Design patterns for urban gardening

Abstract

Urban agriculture (UA) is practised in many forms within urban spaces, ranging from large organised community gardens to individuals with a backyard or balcony. We present the synthesis of findings from three studies exploring different types of UA: city farms, residential gardeners, and a grass roots group that supports local communities. Where the findings of individual studies are used to justify a design approach, there are often difficulties encountered because of different context of the original study. Through our understanding and synthesis of multiple studies, we propose a set of design patterns. The proposed patterns can be utilised concurrently depending on the scale and context of both the physical garden and community. The relationships between the patterns and their concurrent use are discussed, and the resulting links provided the foundation for a pattern language. The eight initial patterns provide a foundation on which we would encourage other researchers to contribute, in order to develop a pattern language to holistically consider UA beyond the scope of our experiences in Brisbane and to enrich the patterns with a variety of gardening practices.