Danny Woo International District Community Garden (Seattle, USA)
Seattle, United States · Operator: Inter*Im Community Development Association
Overview
A 1.5-acre community garden on a slope in Seattle's Chinatown-International District. Opened in 1975, it holds 101 garden allotments and 77 fruit trees. The gardeners are mostly low-income Asian seniors with an average age of 76. Alongside vegetables used in Asian cooking, the trees bear cherries, plums, Asian pears and apples. An on-site kitchen built in 2014 anchors the garden's community programmes.
Citizen participation
The plots are worked mainly by low-income seniors, predominantly Asian. The average age of the gardeners is 76, Korean and Cantonese are the main languages spoken, and many gardeners speak no English. A number live in single-room-occupancy units with no private kitchen or bathroom. Over 300 volunteers support operations and the garden receives more than 1,000 visitors a year.
Operating model
Founded in 1975 by business and community leaders of the International District, with land donated by landowner and restaurateur Danny Woo; further land was added by the City of Seattle in the mid-1980s. It is run by Inter*Im Community Development Association, a community-development nonprofit serving the Chinatown-International District.
Impact
It gives seniors living in single-room-occupancy units without kitchens a place to grow and harvest food in their own languages. Its Seed to Plate programme teaches sustainable food production and nutrition to 265 K-12 children.
Land tenure
Land donated by the landowner Danny Woo, with land from the City of Seattle added in the mid-1980s.
Crops
- アジア系の野菜
- さくらんぼ
- プラム
- 和なし
- りんご
Scale
6,070 m² — 1.5エーカー（約6,070m²）。シアトル市サウス・ダウンタウンで最大の緑地とされる。101区画の菜園と77本の果樹がある。
In the media（1）
Web articles and features that cover this case.
Related cases
Seseragi Community Garden (Machi no Namagomi Ikashi-tai)
JPHino, Japan
A community garden in Hino City, Tokyo, started by citizens who believe 'kitchen waste is a treasure.' It collects and composts the kitchen waste of around 200 households and grows vegetables and flowers pesticide-free as a food-cycle garden. Naomi Shimpo studied its management and governance in detail in her 2021 and 2024 papers.
acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com+3
Suginami Agriculture-Welfare Farm (Suginoko Farm)
JPSuginami, Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo's first municipally run agriculture-welfare farm, opened April 2021 in Igusa, Suginami, on a barrier-free 3,200 m2 site giving people with disabilities and seniors a place to engage in farming.
city.suginami.tokyo.jp+1
Incheon Eeum Garden (Community Urban Farm)
KRIncheon, South Korea
Incheon's 'Eeum' (meaning 'connection') community urban farm, started in 2021 through participatory budgeting. Citizens and organisations grow crops together and run education and exchange activities, creating a public space for safe food and neighbourly ties.
news.ifm.kr+1
Network of Urban Allotments of Barcelona (Xarxa d'Horts Urbans)
ESBarcelona, Spain
Barcelona's network of urban allotments, begun in 1997 with the recovery of the Can Mestres plots. Centred on participation by older people and vulnerable groups, it turns public land into new green and social space.
ajuntament.barcelona.cat+1