DEFINITION

An allotment garden is a piece of land that is set aside for gardening, and is divided up into plots that are each gardened by an individual or family or other small group. Allotment gardens may have association fees and by-laws that members must follow.

AKA
Compare allotment gardens to a community garden, where the entire plot of land is gardened by the community.

RELATED FUNCTIONS

Some functions of allotment gardens include:

Social system -- allotment gardens can improve individual and community health. For example, they provide a constructive social activity for people to participate in and produce healthy vegetables.
Metabolic system -- locally growing vegetables helps reduce miles traveled for food.
Biologic system -- green urban patches can act as corridors (or stepping stones) for bird species. Pollinators such as bees and butterflies also benefit from allotment gardens.

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

Design and performance criteria for allotment gardens include: number of families/individuals participating, pounds of vegetables/fruits produced, and pollinator populations or number of birds observed.

ILLUSTRATION


CASE STUDIES
links to planning and policy case studies (metropolitan scale) or high performance landscape case studies (site-scale) documenting specific places or projects where this asset is a key feature

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Allotment gardens in the Philippines
Allotment gardens in Europe
German allotment gardens as a model for Africa