Being an expanse of green in the city is not always an easy thing. Yes, a park to jog in or a bit of land where you can dig in the dirt is a precious commodity. Community gardens, in particular, uplift not only those tending the plots but the neighborhood as a whole, contributing to urban biodiversity, providing a shady refuge during stifling summer months, and delivering a biophilic mood-boost amid all the concrete.

But some of the most cherished urban gardens and parks are now battling for their right to exist, as development, defunding, and other forces roll onward. Here, five cases that reveal the tension between nature and the needs of urban life — plus who’s winning.

Location: New York, NY

Why It's in Trouble: The need for affordable housing

One of the most high-profile cases involves the Elizabeth Street Garden in New York City, which has been under threat of closure for decades. This one-acre urban garden (the only unpaved open space in the neighborhood) has evolved from a scrappy art project on a derelict downtown lot in the 1990s into a verdant sanctuary, now run by a community-led nonprofit, with over 100,000 visitors annually. Amid birdsong and blooming flowerbeds, visitors can stroll, admire the eclectic sculptures, and lounge on grassy lawns. However, the location is a city-owned lot upon which politicians and developers want to build affordable senior housing (certainly a noble aim). A protracted and fierce legal battle has pitted neighborhood residents and supporters of the garden — including Robert De Niro, Patti Smith and Martin Scorsese — against advocates working to ease the city’s acute housing crisis.

During his campaign, NYC’s newly elected major Zohran Mamdani said that he would evict the garden in favor of affordable-housing development. (Not surprising, given that one of his key campaign points was combatting the high cost of housing in the city, for seniors and others.) Could a truce be brokered that saves the Elizabeth Street Garden but still adds much-needed residential units? It’s a “watch this space” scenario.

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Why It's in Trouble: Real-estate development

For students and others in South L.A., the USC Peace Garden has been a haven to unwind under leafy trees and much more. What had begun in 2023 as a 10,000-square-foot abandoned lot on the edge of campus morphed into a thriving garden with native plants, fruit trees, and raised beds filled with produce, which helped feed residents of the surrounding low-income neighborhood. The garden’s how-to workshops and plant adoptions helped people get more green into their lives. 

But this beloved plot of land was bought by developers in June of 2025, and the public outcry was significant. Unbeknownst to many, though, the garden was always intended to be temporary, until its lot was sold. 

Breathe a sigh of relief on this one. USC relocated the Peace Garden elsewhere on campus in Spring of 2026, where it can continue to provide a green spot and sustenance for the community.

Location: Philadelphia, PA

Why It's in Trouble: Funding fell through

Pawpaw groves, fruit orchards, green meadows, and a community crop farm: Imagine all that in an underserved neighborhood on the bank of the Schuylkill River. That’s Bartram’s Garden, a 50-acre public park and botanical garden threatened by changes in funding. This nature refuge experienced the termination of a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last spring. Like virtually all federal executive agencies, the EPA manages a budget and submits funding requests annually. Bartram’s Garden didn’t make the cut this year, and the loss of their grant leaves many projects in limbo, including one to improve much-needed tree cover for the area.  

Caroline Winschel, a director at Bartram’s Garden, told CBS News that on the warmest summer days, the temperature in the garden’s surrounding neighborhoods can be 20 degrees higher than in shadier (and wealthier) parts of the city. But it’s not just a spot to sit out the heat that could be lost. Also under threat is the addition of new gardening beds where families in the neighborhood – which is considered a food desert – could grow vegetables.

Public rallies and appeals by the Garden’s leadership are underway, as is the search for alternative funding.

Location: Philadelphia, PA

Why It's in Trouble: Leased land, vandalism

Kensington, a neighborhood in Philadelphia, gained national notoriety for the ravages it’s endured due to the opioid crisis. Opening in 2020, the Ruth Street Garden pushed back against that: This green space became a community hub, with cheerful murals and raised beds serving up cauliflower, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and lavender. “Gardening has so much healing and therapeutic potential. I just saw a need to give back…a sanctuary,” said Britt Carpenter, who created Ruth Street as part of his recovery nonprofit, the Philly Unknown Project. But the garden was on leased land and faced the possibility of eviction if the plot was sold — a heartbreaking turn of events for locals.

Rescued! A grant paid for the land’s purchase mid-2025, but the Ruth Street Garden hasn’t been on easy street. Shortly after acquisition, a fire destroyed gardening beds and fencing, which led to vandalism and equipment theft. Despite the setbacks, the green space is pushing to rise again.

Location: Helsinki, Finland

Why It's in Trouble: Rising rents

The fight to preserve prized urban gardens is not limited to the United States. Even Helsinki’s oldest community allotment garden, Brunakärrs Koloniträdgård, is threatened. Its 117 individual plots, each with its own tiny, unwinterized cottage surrounded by fragrant lilacs, peonies and leafy green vegetables, sit on land rented from the city since 1918. The current crisis: The latest 30-year lease renewal includes a dramatic increase (up to 3x the current rate). “They raised the rent in an extraordinary way,” said Annina Salvén, head of Brunakärrs’s garden association, who worries that the financial burden may threaten the garden’s future.

Unresolved. Locals are pleading to maintain affordability, but many worry that these gardens will soon only be green refuges for the very rich.

The fight to save these gardens illustrates the complex and often incompatible needs of modern-day city life, where progress on one issue, like affordable housing, often comes at the cost of the little nature that still remains.