From eliciting preferences to collaborative design: a systematic literature review of resident involvement in residential garden design

Private residential gardens are among the largest and most widespread categories of urban green space, yet their ecological potential is often unrealised because garden design is preference-driven and rarely Evidence-based and collaborative. Existing research either synthesise residential gardens through an ecological lens—treating residents as variables that shape biodiversity—or apply participation and co-design frameworks to public space. There is a lack of study systematically examined resident participation and resident–professional collaboration in residential garden design. Employing a PRISMA method, we reviewed 76 studies (2010–2026) and developed a framework that maps each study along the design for/with/by participation spectrum, cross-tabulated by design topic (nine themes), research method and methodological quality (MMAT). Results suggest that ecological-performance topics and resident–professional collaboration are almost mutually exclusive—biodiversity, water, and climate studies sit almost entirely at the design-for end (often researcher- or simulation-led), whereas the few with/by collaborations occur almost only within participatory design itself. Quality appraisal shows the most rigorous evidence (choice experiments) lies at the preference end, indicating that for-dominance reflects research orientation, not evidential strength. We conclude that what is scarce is not resident participation but the collaborative channel through which ecological knowledge enters garden design, and propose a participation-deepening lens for future research.