Does the Culture and Practice of Allotment Holding within Oxford help to build a Sustainable Local Economy?

Description

An allotment is defined as a piece of land usually about 250m² in size, which can be rented from the council in order to grow fruit and vegetables for you and your family. The study examines the culture and practice of allotment holding in Oxford and to assess if this element of self-sufficiency could benefit the community and to what extent allotments can help to build a sustainable local economy. Furthermore the study looks at the inclusion of allotments into Agenda 21 and rates Oxford City allotments using the Governments Sustainable Development Indicators. The research was based on ten face-to-face interviews with councillors and allotment holders as well as a survey of one hundred local plot holders. The findings from these interviews indicate that allotments within Oxford can be classified as sustainable when ranked against the Sustainable Development Indicators. Further to this, the study highlighted a new trend in allotment holding with a younger generation of people taking up the pastime. Due to the small sample size these findings cannot be classed as representative of the whole of Oxford, consequently generalisations cannot be made. Never the less the study provides useful insights into allotment holding and its role within sustainable development.

Links to resources

Teaching subject area

Geography

Date produced

2008

Faculty or department

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences\Department of Social Sciences

Copyright

copyright Oxford Brookes University, except where indicated in the item description

Details

  • Owner: Thomas Shepherd
  • Collection: OER
  • Version: 1 (show all)
  • Status: Live
  • Views (since Sept 2022): 48