THE INFLUENCE OF EMOTIONAL AND CONDITIONAL FACTORS ON GARDENERS’ PARTICIPATION IN COMMUNITY GARDENS

Abstract

In recent decades, there has been considerable attention given to the development of community gardens in many cities. Despite the increasing popularity and the benefits for local communities, the long-time survival of community gardens is under threat and the key issue is a lack of participation over time. A better understanding of what factors influence gardeners’ participation in gardening activities is necessary for designing and implementing appropriate gardening programs and encouraging more stable involvement. The goal of the study was to explore, beyond commonly known functional factors, the impact of emotional and conditional factors on gardening participation, as well as moderating effect of different classifications of gardeners with varying characteristics on their participation. To reach our goal, a web-based survey and on-site surveys were administered to 180 gardeners in three community gardens in Austin, Texas. Results showed that gardeners were not only driven by functional factors but also emotional as well as conditional factors. The emotional attachment toward gardening was significantly seen in gardeners’ high level of place identity and place dependence on gardening place, while the significant conditional factors were seen in gardeners’ time constraints rather than the level of gardening skills and physical distance to gardens. The results of motivating factors also showed that both the duration of gardening and the frequency of gardening bolstered gardeners’ relationship between emotional factors and their intent to participate in community gardens. The importance of recognizing the diversity of gardeners is discussed as it relates to participation in community gardens.