This social capital framework provides a means by which to investigate the levels of ties
and networks in and across communities. Social capital concepts and frameworks have
been used to analyse the extent to which community gardens provide opportunities for
enhancing social capital (Kingsley and Townsend 2006) and to examine associated benefits
and costs (Glover 2004). There is general agreement that community gardens increase
social cohesion, support networking and enhance levels of social capital. They do so by providing
a shared “third space” and joint activities. However, some questions have been raised
about whether these benefits were available for all in the community or whether they
extended beyond the garden setting. For example, Glover (2004) in a study of community
gardens in Toronto, Canada found that a core group of mainly white people gained most and
that those outside the core group felt left out. Kingsley and Townsend’s (2006) study in