Urban allotment gardening: a quantitative survey analysis investigating the motivations of allotment owners in Rotterdam, whilst concerning different age groups.

Urban farming could be considered as a means of improving several aspects of city life, such as sustainable food provisioning, healthy living environments, climate change effects, and people’s social well-being. Allotment gardening is an increasingly common urban farming initiative, which is an assigned individually-owned plot of land in the city where people could, for example, grow fruits and vegetables, spend time outdoors, or meet other gardeners. Yet, there can be various motivational indicators for why people start practising urban allotment gardening. Despite previous research studies on motivations to contribute to urban farming initiatives, there is still a need to investigate certain research gaps. These include people’s motivation to contribute to urban allotment gardening, and possible differences in motivations between age groups. This research investigates the main motivational indicators of allotment garden owners in Rotterdam, to see whether environmental issues,...Show moreUrban farming could be considered as a means of improving several aspects of city life, such as sustainable food provisioning, healthy living environments, climate change effects, and people’s social well-being. Allotment gardening is an increasingly common urban farming initiative, which is an assigned individually-owned plot of land in the city where people could, for example, grow fruits and vegetables, spend time outdoors, or meet other gardeners. Yet, there can be various motivational indicators for why people start practising urban allotment gardening. Despite previous research studies on motivations to contribute to urban farming initiatives, there is still a need to investigate certain research gaps. These include people’s motivation to contribute to urban allotment gardening, and possible differences in motivations between age groups. This research investigates the main motivational indicators of allotment garden owners in Rotterdam, to see whether environmental issues, such as climate change play a role in people's motivation or not. Additionally, the differences in motivational indicators between five age groups were investigated to see whether age has an effect on motivation. A questionnaire survey was conducted, of which the respondents contained 119 practitioners of 12 different urban allotment organisations based in Rotterdam. The results showed that most of the respondents have their allotment garden to spend their leisure time. Additionally, it was found that the interaction between age group and motivational indicator was not significant (p = 0.56). A more extensive research study is required to conclusively understand how the age of allotment gardeners is linked to motivations.Show less

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Urban allotment gardening: a quantitative survey analysis investigating the motivations of allotment owners in Rotterdam, whilst concerning different age groups.