Community gardens as locally embedded nature-based solutions: a comparative study of Budapest and Turin

This article examines how community gardens in Budapest and Turin function as locally embedded nature-based solutions (NbS) through the everyday practices of urban residents. While European policy frameworks increasingly promote NbS, less attention has been paid to how they are interpreted and enacted outside formal planning arenas. Drawing on a comparative qualitative design, the study analyses 47 semi-structured interviews conducted in five gardens in Budapest and two in Turin. Using a multidimensional analytical framework, we interpret gardeners’ activities across social, technical, and ecological dimensions. The findings show that gardeners in both cities practice NbS-aligned approaches even when they do not explicitly use the terminology. Socially, gardens foster well-being, inclusion, and community cohesion. Technically, gardeners adapt to resource constraints and climatic pressures through low-tech experimentation and collaborative problem-solving. Ecologically, they support biodiversity, soil regeneration, and microclimate regulation through organic cultivation and composting. Differences between the two cities reflect contrasting governance contexts. While Turin benefits from stronger institutional support, Budapest demonstrates resilient grassroots stewardship. The study contributes to NbS debates by highlighting community gardens as practice-based socio-ecological infrastructures and by showing how stewardship constitutes an important dimension of urban NbS implementation.