DEVELOPING COMMUNITY WITH COMMUNITY GARDENS IN PREFABRICATED PANEL HOUSING ESTATE NEIGHBOURHOODS IN SZEGED

Abstract

The inherited prefabricated panel housing estates in post-socialist cities face serious challenges. Due to the overlapping social and economic difficulties, as well as the lack of proper built infrastructure, the residents face several disadvantages. In many prefabricated neighbourhoods, the development of qualitative green and community areas lagged behind the investments and sometimes never existed. As a consequence, locals do not have places for social interactions and for community building. However, community gardens in Hungary might be helpful instruments for city planners.

This paper intends to explore the community cohesion within two community gardens. The examined gardens are Megálló Community Garden and Makkosháza Community Garden and Leisure Centre in Szeged. The main question of the paper is to what extent community gardens could be used as a tool for challenging urban social segregation and alienation. Furthermore, what the key factors are of community building process in the community gardens. To answer these questions, filed research was carried out. Semi-structured interviews were made in the studied gardens with the gardeners and the coordinators. An additional four interviews were made through phone with ex-community gardeners. Altogether, the item number is 17.

As a result, I concluded that the examined community gardens in their current form cannot be effective tools for community building in block of flat neighbourhoods. The gardens have a lack of strong communities, however, solidarity and mutual help exists among them. The main determining factors of community cohesion processes in the gardens are motivation of joining, community events, and adequate structural background of the garden. As a conclusion, the gardens could be useful elements of city planning projects.