Research & reports

Thomas Gilardi · Geography Notebooks · Argentina

In the Bonearense region, urban expansion is encroaching on fertile plains, impacting territorial characteristics. While urban and peri-urban agriculture contributes to food sustenance for the AMBA population, it has not been sufficiently recognized for green area recovery, organic waste recycling, and wastewater management. Regional authorities have begun to acknowledge urban agriculture's role in combating urban poverty, but local economic development faces challenges in mediating food security and recreational services amidst pressures from urban real estate and agro-industrial production.

Rebecca Leigh Rutt · Journal of Political Ecology · Denmark (Copenhagen)

Ethnographic research on a small rooftop garden in Copenhagen, Denmark, explored how urban farming initiatives interact with neoliberal trends. The study found that communal, eco-social urban farming endeavors are entangled in the city's neoliberal turn, with formalization processes and austerity measures both nurturing and endangering these initiatives. Neoliberal labor, food systems, and housing policies are shown to subvert convivial urban farming efforts.

Mosen Farhangi, Margherita Turvani, Arnold van der Valk, G.J. Carsjens · Sustainability · Netherlands (Amsterdam)

An ethnographic study in Amsterdam, Netherlands, analyzed barriers to the integration of high-tech urban agriculture (HTUA) into urban planning processes. The research revealed a lacking connection between planning actors and HTUA technology developers.

Michelle Glowa, Antonio Roman-Alcalá · New York University Press eBooks · United States (California)

This chapter examines the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance, analyzing its composition, genesis, and how it has confronted the tensions and limitations of neoliberal urbanization. Based on personal experiences and research, it proposes that justice-driven urban agriculture movements are influenced by political-economic changes and can be absorbed into existing neoliberal and pro-development trajectories. This indicates a critical finding regarding equity and the challenges urban agriculture faces in resisting gentrification.

Sara Giovansana, Giacomo Zanolin · Geography Notebooks · Germany (Berlin)

This study examines urban creativity in Berlin, focusing on urban gardens at Tempelhofer Feld and Prinzessinnengärten. Based on field research, it reflects on the potential of creative class initiatives in relation to gentrification. The work aims to outline the Berlin green experience as a sign of urban change.

Ulrich Häpke · sub\urban zeitschrift für kritische stadtforschung · Germany (Ruhrgebiet)

While statistical data demonstrates the significance of urban agriculture in German cities and metropolitan areas, urban agriculture faces the problem of constant land loss despite its proximity to consumers. The example of the Ruhrgebiet highlights challenges such as land loss and high proportions of leased land, indicating governance issues faced by urban agriculture.

Sileshi Azagew, Hailu Worku · ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS RESEARCH · Ethiopia (Addis-Ababa)

This study assessed the status, accessibility, and constraints of urban green infrastructure (UGI) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It revealed that UGI land use decreased by 9.2% from 2003 to 2016, with urban agriculture declining by 11.9%. City residents lack sufficient recreational UGI, with park per capita at a very small 0.37 m² compared to Ethiopian standards of 15 m², and over 90% of the population lacking access to existing parks within walking distance. Major constraints identified include weak implementation of development plans, density, built-up area expansion, and lack of priority for UGI development.

Carrie Ann Benjamin · Sociální studia / Social Studies · France (Paris)

This study examines community gardening and participatory urbanism in Paris, focusing on the Goutte Verte, a temporary nomadic community garden. The continued existence of the Goutte Verte is in opposition to the city's much-needed housing, with gardeners caught between a desire for green space and a demand for comfortable housing. Community gardens are shown to act as a material alternative to urban planning and governance that often fail to account for a "place to breathe" in the city.

Takeshi So · The Japanese Journal of Real Estate Sciences · Japan

This study discusses urban agriculture in Japan from three perspectives: suburban farming, urban farming, and isolated farming operations within urban areas. Despite its historical impact on urban planning, urban farmland has dramatically decreased and currently hinders real estate business and new business creation. It is suggested that economic rationality and public interest should be prioritized, and tax incentives for urban farmland should be reconsidered in a stepwise manner.

Amélie Robert, Jean Louis Yengué, A. Fanny, Mikael Motelica‐Heino, Edmond Hien, Alain Sanou · Risco Revista de Pesquisa em Arquitetura e Urbanismo (Online) · Africa

This research, conducted in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, utilized in situ observations, interviews with farmers and decision-makers, and an analysis of planning documents. It found that urban agriculture has experienced a significant increase in surface area and is popular among city residents. However, it is not officially considered in urban planning, revealing divergences in viewpoints between farmers and public decision-makers.

Chloé Nicolas-Artero · Revista INVI · Chile

This article analyzes the role of water user organizations in the construction of water scarcity within the Chilean ideological and legal water context. The existence of urban gardens in the north of the country is notable in this context, which is oriented towards water use efficiency.

Justin Sean Myers, Prita Lal, Sofya Aptekar · New York University Press eBooks · United States (New York City)

This study traced the complex and contested relationship between food-producing community gardens and gentrification in three neighborhoods in New York City's outer boroughs. These gardens traditionally emerged in response to long-term attempts by City Hall to displace residents of color. The research examines how community gardeners respond to gentrification and the role of community gardens in facilitating, accommodating, or resisting it, discussing implications for realizing food justice.

Sarah Taylor Lovell · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · Global

Despite increasing awareness and proposals for urban agriculture implementation, broad integration into the urban environment has not yet been observed. In most cities, the level of food production has not expanded significantly enough to impact the supply of vegetables, fruits, or other products. Key barriers limiting widespread adoption of urban agriculture include land access, zoning and tax policies, risks of soil and air contaminants, and urban forestry plans neglecting food security.

Nisa Maidah Rahmawati, Joko Winarno, Agung Wibowo · · Indonesia (Jakarta)

This study investigated community empowerment activities through urban farming in Marunda flats, North Jakarta. The flats' irrigation has deficiencies and group working is not yet fair, leading the society to choose to do agriculture activities by themselves. The research identified external factors (natural resources, environments, group dynamics, networking, human resources, policy, facilities and infrastructure) and internal factors (skill, non-formal education, and income) that obstruct empowerment activities.

Derek Du Bruyn, Marietjie Oelofse · New Contree · South Africa (Bloemfontein)

This article investigates the Bloemfontein Municipality's efforts to establish Batho, a new location for black and coloured people (ca. 1918-1939), as a 'garden location' within the historical context of British-style urban planning and racist, segregationist policies. Initiatives included securing water supply, allocating allotment gardens, providing a fresh-produce market, and planting trees. While some motivations were aesthetic, others were deeply rooted in segregationist ideology. The article critically assesses whether these attempts to create a garden location were 'successful'.

Pierre Jassogne · · Belgium

SAULE (Urban Agriculture Housing Ecosystem Symbiosis) was a co-creation project conducted in Brussels, Belgium, from 2017 to 2020, involving citizens, urban agriculture professionals, researchers, social information specialists, and urban planners. Focused on the Ferme du Chant des Cailles urban agriculture site and the Archiducs – Logis-Floreal neighborhood, the project was initiated due to construction threats to the site. The research aimed to reflect on the challenge of combining ecological transition and social cohesion at the Brussels regional level.

Dona Pickard · Sociological Problems Journal · Bulgaria (Sofia)

This article analyzes the attitudes toward urban agriculture as an instrument for sustainable urban policies among local authorities, practitioners, and civil groups in Sofia, Bulgaria. Based on data from the research project "Urban agriculture as a strategy for improving the quality of life of urban communities" (2016–2020), the analysis reveals existing deficits in communication and information exchange between these actors. Factors for these deficits and ways to overcome them are also outlined.

Noriah Othman, Siti Zabeda Mohammad, Nurhayati Abdul Malek, Mohd Ali Waliyuddin A. Razak · Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal · Malaysia

This study was conducted in Malaysia to identify deterrent factors hindering "community buy-in" in urban farming projects and to understand how to overcome these problems. The research aims to identify these factors to achieve and sustain community buy-in in urban farming projects in the future.

Debra J. Davidson · International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food · Global

This study assessed the multiple emergent effects of urban agriculture activities through an extensive, interdisciplinary literature review to discuss its disruptive potential. It suggests that producing food in cities is not inherently transformative in itself, but the potential and observed new forms of social engagement emerging in many contexts can create institutional conditions that may disrupt conventional agri-food systems by building social capital as much as physical capital.

Fatmir Haskaj · Environment and Planning A Economy and Space · United States (New York City)

This article explores the historical context of community gardens in New York and Oakland, California, to understand and contest hegemonic forces in the urban environment. It posits that the work of gardeners is co-opted into a value regime through a process called "conspicuous labor." This process reconfigures the urban poor as productive, passive, and pastoral, contributing to gentrification.

Alison Hope Alkon, Yahya Josh Cadji, Frances C. Moore · New York University Press eBooks · United States (California)

In North Oakland, California, USA, collaborations between food justice organizations and residents, spurred by gentrification, were explored. The partnership and merger of Phat Beets Produce and the Self-Help Hunger Program were analyzed, initiated after a community garden was used in a gentrification advertisement in 2014. While this collaboration created a strong alliance, it was found to be insufficient to resist the structural forces driving gentrification.

Ana Carla Alves Gomes, Maria Lúcia Brito da Cruz · Revista Campo-Território · Brazil

This study investigated the spatial distribution of Urban Agriculture (UA) in Fortaleza, Brazil, particularly in the Lagoa Redonda neighborhood, and the permanence of these gardens amidst territorial disputes over urban space. Using bibliographic and secondary data surveys, site visits, and geoprocessing techniques, it analyzed the feasibility of UA reproduction and the implementation of specific policies for the activity. The study points to governance challenges, specifically territorial disputes concerning the permanence of urban agriculture in urban spaces.

Stefan Staehle · sub\urban zeitschrift für kritische stadtforschung · Global

This study offers an alternative perspective on the critical practice of urban gardening, highlighting the ambivalence of the phenomenon. Specifically, the decoupling of social and artistic critique is shown to lead to a programmatic weakening of initiatives and their co-optation by neoliberal urban policies. This can reverse the critical practice of spatial appropriation into its opposite.

Jongwoo Kim · · South Korea

This study aimed to propose activation measures for school-based urban agricultural education in South Korea, using focus group interviews with teachers and literature analysis. Teachers reported a lack of school gardens, particularly open-field plots, and difficulties in management, highlighting the need for personnel. They also noted the use of container gardens to compensate for the lack of space and the selection of crops for student harvesting experiences.

C. K. Cartagena · Southeastern geographer · United States

This paper reviews "Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farms Practical Guide To Liberation on the Land" by Leah Penniman and Karen Washington. The book serves as a step-by-step guide for Black farmers, detailing historical struggles and solutions against oppression and racial discrimination in the farming sector, including cases like Pigford v. Glickman and the over-policing of Ron Finley's property. It offers instruction on obtaining land and resources, farm business plans, land restoration, crop planning, preserving harvests, raising animals, urban farming, and movement building. The book acknowledges obstacles faced by Black farmers and aims to provide a reference for sustaining productive farmland and activism to achieve land autonomy.