Research & reports

Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.

5 results

• The islands and the city: peri-urban agriculture, food production, and sustainability in the chinampas of Xochimilco (Mexico City)

  2025

  F. Xavier Medina, José Antonio Vázquez–Medina, Marco Covarrubias · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · Mexico (Mexico City)

  This chapter discusses the factors linking food production, social and environmental problems, and future challenges in the chinampas of Xochimilco, a UNESCO World Heritage wetland area in Mexico City's peri-urban zone. It examines strategies implemented by stakeholders and their effects to envision future scenarios for sustainable food systems. The insularity of the chinampas imposes a particular character on agri-food production and the life of inhabitants, highlighting existing social and environmental problems.

  Environmental trade-offsPeri-urban agricultureClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceCommunity
  Read source →DOI: 10.4337/9781035337019.00010

• The food-water-energy nexus and green roofs in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, and Johannesburg, South Africa

  2023

  Fanxin Meng, Qiuling Yuan, Rodrigo A. Bellezoni, José A. Puppim de Oliveira, Yuanchao Hu, Rui Jing, Gengyuan Liu, Zhifeng Yang, Karen C. Seto · npj Urban Sustainability · Brazil (São Paulo)

  A framework was developed to analyze the food-water-energy nexus of green roofs in data-sparse cities, integrating environmental costs and benefits. Testing this framework in São José dos Campos, Brazil, and Johannesburg, South Africa, revealed that green roofs are carbon neutral but net energy consumers from a life cycle perspective. São José dos Campos is a net water beneficiary, while Johannesburg is a net water consumer, and rainwater utilization, though saving irrigated water, requires 1.2 times more energy.

  Environmental trade-offsClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkage
  Read source →DOI: 10.1038/s42949-023-00091-3

• Impacts of urban sprawl in the Administrative Region of Ribeirão Preto (Brazil) and measures to restore improved landscapes

  2022

  Laís Caroline Marianno de Olivera, Gislaine Costa de Mendonça, Renata Cristina Araújo Costa, Regina Aparecida Leite de Camargo, Luís Filipe Sanches Fernandes, Fernando António Leal Pacheco, Teresa Cristina Tarlé Pissarra · Land Use Policy · Brazil

  This study investigated the impacts of 35 years of urban expansion in Brazil's Administrative Region of Ribeirão Preto, linking it to agricultural land loss and environmental consequences. Using Landsat images and GIS, the research found rural area losses exceeding 350 km2, with equivalent production and economic losses of approximately 1.1 Mton/year and 230 MR$/year. Significant environmental impacts included the destruction of over 9100 km of natural watercourses, nearly 630 km2 of Permanent Preservation Areas, and the occupation of Guarani Aquifer recharge areas with impermeable surfaces, affecting approximately 7000 headwaters.

  Environmental trade-offsUrban–rural linkageEconomicsClimate changeFood sovereignty & justice
  Read source →DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2022.106439

• Serviços e Desserviços Ambientais Associados à Agricultura Urbana e Periurbana no Município de São Paulo

  2021

  Bruno do Nascimento Macedo, Fernanda Nogueira Comas, Amarílis Lucia Casteli Figueiredo Gallardo · Journal of Urban Technology and Sustainability · Brazil (São Paulo)

  This study discussed the main environmental services and disservices associated with urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in São Paulo, Brazil, using a systematic literature review and spatial analysis. It identified 12 environmental services and 5 disservices, mapping 197 UPA initiatives. The research concluded that UPA has the potential to offer environmental benefits, but can also exert negative pressures on the environment, including in areas that should be protected.

  Environmental trade-offsUrban–rural linkageClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicy
  Read source →DOI: 10.47842/juts.v4i1.35

• Creating Socioecological Novelty in Urban Agroecosystems from the Ground Up

  2017

  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.

  Environmental trade-offsCommunityBiodiversityFood sovereignty & justiceOrganic cycle
  Read source →DOI: 10.1093/biosci/bix144