Landscaping with Fruits: Citizens’ Perceptions toward Urban Horticulture and Design of Urban Gardens

Abstract

Urban horticulture represents a sustainable way of dealing with the challenges of modern cities, including urbanization processes, population growth tendencies, a lack of green areas, environmental pollution and food insecurity. This study aimed to (1) investigate the perceptions of citizens of Novi Sad municipality, Republic of Serbia, toward urban horticulture and (2) assess plant materials appropriate for cultivation in urban gardens and suggest urban spaces completely designed with the use of various forms of edible fruit species, including roses. The same questionnaire was administered with a four-year time gap, in 2019 and again in 2023, before and after the coronavirus pandemic. To investigate plant materials suitable for urban gardening, relevant articles in Google Scholar, Scopus and Web of Science platforms were searched. The questionnaires’ results showed significant differences between the two years concerning respondents’ attitudes toward urban horticulture’s impact on food safety, socialization and personal health and development, which could have been influenced by the pandemic. Vegetables were grown by most respondents, commonly in household yards and gardens. The main motivations for participating in community urban gardens were to grow food for their own consumption and to make charitable contributions, followed by the motivation ‘to socialize and relax’. Exemplary designs of an urban pocket, kindergarten yard and atrium courtyard are presented, providing insights into numerous possibilities for landscaping with fruits.