Does gardening make us feel better? Assessing the motivations and perceptions of urban gardeners in Bogota, Colombia

Homegardens represent one of the most common types of urban agriculture in countries of the Global South facing rapid urbanisation. Understanding the motivation for gardening will help to set up more sustainable principles for land use management and enhance the livelihood opportunities for urban households. This study identifies and assesses the self-reported motivations that drive urban homegardening in Bogota, Colombia, through thematic content analysis of 119 semi-structured interviews. The qualitative survey documented the perception of gardeners, and the results were subjected to a Pearson’s χ2 test of independence and Fisher’s exact test for quantitative assessment. Three major motivations for engaging in home gardening were identified: enjoyment, food self-provision and social connection. Motivations were found to be associated with gardeners’ socioeconomic strata and the location of the gardens. The motivation of enjoyment was identified as a significant factor in the decision to engage in homegardening by more than 70% of respondents in the central area and northern periphery. In contrast, the motivations of aesthetic appeal and economic constraints were mainly brought up by gardeners in the southern periphery of the city. Notably, only the respondents in the lower socioeconomic strata reported gardening for economic reasons. These findings have implications for public authorities in developing outreach programmes to address citizens’ needs and expectations towards the continuation of urban agriculture in the city.