Keywords
sustainability; urbanization; imagination; governance; gardening
Abstract
Recent literature increasingly examines urbanization alongside the contested and evolving relationship between the public, the private sector, and the state. As urban growth accelerates and cities become more complex, issues of trust, public involvement, and accountability emerge as central challenges for planners, policymakers, and administrators. Effective strategic planning therefore requires comprehensive, collaborative, and forward?looking approaches that empower multi-directional interaction and transformative social networks. This research examines the role of social capital in advancing equitable and effective sustainable urban development through a qualitative case study of Orlando’s Parramore neighborhood. Historically segregated during Orlando’s Jim Crow era and shaped by long?standing patterns of disinvestment, Parramore provides a critical context for examining how sustainability is pursued, by whom, and through what means. Focusing on the Parramore Community Garden as a non-traditional green space and urban “third place,” this study explores relationships between community members and their environment in relation to cultural worldviews, shared values, and local governance structures. Using observational methods and semi-structured interviews with garden participants and community stakeholders, the analysis reveals that the Parramore Community Garden functions as a site of social sustainability by fostering social cohesion, knowledge-sharing, empathy, and collective imagination. Findings indicate that community-led urban gardening initiatives can mitigate food insecurity, strengthen social capital, and provide spaces for civic engagement even iii amid structural inequality and governance challenges. While distrust in formal institutions persists due to historical and contemporary development processes, localized initiatives such as the Parramore Community Garden demonstrate the potential of grassroots efforts to cultivate resilience, accountability, and inclusive urban futures. Ultimately, this research contributes to sustainability and planning scholarship by illustrating how community gardens operate at the intersection of urbanization, imagination, and governance, offering practical insight into how socially embedded sustainability initiatives can support community welfare in historically marginalized urban contexts.
Thesis Completion Year
2026
Thesis Completion Semester
Spring
Thesis Chair
Baggio, Jacopo
College
College of Sciences
Thesis Discipline
School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs
Access Status
Open Access
Length of Campus Access
1 year
STARS Citation
Rhodes, Sydney, "Social Capital in Sustainable Urban Development: A Case Study on the Parramore Community Garden" (2026). Honors Undergraduate Theses. 681.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/hut2024/681
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