Community gardening, neighborhood meetings, and social capital

Abstract

This study examined associations between participation in community gardening/beautification projects and neighborhood meetings with perceptions of social capital at both the individual and neighborhood levels. Data were analyzed from a cross-sectional stratified random telephone survey conducted in Flint, Michigan (N51916). Hierarchical linear and logistic regression analyses were used to study associations, controlling for individual and Census block group-level confounders. At the individual level, household involvement in community gardening/ beautification activities and in neighborhood meetings were associated with residents' perceptions of bonding social capital, linking social capital, and neighborhood norms and values. Household involvement in gardening/beautification and meetings had stronger associations with residents' perceptions of social capital than did neighborhood-level involvement measures. Results suggest involvement in neighborhood meetings augment the individual and neighborhood-wide perceptions of social capital associated with community gardening and beautification projects. Neighborhood community gardens' impact on neighborhood residents' perceptions of social capital can be enhanced by neighborhoodwide meetings. C

Contributing to food security in urban areas: differences between urban agriculture and peri-urban agriculture in the Global North

“…They thus contribute to generating social capital (Alaimo et al 2010;Firth et al 2011) and can be a decisive success factor for a project itself (Buttery et al 2008;Corrigan 2011;Meenar and Hoover 2012). As well as this, they can be an effective approach to solving land-use conflicts (Barthel et al 2010).…”

Toward Sustainability: Novelties, Areas of Learning and Innovation in Urban Agriculture

“…Based on these results, one could assume that there are only a few novel approaches regarding these issues. However, in the recent literature about community gardens or UA in general, several studies provide evidence on novelties comparable to those mentioned in the interviews [47,61,62]. A better explanation seems to be the narrow understanding of the terms novelty and innovation.…”

Evaluación de procesos comunitarios y análisis de redes inter-organizativas: elementos para mejorar la efectividad de las intervenciones comunitarias

“…Una muestra de esta teoría podemos encontrarla en investigaciones en las que se informa acerca de cómo la participación en actividades de restauración y habilitación de zonas comunes del vecindario y jardines comunitarios mejora la percepción sobre el nivel de capital social de los miembros de la comunidad en los sujetos que se involucran en dichas actividades, en comparación con aquellos que no lo hacen (Alaimo et al, 2010;Glover, 2004;Glover, Parry y Shinew, 2005). Este resultado avala la idea de que existe conexión entre la participación en actividades comunitarias y la formación de capital social.…”

“…De otro lado, los trabajos que identifican la participación comunitaria con procesos como la creación de capital social (Putnam, 1993), la promoción del bienestar psicológico (Prilleltensky et al, 2001), la satisfacción de los miembros de la comunidad (Larson et al, 2009) y la mejora del entorno comunitario (Alaimo et al, 2010;Perkins, 1991;Perkins et al, 1990) muestran que este proceso constituye uno de los ejes centrales para fortalecer el desarrollo comunitario. La participación en actividades de promoción comunitaria con frecuencia requiere adentrarse en organizaciones de base comunitaria, conocer las instituciones públicas que proporcionan servicios sociales y las entidades privadas que desarrollan su actividad en la comunidad.…”