Community gardens are enjoying a renaissance, thought to be due to people’s desire to
reconnect with food, nature and community. This paper presents results from an
exploratory investigation of two community gardens in Nottingham, supported by
regional and national contextual analysis. It examines the nature and construction of
“community” in community gardens and how they benefit their local communities.
Results from case-study work show how community gardens help to build cohesion
and vitality in a community, contributing to the generation of bonding, bridging and
linking social capital. The composition of these capitals varies between the case-study
gardens, dependent on the type of community formed. Two categories of community
garden are identified in the paper: “place-based” and “interest-based”. The former are
more territorially embedded in the local community, while the latter may span across
diverse communities, with the social capital generated remaining within an “interest
community”. These categories may not always map neatly on to one community
garden, although one category may be more immediately evident. The article also
suggests directions for future research, including complementary research frameworks
to further develop understandings of social capital metrics.