The aim with this thesis was to investigate what characterises an English Arts and Crafts garden how they could be modernised in Sweden. My research was limited to 20 weeks of full-time writing and worth 30 ECTS. Through literature studies, interviews and site visits I could analyse my findings which resulted in a concrete garden design project. The Arts and Crafts was a movement that started in England during the 1880?s and evolved as a reaction towards the industrialisation. The influence came from the writings and practices of John Ruskin (1819-1900) and William Morris (1834-1896) who advocated the importance of craftsmanship. The Arts and Crafts movement also became a ?recipe for life? and was associated with a healthy and morally pure way of living.

This paper originates in a study of Community Gardens in the United States. An overview of how and why the gardens have emerged, their functions today, and their effects and problems is presented. The reader will also be introduced to a selection of Swedish movements that correspond with the phenomenon of the American Community Garden. These are as follows; The Allotment Garden, the Swedish term Stadsdelsträdgård (a metaphor for a Community Garden in a Swedish urban context), Mykorrhiza Malmö Stadsodlare and The Allotment Plot. None of the above-mentioned Swedish movements can be described as an exact equivalent of the American Community Garden, but they all contain elements witch constitutes parts of the phenomenon.