Research & reports

Robert Bartłomiejski, Maciej Kowalewski · Sustainability · Poland

This article discusses Polish urban allotment gardens (UAGs) as an alternative urban development framework, "Slow City." It notes that increasing problems of soil pollution, abandoned gardens, informal housing, and limitation of access to UAG green areas for other inhabitants reinforce the pressure to reduce the number of UAGs.

Peter R. W. Gerritsen, Víctor Sanchez Bernal, Georgina Torres Rodríguez · Brazilian Journal of Development · Mexico

This study analyzed food security in two medium-sized cities in Western Mexico using secondary data and field research. It found that while these highly globalized cities had a low degree of food security, extensive domestic backyard agricultural activities significantly raised family-level food security. A critical finding is that this potential for urban food security is not valued by governmental institutions.

Mawuna Donald Houessou, B.G.J.S. Sonneveld, Augustin K. N. Aoudji, Fréjus THOTO, Smith A. R. Dossou, D. J. Snelder, Anselme Adégbidi, Tjard de Cock Buning · Sustainability · Benin

A study explored and compared international standards of prevailing organizations and their functioning among 261 urban gardeners in two cities in Benin. It found that a vast majority of urban gardeners are members of a cooperation. However, their membership is largely titular because gardeners mostly behave semi-autonomously, and few decisions are taken collectively. The obvious economic advantages of leveraging bargaining power, reducing transaction costs, and increasing possibilities for loans are seriously underutilized.

Michael Hardman, Mags Adams, Melissa Barker, Luke Beesley · Manchester University Press eBooks · United Kingdom (Todmorden)

The Incredible Edible Todmorden (IET) movement in Todmorden, UK, was investigated using a qualitative approach. The scheme was found to have an overwhelmingly positive impact on the town, providing social, environmental, and economic benefits and contributing to a more just food movement through its "free for all" philosophy. However, negative aspects were also highlighted, including maintenance issues and a lack of perceived inclusivity in some parts.

A. J. Sarker, Janet F. Bornman, Дора Маринова · Urban Science · Australia

This study analyzes policy and planning practices for integrating urban agriculture into city land-use planning in Australia. It found that recent planning has overlooked and failed to realize the opportunity of urban agriculture, with regulatory and legal frameworks, including land access, being significant constraints. The study concludes that without direct public policy support and institutional recognition, integrating urban agriculture into Australian cities' development and planning goals is difficult.

Isabela Laís Tavares, Gisela da Cunha Viana Leonelli · Revista dos Trabalhos de Iniciação Científica da UNICAMP · Global

This study investigated the position of urban agriculture within development policies and legislation for urban and regional planning. Through legal analysis of legislation from supranational to municipal levels, it was shown that urban agriculture can be a tool in city planning to reduce vacant lots and buildings not fulfilling their social function. However, the research revealed that despite a diverse range of legislation for urban agriculture development, these laws are not fully interconnected and often operate as parallel initiatives.

Ashenafi Tilahun Hailie · IGI Global eBooks · Global

This chapter assessed the benefits of urban agriculture in a study area, using qualitative and quantitative analysis aligned with a sustainable livelihood framework. Findings indicated that urban agriculture is sustained by sex indiscrimination, migrant dominancy, poor educational status, and agricultural background. While assets like land access and fertile soil were promising, skills, knowledge transfer, labor ability, and good health were found insufficient. Identified vulnerabilities included population explosion, absence of good governance, frequent natural calamities, land tenure insecurity, and seasonality of prices.

Jan Hassink, Lenneke Vaandrager, Yvette Buist, Simone R. de Bruin · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · Global

A global study characterized nature-based adult day services (ADSs) for people with dementia (PwD) in urban areas and identified challenges. Interviews with 17 ADS providers revealed five types of services: social entrepreneurs, nursing homes, social care organizations, community gardens by citizens, and hybrid initiatives. General challenges included the availability of green urban spaces and acquiring funding. Specific challenges varied by type, including a lack of commitment among nursing staff in nursing homes, difficulty finding knowledgeable volunteers for community gardens, and work culture differences in hybrid models.

Kouassi Joseph Kouakou, Ahoua Edmond Sika, Seu Jonathan Gogbeu, Koffi Bertin Yao, M. Bounakhla, Denézon Odette Dogbo, Yves‐Alain Bekro · · Africa

This study compared the accumulation potential of five trace metals (cadmium, copper, lead, zinc, and nickel) in lettuce, spinach, and amaranth grown at market gardening sites in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Using principal components analysis, it was found that lettuce had a greater capacity for accumulating these metals compared to spinach and amaranth. Amaranth and spinach from the three sites showed nearly identical metal accumulation capacities.

Glenda Maria Braga Abud, Maria Lúcia Bahia Lopes, Rosália do Socorro da Silva Corrêa, Ruth Helena Cristo Almeida · Revista em Agronegócio e Meio Ambiente · Brazil (Benevides)

A descriptive survey was conducted with 25 producers in Benevides municipality, Pará State, Brazil, to analyze the contribution of flower and ornamental plant production to local development. The activity was found to be essentially subsistence-based, with low articulation among producers and technological and productive limitations. These aspects resulted in a restricted capacity to contribute to development in the studied municipality.

Sonia Aissaoui, Pascale Bueno Merino, Samuel Grandval · · Global

This study discusses the risk of having no contract in a solidarity partnership, specifically Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) formed between an agricultural entrepreneur and consumers, based on an extreme case analysis. Through 47 semi-structured interviews, three non-participant observations, and seven additional semi-structured interviews, findings showed that trust mechanisms can quickly weaken during misunderstandings, exposing partners to the risk of exploiting the agreement. Contractual logic, particularly its coordinating function, complements trust in maintaining the stability of a solidarity partnership.

Rikawanto Eko Muljawan · Prosiding Konferensi Nasional Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat dan Corporate Social Responsibility (PKM-CSR) · Indonesia (Surabaya)

In East Java, Indonesia, rapid infrastructure development leads to approximately 100 hectares of agricultural land being converted annually, reducing food supply. In Surabaya, 2000 hectares are controlled by developers, with some loaned for farming, and the local government supports urban farming for 624 households on 400 hectares. The abstract suggests that developers, who benefit from extensive land conversion, should contribute to agricultural resource improvement through Corporate Social Responsibility funds for agro eco-technology programs.

Erik Engel, Karin Fiege, Anja Kühn · · Africa

The UFISAMO project analyzed urban agriculture (UA) in Maputo and Cape Town. In Maputo, UA is the main income source for about 5% of the population, though it often does not cover monthly food costs, and a major challenge is the uncontrolled application of pesticides due to mono-cropping. In Cape Town's townships, UA plays a negligible role in income and food security due to small plots, sandy soils, water stress, and weak market links.

Carme Melo Escrihuela · International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning · Spain (Valencia)

The evolution in the preservation, management, and planning of l'Horta de València, a historical Mediterranean huerta in Valencia, Spain, was assessed. It is argued that negative changes and impacts in l'Horta are not simply the outcome of global dynamics but result from the region's planning trajectory and landscape management approach. This approach has been shaped by a lack of territorial and supra-municipal perspective and the primacy of culture, identity, and heritage aspects over the landscape's productive dimension.

Héctor Ávila Sánchez · Investigaciones Geográficas Boletín del Instituto de Geografía · Global

This study analyzed the impact and potential of Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (UPA) on urban food systems, focusing on cities in Western Europe, North America, and Latin America. It concluded that while UPA practices have increased, their presence in urban food systems remains limited, and their consideration in territorial public policies is still marginal. In developed countries, its impact has been primarily therapeutic, landscape-related, and for heritage preservation, while in poorer countries, it has contributed to self-sufficiency for low-income urban populations, public space recovery, social fabric strengthening, and community development.

Stephan Pauleit, Didit Okta Pribadi, Hany Abo El Wafa · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Indonesia (Jakarta)

The continued existence of agriculture in and near urban areas, such as in Jakarta and Addis Ababa, is an important means to strengthen city resilience. However, its importance is still poorly, or at best intermittently, acknowledged by politicians and urban planners, who are inspired by visions of "modern" cities where agriculture is considered a negligible activity.

Jean-Christophe Levassor · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · France

This study addresses social divisions in Le Pile, east Roubaix, France, where over 40% of residents live below the poverty line. It states that without proactive policies, social divisions will worsen, and initiatives like urban farming and zero waste will only have a limited effect beyond a small circle of insiders. La Condition Publique aims to recreate ties among various actors to support urban renovation and foster resilience in this deprived neighborhood.

Riska Rahma Arriani, Mardwi Rahdriawan · Teknik PWK (Perencanaan Wilayah Kota) · Indonesia (Jakarta)

A qualitative study using purposive sampling investigated the reasons for decreasing community participation in the government-initiated Urban Farming Program at Rusun Marunda, Jakarta, Indonesia. The program, which started with 50 farmers in 2014, saw participation drop to only 5 farmers by 2019. The study found that obstacles in farming demotivated farmers, leading to a decline in participation, particularly among those with economic-egoism motivations.

Joshua Sbicca · · United States (Colorado)

This study investigated the potential for urban agriculture to drive green gentrification, using Denver, Colorado, as a case study. Urban agriculture was shown to drive gentrification and act as a force for displacement, even when advocates are aware of its exclusionary potential for urban farmers and residents. The research argues that political economy and cultural forces create neighborhood disinvestment and economic marginalization, and urban agriculture contributes to green gentrification through a process of revalorization that exploits rent gaps.

Mahantayya V Math, Yashoda R Kattimani, Manjusha M Padhye · Indian Journal of Community Medicine · India (Ahmadabad)

This study points out the impact of wastewater use in urban agriculture on the incidence of diarrhea in Ahmadabad, India. Vegetables grown with wastewater have an increased risk of internalization of food-borne bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella into edible plant parts, posing a serious health risk. Contaminated water, soil, poor hand hygiene, and improper handling are sources of bacterial contamination for vegetables and fruits.

Chiara Certomà, Chiara Tornaghi · Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) · Global

This book is a collection of chapters unpacking the forms, functioning, and meanings of urban gardening in the context of the neoliberal transformation of cities. It offers an overview of diverse claims in the micro-politics of garden activism and discusses how these projects are fraught with social solidarities and divisions, empowerment and learning processes, conflicts and negotiations. The collection aims to contribute to a critical discussion of the “politics of urban space” and enrich the emerging debate on radical, critical, and political gardening.

Andréia Quinto dos Santos, Ricardo Jucá‐Chagas, Regileno da Silva Santana, Evton Farias Quinto Santos, ALISSON SANTOS DA SILVA · Brazilian Journal of Development · Global

This research evaluated the limits and possibilities of learning ecological interactions in elementary school using a school garden, involving a supervising teacher, a classroom teacher, and 30 students. While students demonstrated understanding of ecological interactions through oral communication, the study identified significant limitations including difficulties in reading and writing, a lack of volunteers, and insufficient technical and administrative support from the school.

Thomas Earl Tracy · ODU Digital Commons (Old Dominion University) · United States (Virginia)

This study investigated reasons for the low enrollment of African Americans in urban agriculture degree programs in Virginia, which contributes to few African Americans in leadership positions in the urban agriculture industry. Data were collected through surveys and interviews with agriculture students, non-agriculture students, and department chairpersons at Virginia State University and other colleges. The findings indicate a dearth of African Americans enrolled in these programs.

Stephan Barthel, Christian Isendahl, Benjamin N. Vis, Axel Drescher, Daniel Evans, Arjan van Timmeren · The Anthropocene Review · Global

Global urbanization and food production are in direct competition for land. Displacing crop production from urban and peri-urban land due to soil quality issues will demand a substantially larger proportion of the Earth’s terrestrial land surface than the area lost to urban encroachment. This risks triggering distancing effects, unfair social-ecological teleconnections, and amplifying effects within the Earth System, potentially leading to food riots in cities of the Global South. The paper identifies multi-level leverage points, specifically an advisory global policy aligned with regional policies enabling robust common property rights for bottom-up actors in urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA), to navigate urban expansion away from fertile croplands.

Edgar Ortiz-Mena, Jairo Ricardo Mora-Delgado · Revista de Ciencias Sociales · Colombia (Sonsón)

This hermeneutic study analyzed the Urban Agriculture Program in Sonsón, Colombia, which aims to improve the living conditions of violence victims. Through in-depth interviews and participant observation with 40 elderly beneficiaries over two months, it was found that while 40% improved their diet through broiler chicken training, beneficiaries perceived that the taught production techniques were time-consuming and did not lead to short-term cost reduction or income increase. The study concludes by recognizing the perceptions and adaptation strategies of families facing change.