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Horticulture is the science and art of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers or ornamental plants.

Urban horticulture specifically is the study of the relationship between plants and the urban environment. It focuses on the functional use of horticulture so as to maintain and improve the surrounding urban area. With the expansion of cities and rapid urbanization, urban horticulture is a new term. As a result of the urban context, this field of study is large and complex and it's study has only recently gained momentum. It has an undeniable relationship to production horticulture in that fruits, vegetables and other plants are grown for harvest, aesthetic, architectural, recreational and psychological purposes, however it extends far beyond these benefits. However the value of plants in the urban environment has yet to be thoroughly researched or quantified.

History
Horticulture and the integration of nature into our civilization has been a major part in the establishment of our cities. When nomadic civilizations began settling down, their major trading centers were the market gardens and farms. Urban horticulture rapidly progressed with the birth of cities and the increase in experimentation and exchange of ideas. These insights led to the field being dispersed to farmers in the hinterlands. For centuries, the built environment such as homes, public buildings,etc were integrated with cultivation in the form of gardens, farms, and grazing lands, Kitchen gardens, farms, common grazing land, etc. Therefore horticulture was a regular part of everyday life in the city. However the Industrial Revolution along with increasing populations rapidly changed the landscape replacing green spaces with brick and asphalt. After the nineteenth century, Horticulture was then selectively restored in some urban spaces as a response to the unhealthy conditions of factory neighborhoods and cities began seeing the development of parks.

Post World War II Trends
Early urban horticulture movements majorly served the purposes of short term welfare during recession periods, philanthropic charity to uplift "the masses" or patriotic relief. The tradition of urban horticulture mostly declined after World War II as suburbs became the focus of residential and commercial growth. Most of the economically stable population moved out of the cities into the suburbs, leaving only slums and ghettos at the city centers. However there were a few exceptions of garden projects initiated by public housing authorities in the 1950s and 60s for the purpose of beautification and tenant pride. But for the most part as businesses also left the metropolitan areas, it generated wastelands and areas of segregated poverty.

Inevitably the disinvestment of major city centers, specifically in America resulted in the drastic increase of vacant lots. Existing buildings became uninhabitable, houses were abandoned and even productive industrial land became vacant. Modern community gardening, urban agriculture, and food security movements were a form of response to battle the above problems at a local level. In fact other movements at that time such as the peace, environmental, women's, civil rights, and "back-to-the-city" movements of the 1960's and 70's and the environmental justices movement of the 1980's and 90's saw opportunity in these vacant lands as a way of reviving communities through school and community gardens, farmers' markets, and urban agriculture.

Modern community garden movement
Things have taken a turn in the twenty-first century as people are recognizing the need for local community gardens and green spaces. Its not the concept but the purposes that are new. The main goals of this movement include cleaning up neighborhoods, pushing out drug dealing that occurs at empty lots, growing and preserving food for consumption, restoring nature to industrial areas, and bringing the farming traditions to urban cities. Essentially community gardening is seen as way of creating a relationship between people and a place through social and physical engagement. Most urban gardens are created on vacant land that vary in size and are generally gardened as individual plots by community members. Such areas can support social, cultural, and artistic events and contribute to the rebuilding of local community spirit. The modern community garden movement is initiated by neighborhoods along with the support of the governments and non-profit organizations. Some gardens are linked to public housing projects, churches and social agencies and some even employ those who are incarcerated. Community gardens which are now a large part of the urban horticulture movement are different from the earlier periods of grand park development in that the latter only served to free the people from the industrialism. In addition a community garden is more beneficial and engaging than a mere lawn or park and serves as a valuable access to nature where wilderness is unavailable. This movement helped create and sustain relationships between city dwellers and the soil and contributed to a different kind of urban environmentalism that did not have any characteristics of reform charity.

However even after 30 years since the first community gardens in the States, there is no concrete analysis of current urban gardens and their organizations. The American Community Gardening Association (ACGA) has estimations that show that municipal governments and non-profit organizations operate gardening programs in about 250 cities and towns, although the staff of this organization admits that this number could in reality be twice as large. In 1994 survey, the National Gardening Association found that 6.7 million households, that weren't involved in gardening would be interested in doing so if there was a plot nearby. A more recent survey showed that more gardens are being created in cities as opposed to being lost to economic development.

Today urban horticulture has several components that include more than just community gardens, such as market gardens, small farms and farmers' markets and is an important aspect of community development. Another result of urban horticulture is the food security movement where locally grown food is given precedence through several projects and programs, thus providing low-cost and nutritious food. Urban community gardens and the food security movement was a response to the problems of industrial agriculture and to solve its related problems of price inflation, lack of supermarkets, food scarcity, etc.

Benefits
Horticulture by itself is a practical and applied science, which means it can have a significance in our every day lives. As community gardens cannot actually compete with market-based land uses, it is essential to find other ways to understand their various benefits such as their contribution to social, human, and financial well-being. Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of New York City's Central Park observed that the trees,meadows, ponds and wildlife tranquilize the stresses of city life. According to various studies over the years, nature has a very positive impact over human health and even more so in an emotional and psychological sense. Trees, grass, and flower gardens, due to their presence as well as visibility, increase people's life satisfaction by reducing fatigue and irritation and restoring a sense of calm. In fact Honeyman tested the restorative value of nature scenes in urban settings and discovered that vegetation in an urban setting produced more mental restoration as opposed to areas without vegetation. In addition, areas with only nature did not have as much of a positive psychological impact as did the combination of urban areas and nature.

Gardens and other green spaces also increase social activity and help in creating a sense of place, apart from their various other purposes such as enhancing the community by mediating environmental factors. There is also a huge disparity in the availability of sources that provide nutritious and affordable foods especially around urban centers which have problems of poverty, lack of public transport and abandonment by supermarkets. Therefore inner city community gardens can be a valuable sources of nutrition at an affordable cost in the most easily accessible way.

In order to understand and thereby maximize the benefits of urban horticulture, it is essential to document the effects of horticulture activities and quantify the benefits so that governments and private industries can make the appropriate changes. Although horticulturists have always been involved in the botanical and physical aspects of horticulture, an involvement in it's social and emotional factors would be highly beneficial to communities, cities and to the field of horticulture and it's profession. In fact, in the 1970's the International Society for Horticultural Science recognized this need for research on the functional use of plants in an urban setting along with the need of improved communication between scientists in this field of research and people who utilize plants. The Commission for Urban Horticulture was established in 1982 which deals with plants grown in urban areas, management techniques, the functional use of these plants as well the shortcomings of the current lack of knowledge regarding this field. The establishment of such a commission is an important indicator that this topic has reached a level of international recognition.

Conclusion
Half of the world's population lives in urban areas today and according to UN estimation, two-thirds of the population will in cities by 2030. Thus people's lives will be largely influenced and directed by the urban environment. In such a context, the future urban horticulture becomes relevant and important. While a community garden on its own is small and local it is an important aspect of the urban horticulture movement. Urban Horticulture is essential in forming the connection between humans and the environment, something that is sorely lacking in most cities of today.