LOOKING AT COMMUNITY GARDEN : A COMMUNAL PLACE ON ROOFTOP

Abstract

The introduction of 'Community in Bloom', an initiative by the National Board Parks (NParks) to promote gardening efforts in communities, has been well received by Singaporeans especially within the public housing sector. However, due to land scarcity, the springing of community gardens could be restricted. A solution to allow more community gardens is to make use of the rooftops on carparks for more gardening space.

Community garden on rooftop is still not widely recognised in Singapore, thus it is essential to examine the popularity of community gardens on rooftops as well as to determine its effectiveness so as to introduce more community gardens atop rooftops for the next recent years.

An existing community garden on a multi-storey carpark at Admiralty Drive was used in this study with residents and community members being the informants. Findings revealed that Singaporeans are willing to participate in community gardens and most of the respondents surveyed felt that more community gardens should be expanded on rooftops. General aspects highlighted like having good garden designs and gardening committees are necessary in order to promote effective interaction among participants and maintain high standard of beauty in the gardens. More issues pertaining to rooftop gardening could be brought up. Nonetheless, due to small number of members in the focus group discussion, findings may not be as effective.

Other additional findings suggested for impending community gardens are the introduction of sky bridge community gardens and vertical community gardens which these concepts could provide alternate land space for gardening.