What do you think about the word “trust”? What does trust mean to you? What defines trust in us? How do you develop trust in your personal or business relationships?
I came across these questions this week when I attended a meeting called the T8 TRUST SUMMIT w/ NYC’s finest minds hosted by Shared Squared. Shared Squared is a community where people believe and promote a concept of collaborative consumption or sharing economy.
We discussed trust that is essential to this economic model — trust that has to happen in order for collaboration and sharing activities to flourish between strangers or virtual communities. For example, consumers have to be convinced that their apartment or house is safe if they rent it via airbnb.com. Or, consumers need to feel comfortable when they share a ride with strangers using carpooling.com.
During the meeting, over 60 participants struggled to define what role trust plays in the new economy.
Shared Squared Panels
One of the participants described a community-based society that has always allowed us to have a sense of trust in each member of society in the past. Listening to his comments, I was wondering where has this sense of trust gone? When did we stop hitchhiking and become afraid that a stranger will harm us?
The close relationship between the community and trust reminds me of my experience last weekend — my visit to the community garden calledEl Sol Brillante, Sr.
It is a little park in New York City’s East Village that is a part of the East Village Parks Conservancy and it is located on the south side of East 12th Street between Avenues A and B.
Did you know there are more than 600 community gardens in NYC? Several dozen of them are in the East Village area. Like El Sol Brillante, Sr., they are tended to by volunteer members of their garden associations/trusts.
Neighbors enjoying the afternoon
A lush, well-tended garden provides the community a true oasis. An artful wrought-iron fence surrounds park, creating a whimsical feeling and inviting passers-by. When I visited last weekend, several neighbors were working on the garden while some were simply enjoying the peaceful afternoon. The garden is open to the public when a member is present.
Many historic buildings in NYC share interesting, sometimes twisted, stories. El Sol Brillante, Sr., is not an exception: it has an interesting history behind its beautiful surface. In the 1970’s, difficult economic times meant that city coffers were unable to meet budgetary needs. According to the website TreeBranch Network, “overgrown land created ‘mugger cover’ hiding drug deals and other nefarious activities.” Empty and abandoned lots rundown and arson-destroyed buildings came into city ownership for nonpayment of taxes. That became the source of much of the vacant land. The land El Sol Brillante, Sr., sits on was owned by the city and eventually was sold to the community garden coalition. That was a starting point of turning the “mugger cover” into an urban oasis.
When I walked down the space, I immediately felt a sense of community and trust — trust that the garden would not be vandalized or destroyed, trust that people would care for others’ effort, and trust coming from the people who built trust in the community when violence and poverty were all around the East Village. I found the community gardens a powerful and dynamic platform to re-create a trust-based society in NYC.
Building trust in the urban environment takes time and patience. But, El Sol Brillante, Sr., shows me that it can be done.
Have you visited a neighborhood garden or park recently? What is your experience?
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