The Commons: Three Case Studies of Community Forested Land

Abstract

This paper examines three communities that include common land in the community design. The common land provides natural habitat for recreational purposes along with privacy and a natural visual barrier. One of the three communities the commons arrangement fails after more than thirty years and the community sells most of the common land for private ownership. The other two are examples of successful commons where the community maintains the common lands and exhibits a growing commitment to the holding of common land. The paper examines why two of the three communities have success and prosper while the third fails. The findings provide insight into designs that work to maintain community common land and those that fail.