Thesis (Ph.D)

Wellbeing impacts of sustainably designed community gardens: A capability approach

Abstract

In early 2011 there were over 1782 community garden sites officially registered with the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens. In addition to promoting healthy food and healthy eating, many of these sites contain a number of sustainable design features and associated activities. They also claim to deal with value-laden ethical and social issues relating to human wellbeing. In this way they aim to be ecologically sustainable. Using a normative framework for evaluating wellbeing - the Capability Approach - this research reports on the multiple impacts that the design of such spaces may have on the subjective wellbeing of site users. Qualitative research methods of data collection and analysis in five community garden sites in the UK and Ireland were carried out for adult, youth and child users. Results show that although producing a food yield was found to have most impact on wellbeing for all user groups, the overall wellbeing impacts of site activities go beyond physical health and healthy eating, impacting most on capabilities of stimulation, psychological wellbeing and purpose. Two key aspects of site design and associated valued activities - agency and dynamic balance - were found to enhance both the sustainability of the community garden sites and the wellbeing of site users. These are the essence of enhancing wellbeing in the sustainably designed community garden sites. The thesis concludes that not only is there a requirement for new conceptualizations of sustainable design and wellbeing for the urban environment but we also require new methodological approaches to better capture the multi-layered and multidimensional complexities of such spaces within our everyday lives.

Attached files

Authors

Clavin, A

Oxford Brookes departments

School of the Built Environment
Faculty of Technology, Design and Environment

Dates

Year: 2010

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© Clavin, A
Published by Oxford Brookes University
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