Shenzhen 'We Garden' (Gongjian Huayuan) Program
Shenzhen, China · Operator: Shenzhen Municipal Government (urban management / parks authorities) with universities, NGOs and residents
Overview
Launched by the Shenzhen government in 2019, the 'We Garden' program is a government-led participatory model in which residents jointly turn idle urban land into green spaces and community gardens; several hundred had been built by the end of 2023.
Citizen participation
Under the principle of 'consultation, co-construction, co-governance and sharing', residents take part in designing, building and managing gardens on idle public land. Universities such as Shenzhen Technology University drive participation and provide design support, and nearby schools run planting, composting and environmental education as social-practice courses.
Operating model
A top-down governance model in which government provides public land, funding and frameworks while facilitating participation by residents, universities and NGOs. Districts such as Nanshan have institutionalised building ~20 participatory gardens per year.
Impact
Produced hundreds of community gardens in a few years and drew attention as a novel governance approach embedding public participation in urban management, integrating environmental education and community-building into city policy through universities, schools and NGOs.
Land tenure
Idle public land owned by the city/districts, jointly developed and managed by residents, universities and NGOs within a government framework.
Crops
- vegetables
- herbs
- fruit
Scale
Citywide program: ~360 government-initiated community gardens built 2019–2023 (≈480 across districts by end-2023); idle public land transformed into shared green spaces through public participation
Sources（2）
This entry is compiled from the public sources, official sites and research below.
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