Research & reports

Aysun Çelik, Elvan Ender Altay · Kocaeli Üniversitesi Mimarlık ve Yaşam Dergisi · Turkey

A study evaluating the landscape condition of school gardens at 49 schools (30 primary, 19 secondary/equivalent) in the central district of İzmit, Kocaeli Province, Turkey, assessed for space-use profiles, landscape design components, and vegetal components (using a proportional range method for space use and frequency analysis for landscape and vegetal component data). The study found that landscape design of the school gardens is neglected, and that space-use rates fall far below standards compared with developed countries. Green space use was observed in only 43.33% of primary schools and 57.89% of secondary schools; the gap between the school with the largest green area and the one with the smallest was 313 times in primary schools and 57 times in secondary schools. Plant diversity in existing green spaces was found to be quite poor, with grass areas and flower beds rarely used. 93.34% of primary schools, which serve children of play age, had no play equipment areas, and 47% of secondary schools lacked multifunctional playgrounds suitable for basketball and volleyball. The study recommends treating school gardens as part of education and adopting a uniform standard for organizing spaces and components so all students have equal access.

Bronwen Morgan, Declan Kuch · Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks · Global

A chapter draws on an extensive study of grassroots innovation responding to climate change, spanning a continuum from social activism to social enterprise, examining the diverse motivations of entrepreneurs who started community-supported agriculture projects, car-sharing schemes, and co-working spaces. It shows how entrepreneurs' differing biographical trajectories shape the initiatives they create around economic, environmental, and social benefits. The chapter argues these benefits must be understood through the ambiguity of a socio-legal lens: while "sharing" initiatives may occasionally catalyze opportunities to move beyond neoliberalism, the ways lawyers and legal techniques shape the infrastructure of collaboration are deeply implicated in the economics of the neoliberal inheritance — meaning such sharing-economy governance remains entangled with, rather than genuinely escaping, neoliberal economic structures.

Silvio Caputo, Eva Schwab, Kostas Tsiambaos, Mary Benson, Hervé Bonnavaud, Neslihan Demircan, Tim Delshammar, Frederico Meireles, Nerea Morán, Jeanne Pourias · · Global

This chapter provides an overview of emergent approaches to urban gardening, identifying urban dynamics and spatial implications. It notes that a lack of suitable urban land and difficulties in establishing constructive dialogue with local authorities regarding land provision can lead to the use of interstitial urban spaces for gardening practices. An example includes a community-based organization constructing a permaculture garden on a supermarket rooftop, highlighting challenges in land access and governance.

Steve G. Hallett, Lori Hoagland, Emily Toner · Horticultural reviews · Global

This chapter discusses urban agriculture from economic, environmental, and social perspectives, acknowledging differences between urban agriculture in small and large cities, as well as the Global North and South. Urban farms and community gardens can have both positive and negative environmental impacts, such as reducing or increasing energy consumption, improving water infiltration, and beautifying neighborhoods, or producing odors and contaminating water. The chapter also attempts to frame policy recommendations that might help guide urban agriculture's development.

John Crossan, Andrew Cumbers, Robert McMaster, Deirdre Shaw · Antipode · United Kingdom (Glasgow)

This paper examines community gardens in Glasgow, acknowledging their vulnerability to neoliberal cooptation where citizen work may alleviate state service provision. However, it argues that even with neoliberal practices, these gardens cultivate collective practices that suggest a progressively transformative polity. This form of citizen participation, termed "Do-It-Yourself" (DIY) Citizenship, encourages reconsideration of relationships and effective political practice.

Christine Hvitsand · Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems · Norway

This article explores why Norwegian producers and consumers engage in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), identifying distinct values and motivations related to environmental protection, justice, health, participation, and communication. While CSA demonstrates transformational power in the agri-food system through sustainable practices and power reallocation, the challenge remains to upscale these actions and prevent the dilution of core values and agroecological practices.

Catharine Ward Thompson, Peter J. Aspinall, Jenny Roe, Lynette Robertson, David Miller · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · United Kingdom

A cross-sectional survey of 406 adults in four deprived urban communities in Scotland, UK, investigated the relationship between green space access and health outcomes. While the amount of neighborhood green space and access to a garden or allotment were significant predictors of stress, social isolation and place belonging were found to be the strongest predictors of stress in three communities and of poor general health in the least healthy community. Physical activity, winter green space visits, and home views also predicted general health.

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.

Alex Franklin, Imre Kovách, Bernadett Csurgó · Sociologia Ruralis · Global

This article qualitatively examined a public sector-led initiative to instigate co-production of community food growing, focusing on the discretionary practice of front-line public sector workers. The study found that public sector-led initiatives lack sufficient intention or scope to transform existing social orders. However, they do contribute to propagating individual and smaller-scale occurrences of social innovation in community food security.

Florence Chimbwanda · Journals & Books Hosting (International Knowledge Sharing Platform) · Zimbabwe (Masvingo)

This study investigated participants' attitudes and perceptions toward urban gardening in Mucheke town, Masvingo, Zimbabwe, using questionnaires, focus group discussions, and field observations with a sample of 40 participants. It found that urban gardening is important for the community and income generation, with participants reporting benefits like additional income, family consumption, and socialization. However, participants identified challenges including theft, dilapidated canals, a single water point, and limited market access.

Mónica M. Gerber, Jennifer L. Callahan, Danielle N. Moyer, Melissa L. Connally, Pamela M. Holtz, Beth M. Janis · International Perspectives in Psychology · United States

This exploratory mixed-methods study investigated the perspectives on community gardening among Nepali Bhutanese refugees (N=50; 62% female) in the United States, comparing gardeners (n=22) and non-gardeners (n=28). Quantitative results showed no significant differences between groups regarding symptoms of depression, anxiety, somatic complaints, or adjustment to life in the US. However, community gardening was significantly positively associated with social support, a finding further supported by qualitative data.

Sarah Kumnig · WU Research · Austria (Vienna)

This paper analyzes the implications of neoliberal urban development for agricultural spaces and practices in Vienna, Austria, where agricultural areas face pressure from population growth and a construction boom. Using the Donaufeld district as a case study, the analysis reveals selective preservation and activation of specific urban agriculture types and the use of participatory politics in urban development projects. The study highlights the challenges faced by urban agriculture amidst competing interests in a rapidly developing city.

Runrid Fox-Kämper · · Global

This book provides insights and examples of how urban space is negotiated, describing urban gardens as "lived places" where social relations, meanings, and a sense of place are developed. To trigger social benefits, it is essential that these sites fulfill more functions than just food growing and leisure. Horticultural practices, such as using pesticides or fertilizers, have a strong influence on the ecological impact of urban gardening; although awareness among gardeners has increased due to training programs in recent decades, this impact persists.

Rúbio José Ferreira, Cláudio Jorge Moura de Castilho · Ateliê Geográfico · Brazil (Recife)

This text examines the place of urban agriculture and its practitioners in the urban planning process in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. The main results indicate that urban agriculture and urban farmers are not effectively considered by Recife's urban planning technicians. This may be due to urban agriculture being a social practice used by people from the "lowest layers" of society in a marginal area of the local urban economy.

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.

Alexandra Rizhinashvili · Digital Library of the Belarusian State University (Belarusian State University) · Global

This study analyzed the key limnetic parameters of four small shallow lakes: two located in allotment garden areas and two in forest-covered areas. It found that lakes with largely unexploited catchments contain a "hidden" source of nutrient load, primarily phosphates. Furthermore, lakes with catchments occupied by allotment gardens exhibited intensive overgrowth by floating vegetation.

Elanna Nolan, Alan March · Australian Planner · Australia (Melbourne)

This paper examined why a proposed community garden project at Hardy Gallagher Reserve in Princes Hill, initiated by Yarra City Council in Melbourne, failed by April 2010 after its launch in October 2008. Using communicative planning theory, it argued that the planning process for the community garden was doomed to fail from the beginning, demonstrating a lack of consideration for appropriate participation.

Jennifer L. Barron · Local Environment · Global

This paper explored how neoliberal processes of privatization, state entrepreneurialism, and devolution intersect with community gardens. It argued that certain characteristics and orientations of gardens are more conducive to resisting neoliberalism. These include cultivating producer, citizen, and activist subjectivities, elevating the use value of shared lived space, advancing spatial justice through community access to non-privatized space, and promoting food justice through non-commodified means of obtaining food.

Asadu Anthonia, Enwelu Innocent, Ifejika Philip, Igbokwe Edwin · African Journal of Agricultural Research · Nigeria

A survey and interviews with 210 urban farmers in southeast Nigeria explored the benefits and constraints of urban farming. Farmers reported benefits such as food and income sources, but also faced significant constraints including land insecurity, lack of access to credit, theft, and crop destruction by stray animals. The study concludes that urban farming needs to be legalized and integrated into urban policy to realize its full potential.

Alexandra Grace Lancey · · United States (Florida)

This ethnographic study in Pinellas County, Florida, investigated school gardening efforts at Title I elementary schools, focusing on an organization that installs gardens in "failing" schools. The research found that strict public school standards and neoliberal education reform paradoxically prevent teachers and administrators from fully utilizing school gardens for nutrition education. This limits their effectiveness in discussing nutrition, healthy eating, and local food, as the focus shifts to state-regulated education standards, revealing significant infrastructural challenges.

Jennifer C. Latimer, David Van Halen, James H. Speer‬, Stephanie Krull, Patricia G. Weaver, Joseph M. Pettit, Heather Foxx · PubMed · United States (Indiana)

This study collected over 1,061 surface soil samples from an approximately 1.25-acre urban community garden in Terre Haute, Indiana, during the summer of 2012, to evaluate the spatial distribution of lead at the plot level. The results highlighted significant variability in lead concentrations within small areas of a former residential property, with some areas showing high lead concentrations (600 ppm). Based on these findings, several areas of concern were identified, and the community garden was reconfigured to reduce potential lead exposure to gardeners and the local community.

Starecheski, Amy · · United States (New York City)

This chapter examines the contested nature of value, urban citizenship, and property claims through the study of squatting, urban homesteading, and community garden activism in the South Bronx, New York City. It highlights how squatters' initiatives, while challenging neoliberal privatization, could also be coopted into a discourse of individual responsibility in a neoliberalizing city. The research explores how squatters claimed a right to the city based on their labor and citizenship, and used history and property rights to redefine their urban presence amidst renegotiated meanings of debt and homeownership.

N. Claire Napawan, Stacie A. Townsend · Landscape Research · United States (California)

This study investigated the landscape of urban agricultural practice in Sacramento, California, examining past and present urban agricultural projects, advocacy, and city and state policies. The research found that community interest in urban agriculture is outpacing local policies in Sacramento. The authors concluded that city-wide initiatives might improve efforts at increasing opportunities for new urban agriculture projects.

Ellen van Holstein · Environment and Planning A Economy and Space · Australia (Sydney)

Empirical research at three community gardens in Sydney, Australia, examined property practices such as transplanting, plotting, and fencing. The study found that community gardeners create overlapping understandings of common and private property, driven by contradictory motivations for community inclusion and personal interest protection. Feelings of ownership, while contributing to belonging, also legitimize defensive and exclusive spatial claims within these gardens.

Amy Laura Cahn, Paula Z. Segal · ˜The œFordham urban law journal/Fordham urban law journal · United States

This paper argues that the invisibility of community-stewarded spaces, such as community gardens, within urban governance frameworks in North American cities leads to their enclosure and loss. It highlights that marginalized residents often have the least acknowledged claim to urban space. The study suggests that making existing community-stewarded places visible and exposing pathways to access is crucial to prevent enclosure and promote equity.