Review Reports - Can Allotment Gardens (AGs) Be Considered an Example of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) Based on the Use of Historical Green Infrastructure?

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The paper on the relevance of Polish allotment gardens as contributions to Nature Based solutions in an urban context needs extensive editing for grammar and spelling. There is a great deal of overgeneralisation in what is said and there is a considerable amount of unclear jargon.

For instance at line 390 - what does "urban biodiversity governance" mean?

In terms of overgeneralisation statements about a change in the plantings in AG are not supported by quantification. line 164, 321-322 it is said - in most gardens native edible plants have been replaced by visually attractive plants. The word "most" is the important part, what is most, are there figures for this?

Some sentences are completely unclear eg lines 376-9 - what are random relations and how do they relate to permanent relations? There are contradictions relating to this overgeneralisation eg line 293 mentions "social cohesion" but at line 306 this is contradicted by "urban inhabitants feelings of exclusion"

line 408 unclear sentences - what does "smart irrigation control techniques are preferable to advanced techniques" mean? I would think "smart irrigation control techniques" might be considered "advanced"?

These are just a few examples of a lack of precision in the presentation.

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 1 Comments

Thank you very much for the review of our manuscript entitled: ‘Can allotment gardens (AGs) be considered the example of nature-based solutions (NBS) based on the use of historical green infrastructure’. We sincerely appreciate all valuable comments and suggestions, which helped us to improve the quality of the article. Our responses to the comment are described below in a point-to-point manner. Appropriated changes have been introduced to the manuscript.

Point 1: The paper on the relevance of Polish allotment gardens as contributions to Nature Based solutions in an urban context needs extensive editing for grammar and spelling. There is a great deal of overgeneralisation in what is said and there is a considerable amount of unclear jargon.

We agree with the reviewer that the previous version of the text needed extensive English editing for grammar and spelling errors. Revision was sent to the proof-reading service.

Thank you for all your comments dealing with the overgeneralization of the paper. We address all your comments listed in the review 1. Besides, text was re-checked by the authors to indicate more examples of ‘unclear jargon’ and unclear sentences and expressions. The proof-reading services showed that some of the unclear sentences resulted from the English editor and spelling errors. We hope that we managed to correct or explain all of the unclear sentences and expressions. If not, please indicate the places in the article that require further explanation.

All the changes are marked red in the text.

Point 2: For instance at line 390 - what does "urban biodiversity governance" mean?

We used this expression in accordance with the paper published by Xie, L. & Bulkeley, H. Nature-based solutions for urban biodiversity governance. Environmental Science and Policy, 2020, 110, 77–87. This term refers to ‘urban planning processes which include the range of actions and capacities for governing biodiversity at the local (city) level’. Plan-based urban biodiversity governance meeting the requirements of global biodiversity agenda and refers not only to the importance of science-based targets, but also to the values that different communities hold for nature. As such, its scope is consistent with the requirements set to NBS. The explanation was added to the text (lines: 562-566)

Point 3: In terms of overgeneralisation statements about a change in the plantings in AG are not supported by quantification. line 164, 321-322 it is said - in most gardens native edible plants have been replaced by visually attractive plants. The word "most" is the important part, what is most, are there figures for this?

The references together with the quantitative indices were provided to explain the changes in the planting in Polish AGs: “The direct economic benefits resulting from food provision have gradually diminished, not only in Poland, as edible plants are being replaced by plants that are considered more visually attractive. In 1980, the area designated for crops covered an average of 34% of each plot. Nowadays, this area has declined to an average of 16% [54,55].This shift was also proven by the research conducted by [32] in relation to botanical and landscape diversity indicated that the majority of the taxa were used as ornamentals (191 taxa), followed by food (66) and medicinal plants (5). As a result, these green structures are losing their main economic potential, despite this being the reason for their creation [29]” Lines: 468-476.

Point 4: Some sentences are completely unclear eg lines 376-9 - what are random relations and how do they relate to permanent relations?

Random relations refer to accidental relations, occurring once in a while and not constituting an innate feature. Permanent relations refer to long-term relations, proven in relation to different kinds of services (Kabisch et al. 2016; Raymond et al. 2017b).

Point 5: There are contradictions relating to this overgeneralisation eg line 293 mentions "social cohesion" but at line 306 this is contradicted by "urban inhabitants feelings of exclusion"

Thank you for your comment and indication of contradictory statements. The text referring to "social cohesion" in relation to Polish case study was removed.

Point 6: line 408 unclear sentences - what does "smart irrigation control techniques are preferable to advanced techniques" mean? I would think "smart irrigation control techniques" might be considered "advanced"?

This was English editing error. The sentence should be: ‘ Smart irrigation control techniques should be included as an example of advanced solutions’. Lines: 159-160.

Point 7: line 408 unclear sentences - what does "smart irrigation control techniques are preferable to advanced techniques" mean? I would think "smart irrigation control techniques" might be considered "advanced"?

References, explanation and quantitative proofs were also provided to the following sentences:

First version of paper	Corrected version of paper	Lines
They (AGs) have a form of a fenced fragments of land bordering with other land development forms, such as build-up areas and roads (Figure 1).	They have a form of a fenced fragments of land bordering with other land development forms (Figure 1), among which the highest share contributes to residential, service and communication land cover forms (35.6%), agricultural land (23.8%) and residential and service functions (14.8%) [Szkup 2013].	Lines: 249-253
However, the direct economic benefits resulting from food provision have gradually diminished, not only in Poland, as edible plants have been replaced by plants that are considered more visually attractive. As a result, these green structures are losing their main economic potential, despite this being the reason for their creation [29].	However, the direct economic benefits resulting from food provision have gradually diminished, not only in Poland, as edible plants have been replaced by plants that are considered more visually attractive. It was proven inter alia by the research conducted by [32] in relation to botanical and landscape diversity indicated that the majority of the taxa were used as ornamentals (191 taxa), followed by food (66) and medicinal plants (5). As a result, these green structures are losing their main economic potential, despite this being the reason for their creation [29].	Lines: 460-466
Besides, numerous studies conducted in relation to different Polish cities showed that AGs exhibited high plant species richness, high diversity, low synanthropisation level and very few invasive species and that generally urban gardeners were attached to traditional food and ornamental plants [44, 32].	Besides, numerous studies conducted in relation to different Polish cities showed that AGs exhibited high plant species richness and diversity. The study conducted in 2009 among 46 urban allotment gardeners in three Polish cities documented 257 botanical taxa [32] and 358 species of flora recorded in 11 representative allotment garden estates (total area 150 ha) in the city of Poznań [45]. The same studies also recorded low synanthropisation level and very few invasive species...	Line: 374-380
The key ‘building material’ of AGs is greenery: edible and flourishing plants, fruit trees, herbs and grasses and in some cases water structures [9]. Artificial structures such as cabins and paved sources usually occupy a small proportion of the area.	Artificial structures such as cabins are presented at 98% of the gardens, paved sources at 22,5%, sheds at 13% and other structures such as garages and greenhouses at 8% [Szkup 2013]. Their area, however, is quite small comparable to green-blue infrastructures as the mean area of cabins equals to 15.5 m² [28], which is about 5% (standard plot has 300 m2).	Lines:359-364
Such green structures in countries like Poland are used by people of all ages, with different social statuses and passions: including children, the unemployed, the elderly and the disabled, the nature lovers and amateur gardeners	Such green structures in countries like Poland are used by people with different social statuses and passions: including children, the unemployed, the elderly and the disabled, the nature lovers and amateur gardeners [31, 29, 51]. The elderly people, however, constituting the majority of their users: at the local scale (the city of Łódz) the mean age of the gardens’ users was estimated at 62,5years [33].	Lines: 426-429
References were provided to the following sentences	Some Polish owners promote a plant composition similar to natural ones, inspired by forest or meadow habitats, whereas others select popular and/or easy to maintain plants, such as thuja and lawns, or decide to intensify the use of edible species [28].	Lines: 368-371
References were provided to the following sentences	In Poland, AGs are family spaces with restricted access, surrounded by fences or hedges. As a result, they provide direct and personal services to a negligible percentage of citizens. Such inequality of access was seen recently, as access to public green spaces was banned for a few weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This deepened many urban inhabitants’ feelings of exclusion, as they could only watch owners relaxing in their gardens without enjoying any legal possibility of using these green areas for themselves [www.pzd.pl].	Lines: 437-444
	In addition, renewable sources of energy such as photovoltaic panels are becoming more and more popular, especially among younger people [dane ze strony internetowej Polskiego zwiazku działkowców www.pzd.pl].	Lines: 481-483

Reviewer 2 Report

I enjoyed reading this paper concerning the allotment gardens of Poland and whether they can be considered as an example of NBS. I believe that the emergence of the significance of allotment gardens is crucial. The paper is well written and presented. However, I noticed a few weak points regarding the aim, the contribution of the paper and the sections of methodology and discussion. I think that if the authors would be willing to make some improvements, the paper is going to present a very interesting topic that has not been widely investigated.

Regarding the aim of the research, I think that the authors should clarify the significance of including the allotment gardens in the framework of NBS. Of course, the environmental, social and economic significance of the allotment gardens is understandable, as it is analysed by the authors. However, it is not clearly stated why it is so important to be combined with NBS. Which will be the potential benefits and/or the contribution to the scientific dialogue in the field? In my opinion, the allotment gardens of Poland is a very interesting topic that should be investigated and emerged regardless the framework of NBS. So, why is it so important to be combined with NBS especially and not in a wider framework of the goals of sustainability?

Second, I think that, even though some of the key terms of the paper are “nature” and “gardens” (the environmental dimension), there is a strong anthropocentric view. This is represented, for example, in Figure 4 where the environmental dimension is left out.

Third, regarding the methodology, I noticed that there is a weakness regarding the presentation of the research data. More information should be given for the specific papers that the authors used for their analysis, since this is a review paper and the research data is based on research papers concerning the allotment gardens of Poland.

Finally, the section of discussion and conclusion should be based more on the research’s results than on what actions should be performed in the future.

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 2 Comments

Point 1: I enjoyed reading this paper concerning the allotment gardens of Poland and whether they can be considered as an example of NBS. I believe that the emergence of the significance of allotment gardens is crucial. The paper is well written and presented. However, I noticed a few weak points regarding the aim, the contribution of the paper and the sections of methodology and discussion. I think that if the authors would be willing to make some improvements, the paper is going to present a very interesting topic that has not been widely investigated.

Thanks again for your comments. We noticed that the allotment gardens of Poland fulfils most of the requirements set to NBS, such as use of water and plants, solving social problems with maintaining sustainable development and a certain level of economic efficiency. Of course AGs should be enabled into a wider framework of the goals of sustainability, but our article deals specifically with one solution, which is NBS. However, the fact that AGs met the sustainability goals was included in the text - section 4.3.2 and is shown in Figure 3.

Point 2: I think that, even though some of the key terms of the paper are “nature” and “gardens” (the environmental dimension), there is a strong anthropocentric view. This is represented, for example, in Figure 4 where the environmental dimension is left out.

We partially disagree with the reviewer that the paper presents ‘a strong anthropocentric view’. The introductions section as well as research questions refer to three pillars of NBS. The impression of focusing on the social aspect probably results from the fact that most of the literature on Polish AGs refer to social and political dimensions. Regarding the environmental issues, extensive analyses were executed only in relation to AGs impact on biodiversity and were presented in section 4.3.1. Due to the fact that the result section is based on the literature review and that authors are specialists in social and landscape issues, we do not feel competent to deeper analyze the environmental problems connected to Polish AGs. Regarding Figure 4, the environmental dimension is presented by the ideogram of ‘tree’ in the same way as social and economic pillars.

Point 3: regarding the methodology, I noticed that there is a weakness regarding the presentation of the research data. More information should be given for the specific papers that the authors used for their analysis, since this is a review paper and the research data is based on research papers concerning the allotment gardens of Poland.

Table 1 was provided presenting details on papers forming a basis for the analysis of potential of Polish AGs to be considered as effective NBS in terms of their thematic and spatial scope as well as their relevance to the research questions. Line 301

Point 4: the section of discussion and conclusion should be based more on the research’s results than on what actions should be performed in the future

Text referring to the results of research was added to the discussion section Lines: 610-626

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The paper now reads much better than in the earlier draft. Some minor editing is still required and the pdf with editorial suggestions should be consulted.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Thank you very much for additional comments and editorial corrections, which enriched our article. We hope that after the revisions it will find many readers, and the issues of NBS and the role of AGs will be discussed more often. We have accepted all of the reviewer's corrections included in the manuscript.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx