Opportunities for public use of the institutional gardens

Abstract

Institutional gardens are special green spaces offering different functional and ecological benefits that can effectively support the well-being of urban residents. However, the role of institutional green spaces has changed throughout history, within various socio-political systems, and there have been many historical examples of the public use of institutional gardens. Today, institutional gardens are considered part of urban green infrastructure, but due to restricted public access – differing from completely private to semi-public use – we cannot state that they are essential open spaces for regular residential recreation. Continuously increasing urban density prompted new ideas in this field, which are worth analysing in detail. The article aims to give a general overview of the main historical examples of the public use of institutional green spaces, and the ideologies and the social or environmental factors affecting the functional change. After that, the authors – based on a literature review and professional experience – overview the current characteristics of the various types of institution gardens, then investigate the opportunities to open them for public use. Finally, the challenges of public use are systematically analysed. A case study analysis is presented on how educational green spaces could contribute to climate adaptation. The case study also aims to show that there is great potential in systematic thinking and reconsidering the role of institutional gardens in urban green infrastructure.