The Role of Allotments and Community Gardens and the Challenges Facing Their Development in Urban Environments—A Literature Review

Abstract

Current research largely focuses on the role of allotment gardens, the challenges facing them, and the direction of their future development in urban environments. The main idea behind the introduction of allotment gardens was to improve the living conditions and food supply of workers and the underprivileged. The impact of allotment gardening does not only concern the allotment gardeners but also the general public and the environment. It is important to emphasise that allotments have impacts not only on food production and outdoor physical activity, but also on the reuse of idle or neglected land, community development, therapeutic and nutritional benefits, and psychological benefits for allotment holders and residents. For this reason, this study captures six broad themes related to allotments: (1) community participation and cohesion, (2) health and well-being, (3) economic opportunities, (4) pollution, (5) urban planning and development, and (6) sustainable environment. The research is a systematic review in which steps were taken to minimise bias in the identification, selection, and summarisation of studies. The initial literature selection was based on a keyword search (title, abstract, and keywords) of the comprehensive literature databases Web of Science (all years) and Scopus (all years). The total scientific literature on which this review is based includes 162 research articles published between 1978 and July 2022. This work aims to fill these gaps and analyse existing knowledge by providing a detailed review of the academic literature, focusing not only on the benefits of community gardens and allotments in urban areas, but also on the existing problems related to allotments and urban gardening. Possible directions of development are also analysed based on the legal regulations in each country.

Will Allotment Gardening Save Us Again? Allotment Gardens during a COVID-19 Pandemic in a City with a Shortage of Plots

“…Unfortunately, the insufficient amount of land designated for AGs in urban space is a problem for many cities [17,19,71,98]. Local authorities in all developing urban centres have to deal with increasing competition for land, conflicting demands for land use, and limited urban finances in order not to lose these valuable green components [37,65]. According to Egerer et al [29], AGs seemingly rose as a lifeline during the pandemic, acting as a coping strategy to deal with stress and provide food security during periods of uncertainty.…”

“…Allotment gardeners had more time to work their plots. There was also greater community cohesion among the allotment community, as they took care of each other [37,38]. Moreover, allotment gardening fostered the sustainable development of cities, their resilience, and their food independence, as well as being part of urban agriculture and mitigating the functioning problems of supply chains caused by the pandemic [38][39][40][41][42][43][44].…”

Exploring Community Garden Coordinators’ Perceptions of Climate-Smart Adaptations to Support Local Food Systems

“…The operational definition of a community garden was a plot of land cultivated by a group of individuals that is owned, accessed, or democratically controlled in some way by the public in diverse settings (ex. schools, churches, neighborhoods, city blocks, prisons) that exists to produce fruits and vegetables for eating, sharing, or selling in a community [11,[28][29][30]. The community gardens were required to be connected to the food system either by (a) distributing some produce (free or discounted) in their community or (b) donating some produce to a local food bank or charity.…”

Developing Place-Based Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Taipei City’s Jiuzhuang Community Garden

“…The term "community garden" generally refers to land where local community members manage and cultivate plants or flowers [1]. A similar, but different, spatial form is the allotment, which refers to spaces within a large garden that individuals or families formally lease from organizations, such as companies and associations, for cultivation purposes [2]. Community gardens emphasize their public nature, communal management, and sharing-oriented approaches.…”