Introduction
Community gardens have enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in many developed market
economies in recent years, including in the UK, the USA and Australia. This upsurge is
influenced by the desires of people to reconnect with food, nature and community. Concomitantly,
social science research on community gardens is also growing (see, for example,
Irvine et al. 1999, Armstrong 2000, Schmelzkopf 2002, Glover 2004). Much of this work
suggests that these initiatives have positive community building outcomes, creating a
variety of benefits for both individuals and communities. These include benefits to food
security, human health, the local ecology and social capital, as well as creating opportunities
for community development through education, skills and training (see Wakefield et al.
2007). For this reason, community gardens have been appropriated by various statutory
and voluntary agencies as an intervention to aid urban regeneration, social cohesion and
related health problems (Kingsley and Townsend 2006).