Research & reports

Carlos Tapia, Linda Randall, Shinan Wang, Luciane Aguiar Borges · Sustainable Cities and Society · Denmark (Aarhus)

This study presents a novel indicator-based evaluation framework for urban agriculture, tested in Fællesgartneriet Brabrand, a community garden in Aarhus, Denmark. The framework aims to capture the contribution of gardening practices to urban sustainability, acknowledging that urban agriculture may also have social and environmental externalities depending on prevalent farming practices.

Kate Lohrey, Patricia Talarczyk · Journal of Student Research · Global

An experiment over six weeks investigated the impact of traffic noise pollution on plant growth in urban community gardens. Plants exposed to traffic noise showed significantly reduced average height (65.6 mm vs 104.2 mm) and weight (0.85 g vs 1.31 g) compared to those in natural noise conditions. The study found a statistically significant deteriorating effect of traffic noise on plant growth.

Viktoria Shchurova · Current problems of architecture and urban planning · Ukraine (Kiev)

This article highlights the problems of the negative impact of the agricultural sector integrated into the central and middle zones of large cities. A critical view was formulated on the practical implementation of scientific and legislative documents, using the example of the city of Kiev, and strategies for reorganization, restrictions, or a complete ban on estate development in urban environments were analyzed. Specific plots of estate development in Kiev were identified as requiring reconstruction or complete renovation in accordance with the city's strategic development concept.

Joshua Jonah Kunda, Ahmed Abubakar Jajere, E. A. Otabe, Chindo Musa Muhammed, Umar Muhammed Bibi, Yusuf Maina-Bukar · Environment and Pollution · Nigeria

This study in Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria, used geospatial technology to assess agricultural land vulnerability to flooding, deriving factor weights (rainfall 25%, elevation 22%, slope 20%, drainage density 13%, land use/cover 12%, soil type 8%) through pairwise Analytical Hierarchy Process comparison (consistency ratio 0.078) and a weighted overlay model in ArcGIS 10.4. Farmland along the floodplains of the River Benue fell within the very highly vulnerable category, with elements at risk totaling 537.6 units of farmland (66.1%), 40.5 units of irrigation land (5.0%), and 125.8 units of built-up land (15.5%).

Kit Prendergast · Pacific Conservation Biology · Australia

The African carder bee, Pseudoanthidium (Immanthidium) repetitum, first recorded in Queensland in 2000, has now been found in Western Australia, marking a significant distribution expansion. Three confirmed and one unconfirmed localities were identified in the Mandurah region, with abundant female specimens observed in one garden. The presence of this introduced species necessitates vigilance due to known negative impacts on native fauna and flora.

Jennifer Engels, Sheree J. Watson, Henrietta Dulai, Kimberly Burnett, Christopher A. Wada, ‘Ano‘ilani Aga, Nathan DeMaagd, J. J. McHugh, Barbara Sumida, Leah L. Bremer · PLoS ONE · United States (O‘ahu)

A researcher-farmer collaboration on O‘ahu's Sumida watercress farm conducted a 25-year trend analysis and a year of intensive spring water sampling. Negative correlations were found between historical crop yields and increases in the Oceanic Niño Index, temperature thresholds, and pest outbreaks. Despite urbanization, on-farm water quality was very high, and microbial analyses suggested the farm provides nutrient retention services to downstream systems. The study demonstrates that challenges facing urban agricultural systems shift over time.

F. Feldmann, Ute Vogler · Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection · Global

Ten key challenges for plant protection in cities were identified, each belonging to a specific field of action of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in urban horticulture, according to Directive 2009/128/EC. These challenges include appropriate plant selection, microbiome engineering, nutrient recycling, smart digital solutions, diversification of vegetation, avoidance of pesticide side effects on beneficials, biorational efficacy assessment, effective pest diagnosis, efficient outbreak control, and holistic approaches.

Simon Tresch, David Frey, Renée‐Claire Le Bayon, Paul Mäder, Bernhard Stehle, Andreas Fließbach, Marco Moretti · Scientific Reports · Switzerland (Zurich)

A study in 85 urban gardens across Zurich, Switzerland, investigated the impact of gardening on five soil functions and the relationship between plant (600 spp.) and soil fauna (18 earthworm spp., 39 springtail spp.). High plant diversity positively affected soil fauna and multifunctionality, but intense garden management decreased plant diversity. This indicates a trade-off where intensive gardening, while potentially beneficial for some aspects, can negatively impact overall plant diversity.

Tri Andika, Waryenti Deli, P.E.Suryaningsih P.E.Suryaningsih · University Of Bengkulu Law Journal · Indonesia

Residents in Lebong Regency, Indonesia, experienced anxiety due to a landslide at PT PGE's Hulu Lais cluster A site. This landslide resulted in 6 deaths, sinking fish ponds, rice fields, and community gardens, and crop failure. Additionally, residents' drinking water sources were polluted, and drilling caused loud sounds, ground vibrations, hot steam, and dried plants. The drilling also drastically reduced water discharge from the Mubai river, impacting residents who relied on it.

Yolar Blandine N., Lawrence F. Fombe, Mokwe Bea Patrick J., Nuipokoh Oscar M. · Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal · Cameroon (Bamenda)

A study examining the impact of diseases and health on wetland populations in the Bamenda urban area of Cameroon found that increased human investment in wetlands enhances inhabitants' vulnerability to flood hazards and diseases like malaria, cholera, and typhoid. The wetlands in Bamenda are rapidly degrading due to population pressure, leading to reclamation, pollution, and urban agriculture, which exacerbates the proliferation of disease vectors.

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.

Ioannis Manikas, George Malindretos, Konstadinos Abeliotis · Journal of International Food & Agribusiness Marketing · Global

An essay that states urban food production is exposed to high levels of urban-generated contaminants, and argues that urban floriculture - an intensive form of agriculture with income per unit area far higher than other agricultural branches - can offer a more sustainable and socially acceptable alternative to urban food production. It states floriculture may also reduce the carbon footprint of cut-flower transport and provide higher-quality seasonal product, and examines urban floriculture as an approach for mitigating the negative impacts of global floriculture supply chains.

Asnath Alberto Malekela · · Tanzania

In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, a study of climate change impacts on urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) drew on secondary literature plus primary data from structured and in-depth interviews, observations, and focus group discussions with 201 UPA practitioners. 84% of respondents engaged in UPA for food and income, and UPA made a positive contribution to food security. However, UPA was found to be severely affected by climate change: effects included drying of crops (41%), crop pests and diseases (28%), decreased crop yields (13%), loss of soil fertility (8%), animal diseases (43%), drying of pasture lands (41%), and livestock deaths (16%). The study states plainly that urban and peri-urban agriculture in Dar es Salaam is severely affected by climate change, and recommends adopting farming systems such as vertical farming that use limited water resources.

Michael Martin, Elvira Molin · Sustainability · Sweden

This study assessed the environmental impacts of urban vertical hydroponic farming through a life-cycle perspective, applied to a case-study vertical hydroponic farm in Stockholm, Sweden, comparing current performance with potential improvement scenarios. Results showed that growing medium, pots, electricity demand, and transportation of raw materials and product deliveries were the important contributors to environmental impact in this system. Replacing plastic pots with paper pots was found capable of producing large reductions in GHG emissions, acidification impacts, and abiotic resource depletion, and replacing conventional gardening soil with coir as the growing medium also led to large impact reductions. However, the study states that further reducing the system's impacts will require more resource-efficient steps specifically to address impacts from electricity demand, an issue not resolved by the pot and growing-medium substitutions, and identifies potential for more symbiotic exchanges using urban wastes and by-products.

トシオ キクチ, Toshio Kikuchi, 俊夫 菊地 · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Canada

Focusing on community gardens in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, particularly in the city of Richmond, this study (2019) sought to clarify how urban agriculture's development is accompanied by the "commodification of rural space." It finds that Metro Vancouver's urban agriculture differs from suburban agriculture in that community gardens prioritize maintaining green and leisure space within the urban environment over agricultural production for food supply. The study concludes that community gardens function as a node connecting "urbanity" and "rurality," existing in the metropolitan periphery through a commodification of rural character for urban leisure use — that is, their role as green/leisure space for urban residents takes precedence over their function as actual food production.

Marek Kopacki, Krystyna Rysiak, Mariusz Szmaraga · Annales Horticulturae · Poland (Lublin)

This 2014 study near Lublin, Poland, evaluated the decorative qualities and health of Tithonia rotundifolia in urban plantings, including a botanical garden and allotment gardens. Observations at the end of the vegetation period revealed disease symptoms, and mycological analysis of dead plant parts identified isolates of fungi from eleven genera. Dominant and dangerous pathogenic genera, Alternaria alternata and Botrytis cinerea, were found to affect T. rotundifolia.

D.V. Belobrova, Д. А. Шаповалов · Dokuchaev Soil Bulletin · Russia

This study conducted large-scale (1:5000) soil mapping of garden non-commercial partnerships in the Meshchera lowland of Noginsk district, Moscow region. Investigations revealed that initial soils underwent significant transformation since their creation, with soddy podzolic and boggy soils changing into agro-soddy podzolic soils and agrozems due to intensive development and fertilizer use. While these changes reflect increased productivity and quality of allotment soils, the transformed soils are characterized by neutral pH and high/medium mobile phosphorus content, but are poor in exchangeable potassium compared to natural soil profiles.

Monika Egerer, Alessandro Ossola, Brenda B. Lin · BioScience · United States (California central coast)

This study conceptualizes community garden soils within the novel ecosystem framework, arguing that gardeners cultivate novel agroecosystems from their garden beds' soil. On the California central coast, community garden soils may not be influenced by land-use legacies associated with geographic location. Instead, intensive soil reworking by gardeners can wash out legacy signals and decadal chronological trends, leading to soil homogenization that reduces biophysical ties to the underlying earth.

Norbert Becker, Stefanie Schön, Alexandra‐Maria Klein, Ina Ferstl, Ali Kizgin, Egbert Tannich, Carola Kuhn, Björn Pluskota, Artur Jöst · Parasitology Research · Germany

The first mass development of Aedes albopictus, likely introduced by trucks from Italy, was confirmed in an allotment garden area in Freiburg, Southwest Germany, in 2015. Surveillance confirmed a high infestation, with the container index exceeding 30% in August 2015. Control measures, including citizen awareness, environmental management, and Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) tablets, successfully reduced the Aedes albopictus population, with the number of gardens without containers increasing from 17% to 35% by September 2015.

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.

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.

John Taylor, Sarah Taylor Lovell, Sam E. Wortman, M.K. Chan · Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems · United States (Chicago)

In Chicago, semi-structured interviews and plant inventories were conducted with 59 African American, Chinese-origin, and Mexican-origin households regarding ecosystem services and tradeoffs in their home food gardens. A total of 387 plant species were identified; gardens of African American households were rich in ornamental species, while those of Chinese-origin households had a depauperate flora. Shade trees and a developed shrub layer were absent from most gardens, suggesting a tradeoff in ecosystem services favoring food production. Only 9.6% of the inventoried species were native to the Chicago area.

· International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR) · India

A study of the pink hibiscus mealybug (Maconellicoccus hirsutus), documented as a growing urban pest in the agricultural fields of Vadodara, India. Regular visits to agricultural fields and community gardens over two years (April 2013-April 2015) tracked the pest's morphology, biology, distribution, and relation to biotic and abiotic factors, along with damage type and extent on different host plants. Major infestation occurred on Annona squamosa, followed by significant infestation on Hibiscus rosa-sinensis and Gossypium hirsutum (cotton), with adult females and nymphs as the main infesting stages and damage peaking in the winter months of November to February. The study also documented a mealybug-ant mutualistic association and noted that the prevailing use of chemical pesticides in the city is a probable reason for the growing mealybug population.

E.N. Sabiiti, Constantine Bakyusa Katongole · Water science and technology library · Uganda

Wakiso district, the peri-urban area surrounding Kampala, Uganda's capital city (population about 1.51 million), ranks first nationally in poultry production and second in pig production, accounting for 7.4% and 6.3% of the national chicken and pig populations respectively. The chapter finds that agricultural land in these peri-urban areas is increasingly at risk from urban encroachment, driven by population growth, distorted land values, a construction boom, and expanding recreation and leisure facilities competing with farming for land, which is likely to adversely affect the city's food security.

Samara Aquino Maia, F. Wachholz, Raquel Gouvêa dos Santos, João Carlos Ferreira Júnior · Boletim Amazônico de Geografia · Brazil (Manaus)

This study identified environmental impacts on a Mindu Igarapé spring in Manaus, Brazil, by collecting water samples at eleven points. Water temperature increased from 29.6 to 30.6°C downstream due to riparian vegetation removal and dredging. pH (6.6-7.7) and electrical conductivity (0.16-0.32 mS/cm) also increased downstream, possibly linked to expanding horticulture using fertilizers. Most analyzed water quality variables were negatively influenced by anthropogenic activities, including horticulture, riparian vegetation removal, dredging, and small dam construction.