'Citizen garden' proposal a novel way to engage public

"Citizen gardens" which are designed and made by local residents should be promoted in Shanghai to build a bridge between people and the city, people and nature, and people with each other, local CPPCC member Wang Huimin said at a meeting on Tuesday.

According to Wang, building "citizen gardens" can help turn residents from the witnesses, consumers and passers-by of urban public space construction into "creators, cultivators and operators."

"The idea of 'citizen gardens' we raise means gardens co-made and shared by residents — people can use the small areas around them to design, create, maintain and manage their own gardens," Wang said. "There can be community gardens, countryside gardens, industrial park gardens, school gardens, building gardens and some other types of 'citizen gardens'."

As a member of non-communist party the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang's local branch, she said the party conducted a survey about local residents' participation in flower culture events, with the results showing that nearly 85 percent of respondents have the habit of growing flowers and 60 percent show the intention of joining activities regarding making gardens around them.

She cited some examples of flower culture projects run by government and social organizations, like the innovative farming land in Yangpu district and the 1-square-meter vegetable garden in Xuhui district.

Shanghai has lots of small areas requiring beautification, such as those in old communities, the front and backs of countryside houses, and industrial parks. These highly dispersed are often neglected, Wang said in her proposal filed during the two sessions.

She added that environmental protection enterprises can cooperate with local communities on the application of technologies like on-site waste disposal and rainwater collection in "citizen gardens."

"Shanghai's Chongming district will host the 10th China Flower Expo in 2021, from which capable and experienced 'citizen garden' teams could be selected to join the project," she said.