interactions, the spatial location of the garden, and the governance arrangement under which gardens operate. Moreover, the type of governance arrangement employed can either promote or constrain participation. Specifically, gardens characterized by centralized decision-making, leadership, and vertically controlled communication tended to reduce gardeners to passive participants, limiting their engagement to individual plot maintenance. In contrast, gardens with shared decision-making, decentralized leadership, and open horizontal communication created greater opportunities for active and meaningful involvement in the governance and social life of the garden. This study suggests that the promise of ‘community’ in community gardens is not an automatic outcome of shared space but depends on how gardeners experience belonging and how the garden is governed. These findings carry important implications for municipalities, garden managers, and organizations that support community gardens as tools for neighborhood cohesion and community revitalization.
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