Research & reports

E.J. Veen, Petra Derkzen, B.B. Bock, A.J. de Visser, J.S.C. Wiskerke · Sociologie · Netherlands

This case study of a community garden in the Netherlands, used by three different groups, found that communities formed in such gardens are complex and multiple, not singular. While the garden served as a meeting space for two groups, strengthening internal cohesion, both groups categorized people as 'us' and 'them' based on residence. This strengthened their social identities and led to struggles over garden ownership, demonstrating that shared presence does not necessarily bridge social distances.

Ladina Knapp, E.J. Veen, H. Renting, J.S.C. Wiskerke, J.C.J. Groot · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · Europe

This study assessed criteria for the successful establishment and continuity of 29 small-scale, bottom-up urban agriculture (UA) initiatives in the Netherlands and Switzerland, using a vulnerability analysis framework. Biophysical and socio-institutional criteria were analyzed through interviews with project leaders. Findings revealed that the vulnerability of UA systems strongly depends on local circumstances, with the main perturbations and causes of vulnerability originating from social-institutional and human conditions, such as the institutional sphere, local authority assistance, and project leaders' determination.

Katharina Nowak · Freiburger Geschlechterstudien/Freiburger Zeitschrift für Geschlechterstudien · United Kingdom (London)

This paper explores participation in London's local organic food network, Organiclea, examining how whiteness and coloniality influence engagement in food activism. Using inductive interviews and intersectionality, the study found disproportionate participation of diaspora subjects in the design and operation of local organic food practices. This highlights racialized ecological identity formation within such networks.

Ana Cristina Torres, Anne Caroline Prévot, Sophie Nadot · Letras Verdes Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Socioambientales · France (Paris)

A study of 9 Parisian community gardens revealed the limitations of the dominant approach in conservation sciences and urban planning, which seeks to halt environmental deterioration by establishing an ethical basis of attitudes deemed appropriate for conserving a particular nature, by limiting human-nature interaction. Considering citizen subjectivities, the study offers perspectives to nourish conservation sciences and rethink cities.

Eduardo De Miguel, Miguel Izquierdo‐Díaz, Amaia Gómez, Juan Mingot, Fernando Barrio‐Parra · Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry · Spain (Madrid)

Forty-two soil samples from seven urban gardens in Madrid, Spain, were collected to measure concentrations of arsenic, antimony, and selenium, along with soil properties. Antimony concentrations exceeded recommended values for agricultural use in 70% of the urban gardens. A human health risk assessment indicated acceptable levels for noncarcinogenic and carcinogenic risks, though carcinogenic values were elevated, with arsenic identified as the main risk driver.

Solange Hernandez · International Review of Administrative Sciences · France

This case study in the urban community of Pays d’Aubagne et de l’Etoile, France, over 25 years, aimed to understand paradoxical territorial management practices in peri-urban agriculture. Based on quantitative analyses of qualitative data, the study demonstrated the relevance of these management practices in action, but identified paradoxes as a recurring source of tension and deadlock in territorial public administration. The research proposes managerial tools applicable in the framework of public action in peri-urban agriculture.

Elke Rogge, Eva Kerselaers, Charlotte Prové · · Europe

This study explores opportunities and challenges for peri-urban agriculture, examining envisioning processes in Ghent and Kortrijk, Belgium, initiated by local authorities. Results indicate that pressure on farmland is a key issue in both contexts. Multifunctionality is complex in practice and governance, and successful envisioning processes require clear objectives, defined study areas, policy support, strong leadership, and reliable data.

Charlotte Prové, Joost Dessein, Michiel De Krom · Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) · Belgium; Poland

A study evaluating urban agriculture in Belgium and Poland argues that current governance approaches fail to reflect the importance of local context. The authors found that considering city-specific factors is crucial for urban agriculture to reach its full potential. They recommend a broader policymaking strategy that acknowledges benefits beyond food production.

Elifnaz Durusoy · MEGARON / Yıldız Technical University Faculty of Architecture E-Journal · Turkey (Istanbul)

The Yedikule Urban Gardens in Istanbul were studied as an example where cultural conservation and social inclusion have been challenged by economic development due to the growth of urban development. This study emphasizes both destruction and development within the context of physical, natural, economic, and social change. It demonstrates the hardships faced when attempting to sustain urban gardens during periods of urban growth.

Andrew Hursthouse, T. E. Leitão, Annette Voigt, Avigail Heller, Béatrice Bechet, Paulo Brito da Luz · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · Europe

This chapter overviews factors influencing the chemical, physical, and biological status of soils, water, and the biosphere in urban allotment gardens. It highlights that urban garden soils, water, and biosphere are affected by pollution due to their location in city centers or suburbs, with traffic infrastructure and industrial zones widely identified as impacting soil and water quality. Concerns over long-term risks from pollutant transfer (mainly metals) from soil to plants in these uncontrolled environments have been widely publicized.

Luca Salvati · · Europe

Land-use change in southern Europe was assessed through a case study of the Athens metropolitan region, Greece, analyzing the spatial distribution of built-up areas, cropland and forests together with demographic and socioeconomic indicators across alternating expansion waves over the past 50 years. Per-capita built-up area was higher during the "dispersed" urbanization wave than the "compact" one, but cropland was the land-use class most vulnerable to urbanization, with a high rate of conversion from forest to cropland — later abandoned and finally developed — observed since the early 1990s. This process was linked to land fragmentation and soil degradation driven by illegal housing and real estate speculation.

Efrat Eizenberg, Simone Tappert, Nicola Thomas, Andis Zīlāns, Kristine Abolina, Theodosia Anthopoulou, Jevgenijs Duboks · · Europe

A book chapter examines the changes and challenges facing allotment gardens in European cities from the perspective of urban political economy, reading these new urban configurations within the macro-framework of capitalism and governability. It traces past and current processes of urban change through the economic, political and spatial lens of the "entrepreneurial city," discusses the impact of urban restructuring on allotment gardens' structure, operation and meaning, and states that political and spatial restructuring in the entrepreneurial city has been accompanied by a sharpening of social and economic inequalities within cities.

Amandine Joly · · France

This study characterized and strategically analyzed urban agriculture for the IETI external planning and environment consulting firm in Île-de-France, France. The analysis aimed to help IETI position itself commercially in urban agriculture, identifying both the benefits and the obstacles the firm might encounter. The study also briefly discussed the various scales of urban agriculture's integration into the territory and its advantages for the consulting firm.

· REGAC - Revista de Estudios Globales y Arte Contempor�neo · Spain (Valencia)

This paper maps collective initiatives in Valencia, Spain, that emerged in response to inadequate national and local cultural policies. These initiatives, including urban orchards, acted as resistance to institutional policies or appropriated spaces due to a lack of public institutional interest. They function as urban experimentation laboratories for social and cultural transformation, forming a dense local network.

Piotr Godyń, Maria Zielińska, Agnieszka Dołhańczuk-Śródka, Zbigniew Ziembik · Geology Geophysics & Environment · Poland

Soil samples were collected from 19 sites around the Opole industrial zone in Poland to determine the influence of the local metallurgical industry on soil contamination with metals, using Pb-210 as a contamination tracer. Results indicated that the metallurgical industry is not a source of environmental pollution in the immediate vicinity. Excessive lead concentrations ranged from 1 Bq/kg d.m. to 100 Bq/kg d.m. but were not strongly correlated with distances from the presumed source of contamination.

Alan Hallsworth, Alfred Wong · International journal on food system dynamics · United Kingdom (Portsmouth)

This empirical case study examined the potential for urban gardening to contribute to individual food security. Focusing on Portsmouth, England, the study found that prevailing economic and social structures hamper the likelihood that urban gardening can offer much greater food security. Realistically, contemporary urban gardening most closely resembles a middle-class pursuit for personal enjoyment, rather than a significant contributor to food security.

Rocío Pérez-Campaña · European Planning Studies · Spain

This research analyzed land-use transformations of peri-urban agricultural deltas and vegas in Andalucía, Spain, focusing on medium-sized cities between 1956 and 2007. It also assessed their consideration in regional spatial planning. The findings indicate that these landscapes are changing land use and sometimes disappearing, receiving meagre attention and vague consideration in spatial planning.

Giuseppe Cinà, Francesco Di Iacovo · PORTO Publications Open Repository TOrino (Politecnico di Torino) · Italy

This paper examines urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in Italy, identifying challenges in its planning, including the traditional exclusion of agricultural areas from territorial planning and the lack of local agricultural policy. The study highlights a disconnect between top-down policies and bottom-up practices, noting that numerous autonomous initiatives have emerged due to insufficient regional and local planning solutions. The authors conclude that overcoming the limitations of the top-down planning system, particularly in governance and inclusiveness, is a primary challenge for Italy.

Benno Gammerl, Rainer Herrn · Goldsmiths (University of London) · Europe

A theoretical essay (in German and English, from a European context) on the tension between affect that disrupts ordered structures and the emotional processing of power-laden spatial relations. It uses practices of urban gardening and debates about gentrification as its examples, arguing that analyzing the dynamic interplay between spaces and emotions is fruitful for a critical view of urbanity - explicitly linking urban gardening practices to gentrification as an exclusionary dynamic.

National Audit Office · National Audit Office (NAO) · United Kingdom

An investigation published by the UK National Audit Office on 29 October 2015. The children's charity Kids Company received at least £46 million of public funding over fifteen years, £28 million of it from the Department for Education. In 2008 it took 20 per cent of the funding available under one programme, and in 2011 it received over twice the amount given to any other grant recipient. Officials raised sustainability concerns in six separate briefings between 2002 and 2015, yet funding continued outside competitive processes; the charity closed insolvent on 5 August 2015 and around 1,900 cases were passed to local authorities.

Georgia Graham · Channel 4 News · United Kingdom

A fact-check on Kids Company, the charity founded in 1996 that operated in London and Bristol. It claimed to reach 36,000 children by 2015 and had received £46 million of public money over fifteen years — £44 million from central government, £28 million of that from the Department for Education. Its 2013 annual income was £23 million, 20 per cent from government and 77 per cent from private donations. The piece notes that government oversight relied on the charity's own self-assessments, with no independent verification of outcomes or beneficiary numbers.

Nerea Morán Alonso, José Luis Fernández de Casadevante · Hábitat y Sociedad · Spain

In Spain, urban agriculture is gaining importance, but faces difficulties in municipal regulation, particularly for community gardens. This regulatory challenge perpetuates the insecurity and precariousness of urban agriculture projects.

Mikey Tomkins · Repository hosted by TU Delft Library (TU Delft) · United Kingdom (London)

This research explored reactions to the idea of potential urban agriculture landscapes through 32 participatory walks with 150 local residents around a 25-hectare site in east London. The walks used an "edible map" that suggested food growing in vacant urban areas. The study showed initial engagement with urban agriculture and local food systems, but also produced a strong critique of urban spatial design and a desire for place-making.

E.J. Veen, P.H.M. Derkzen, A.J. de Visser · Food and Foodways · Netherlands

This article compares food acquisition habits among participants in four Dutch urban food-growing initiatives: two allotments and two Alternative Food Networks (AFNs). Allotment gardeners integrate gardening into daily routines and easily use harvests, while AFN members, who primarily engage in shopping, struggle to regularly consume urban-grown food due to competition with supermarkets. The study concludes that involvement in shopping versus growing significantly impacts urban-grown food consumption, indicating a limited effect of motivations to change the food system when confronted with everyday routines.

Giuseppe Cinà · PORTO Publications Open Repository TOrino (Politecnico di Torino) · Italy

This paper examines Italian planning, highlighting an unresolved discrepancy between urban and agricultural policies due to a long-standing separation of urban and rural worlds. It outlines how this historical gap results in two inconsistent and low-effective policies. The paper discusses agricultural parks as an attempt to overcome this planning backwardness by integrating spatial planning and agricultural activity, documenting three Italian examples.