CASE STUDY #058
INTERNAL PROJECT SHOWCASE
City Parks Urban Gardening
A community-driven gardening initiative that beautifies public open spaces for many benefits
IDP LINKAGES
Caring city
Inclusive city
Opportunity city
Safe city
Well-run city
The Integrated
Development Plan is a
plan for how the City will
SUMMARY
prioritise its budget
The City Parks Urban Gardening project is aimed at promoting, facilitating and managing greater
community involvement and participation in developing quality public open spaces. Community gardening
is considered a valuable activity which contributes to health and well-being, positive social interaction,
community capacity building, environmental education and sustainability principles as well as the
protection and use of open space.
spending over a five-year
cycle. The IDP is agreed
between local government
and residents, and is
adjusted to accommodate
changing needs.
BACKGROUND
The objectives for the City’s Urban Gardening project are:
• to create quality public open spaces;
• to improve the utilisation of public open spaces based on community needs;
• to create an enabling environment for individuals or community groups to develop community gardens
within the public space that will contribute towards the beautification and horticultural aesthetics of
the city in a sustainable manner; and
• to promote horticulture, landscaping and gardening as a recreational, hobby and professional activity.
This project is innovative in that its integrative nature creates numerous possibilities and positive social
impacts for the benefit of individuals, communities and the city at large. It allows local community
members to use gardening as a means to beautify their local environment, which contributes to the overall
quality of life of the community and can also provide a economic opportunity through skills development.
ENABLERS
Community Services
Directorate
City Parks Department
This case study describes one of the City of Cape Town’s innovative projects that demonstrates how the
City applies design-led thinking to support City strategies and goals and help to improve the lives of
residents. For more, scan the QR code alongside or see www.capetown.gov.za/WDC2014/
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The project aligns with the World Design Capital 2014 theme of ‘Today for Tomorrow’ in that it creates
awareness of sustainability and other key long-term green considerations for future environmental, social
and economic health. It also aligns to the theme of ‘Beautiful Spaces. Beautiful Things’, in terms of the
creation of inspiring beautification of landscapes.
INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT PLAN LINKAGES
CARING CITY: The City Parks Department supports the community gardeners with basic setup requirements such as seeds and compost, and also provides ongoing advice with regards to soil conditions,
seasonal planting, species selection etc. Department officials provide on-site training and development
to community gardeners with regards to technical and professional components of horticulture and
landscaping.
INCLUSIVE CITY: The Community Gardening project encourages as many members of the community
to participate as possible. No garden is allowed to be fenced off for preferential use or access. All gardens must be accessible as a public garden. The concept promotes gardening models that allow for
allotments and single gardens with multiple gardeners.
OPPORTUNITY CITY: The project opens up opportunities for communities to participate in the management of the public space through optimal use and the creation of positive environments which
enhance the aesthetic of the local community space. It also creates, through recreational activity, the
possibility of economic opportunities. Secondary activities surrounding community gardening can be
transformed into economic ones such as propagation and sale of seeds, and the sale of cut flowers and
seedlings. Positive open spaces also encourage greater use, and more users at a particular location creates opportunities for concessions and small business activities.
SAFE CITY: The gardening project provides opportunities for more people to be active and present in
the public park. Through the beautification programme and the physical presence of people more regularly, the safety of the park environment can be improved as it creates constant ‘eyes on’ what is happening within the park space. This approach is a deterrent to vandals and individuals or groups who
wish to use the park space in an antisocial or unacceptable manner. The more people active in the
park, the more the utilisation of the park increases, as people take ownership of the space and create
positive safe spaces
WELL-RUN CITY: The community gardening initiative is managed by a departmental project team that
oversees the project in terms of resourcing, horticultural standards etc. Each project is managed by a
co-operative agreement entered into by the local community and City Parks. All details relating to the
individual gardens and the overall project are kept on record on a departmental sharepoint site. The
project team meets regularly and all meetings and action plans are recorded and used for monitoring
and control purposes.
DESIGN THINKING
Design-led thinking is a
collaborative and usercentric process through
which challenges are
identified and creatively
addressed to deliver
innovative and relevant
solutions. With the
responsibilities placed on a
city administration, the
core driver for embracing
design-led thinking is the
improvement of the
quality of life of citizens,
the ethos that underpins
the World Design Capital
programme.
DESIGN TOOLS
For an explanation of the
key constructs which
support design-led
thinking in project
conception, design and
implementation,see
the Toolbox.
HOW HAS DESIGN BEEN USED?
Of the key tools which support design-led thinking in project conception, creation and implementation, the
following are fundamental to the success of this project:
+ INNOVATION CO: The City Parks Department has a greening strategy, which prescribes a range of
activities that the department is, or will be, undertaking to achieve its vision. One sector plan within
the strategy is beautification and landscaping and the Urban Gardening projects falls within this sector
plan. The City Parks management team takes overall responsibility for the implementation of the strategy sector plans and was responsible for initiating this project. Hands-on management is the responsibility of the City Parks community gardens project team.
+ DREAM TEAM: The City Parks Department’s community gardens project team is comprised of operational staff from across the various City Parks districts and the respective gardens in these areas. Most
of the team members volunteered, and all take full responsibility for the interface and liaison with the
community gardeners. The team meets on average every four to six weeks to facilitate regular man-
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agement of the project. However, at the start of the financial year all districts are requested to identify
possible projects, based on engagement with their respective communities. The project team assesses
all the requests that are submitted via site visits and further community engagement. Projects are
finalised and resources allocated for the year.
The identified and selected projects are profiled for development, and levels of assistance and service and ongoing community engagement needed. The relationship is defined and contracted within a
co-operative agreement signed by the department and the gardeners.
CONSULTATION/COMMUNICATION: City Parks is aware that far more gardens exist than the number
currently recorded on the official list of community gardens. However, it was in response to the community taking the initiative to garden in parks and public spaces that City Parks developed this project.
Ongoing engagement at community and sub-council level has seen the increase in requests for community gardens escalating. The department has exceeded its targets for the last two years with regard
to the number of community gardens with signed co-operative agreements. The initial phase of the
project focused mainly on gardens that had been initiated by communities, with City Parks playing a
supportive role and contributing through technical and professional expertise to aid in the development of the gardens and gardeners.
EVOLUTIONARY APPROACH: The project is evolving all the time. The initial concepts are to encourage the use of the public space for beautification and landscaping. However, the project does not
exclude ideas around using food gardening as a means of beautification or the introduction of fruit
trees rather than ornamental trees. Each garden is reflective of the community person or persons who
have the greatest interest in the garden and also the profile and need of the local community. The gardens are also recreated as the community members become more informed about the principles of horticulture and landscaping or as more community members participate.
QUICK DELIVERY: Quick wins were achieved by using the gardens already in place in parks as prototypes, to explore what is possible with community gardening and how it can transform landscapes.
OPEN ACCESS TO INFORMATION: Internally, presentations on the project have been made to political decision makers at the portfolio committee, subcouncils etc. The project is also discussed with other
departments such as social development and urban agriculture, so as to gain from a city-wide
approach to community gardening, whether for food security or ornamental landscaping.
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT TEAM (EMT): Currently the project is represented on a forum initiated
by the Urban Agriculture Unit, but this forum has not become fully functional as yet. It is anticipated
that such a forum can fulfil this EMT role.
INNOVATION CHAMPS: The project is driven by the project co-ordinator and the City Parks project
team. These individuals believe strongly in the potential of the project, and have succeeded in having it
included in the City Parks Department and Community Services Directorate service delivery and budget
implementation plans (SDBIP) as part of City Parks’ IDP initiatives, thus it is registered and communicated on all possible platforms.
BIG THINKING, LOCALISED IMPACT: The concept plan for the project was developed as a result of a
desktop research exercise which was undertaken to establish international and national best practices.
As part of the City Parks greening strategy, the focus is to think global but act local.
COMMUNITY AT THE CENTRE, CREATIVITY ON THE FRINGE: The project is conceived, driven and
managed by the community. Communities develop and maintain the project on a daily basis and
engagement is mainly on-site and directly with gardeners involved in the particular gardens.
DESIGN THINKING
Design-led thinking is a
collaborative and usercentric process through
which challenges are
identified and creatively
addressed to deliver
innovative and relevant
solutions. With the
responsibilities placed on a
city administration, the
core driver for embracing
design-led thinking is the
improvement of the
quality of life of citizens,
the ethos that underpins
the World Design Capital
programme.
DESIGN TOOLS
For an explanation of the
key constructs which
support design-led
thinking in project
conception, design and
implementation,see
the Toolbox.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Contact Desiree Galant: desiree.galant@capetown.gov.za
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