ZHANG Qingqing, ZHANG Jingyuan, ZHANG Tianyao

Keywords： community garden; allotment garden; active aging; senior care framework; construction strategy

Abstract：

Community gardens are increasingly becoming an essential space for elderly urban residents in China to engage in nature-oriented activities and community-based elderly care, which is significant for communities to actively respond to the aging population and achieve community support for the elderly. However, the informality of community gardens, which are spontaneously cultivated on publicly owned land, hinders the improvement of community environmental quality and has caused neighborhood conflicts and interest disputes, becoming a key issue that communities urgently need to address in the context of an aging population. The practical experience of European Allotment Gardens has a positive effect on community response to population aging, especially in enhancing the health and well-being of elderly residents and other socio-ecological benefits. In response to the construction needs and practical dilemmas of community gardens in China, this paper aims to sort out the mechanisms of the elderly care function of European Allotment Gardens and its institutional guarantees. It constructs a framework for promoting active aging in China’s community gardens from the three dimensions of “regularization, standardization, and institutionalization”, and proposes policy measures for spatial regularization and diversified collaborative renewal and operation, providing suggestions and opinions for the future construction of community gardens and the improvement of the quality of the community support for the elderly environment.

Funds：