Contribution of Home Gardens to Sustainable Development: Perspectives from A Supported Opinion Essay

Abstract

Home gardening has a long history that started when humans became sedentary, being traditionally considered an accessible source of food and medicinal plants to treat common illnesses. With trends towards urbanization and industrialization, particularly in the post-World War II period, the importance of home gardens as important spaces for growing food and medicinal plants reduced and they began to be increasingly seen as decorative and leisure spaces. However, the growing awareness of the negative impacts of agricultural intensification and urbanization for human health, food quality, ecosystem resilience, and biodiversity conservation motivated the emergence of new approaches concerning home gardens. Societies began to question the potential of nearby green infrastructures to human wellbeing, food provisioning, and the conservation of traditional varieties, as well as providers of important services, such as ecological corridors for wild species and carbon sinks. In this context. and to foster adaptive and resilient social–ecological systems, our supported viewpoint intends to be more than an exhaustive set of perceptions, but a reflection of ideas about the important contribution of home gardens to sustainable development. We envision these humble spaces strengthening social and ecological components, by providing a set of diversified and intermingled goods and services for an increasingly urban population.

How Can Resource-Exhausted Cities Get Out of “The Valley of Death”? An Evaluation Index System and Obstacle Degree Analysis of Green Sustainable Development

“…Furthermore, encouraging and guiding the development of tertiary industry with scientific and technological innovation is also important. The service industry is the core of the industrial structure adjustment of resource-based cities and benefits the development of tertiary industry [ 89 ]. It can alleviate employment pressure and absorbs a large number of workers who leave, retire, are laid-off or transfer from resource-based industries; furthermore, it is also easier to promote scientific and technological innovation and realize the virtuous cycle of urban green development in the development of tertiary industry [ 89 , 90 ].…”

Can trait matching inform the design of pollinator‐friendly urban green spaces? A review and synthesis of the literature

“…Gardeners and landowners are often saddled with the responsibility of selecting effective floral mixes out of the myriad of plant species available for gardening, and these choices are limited by the surrounding environmental conditions (Santos et al, 2022). For example, different plants have variable responses to sunlight and water availability, soil types, and temperature.…”

Ethnoecology of home garden landscapes on Seliu Island, Belitung District, Indonesia

“…Thus, it is strengthening family relationships. Home gardens, as simple spaces, support social and ecological components by providing a wide range of diverse goods and services to meet the needs of the increasing population (Gbedomon et al 2017;Santos et al 2022). Home gardens are used as recreational and social interaction spaces among the people of Seliu Island.…”

“…The interaction between local communities and the surrounding natural environment has a long history, especially since humans began to settle and cultivate food and medicinal plants (Santos et al 2022). This interaction produces various types of landscapes, including home gardens, gardens, rice fields, and forests (Henri et al 2022).…”