Research & reports

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

155 results(7 / 7)

• Ethno-cultural representation in the urban landscape

  2004

  Clare Rishbeth · Journal of Urban Design · United Kingdom (London)

  This paper investigates how urban greenspace can be designed and managed to reflect ethnic diversity and how this is perceived by users, using two case studies of community gardens in London. It found some differences in the response to the gardens by people from different ethnic backgrounds. The use of obvious symbolism was not necessarily a primary means of encouraging users from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, though appreciated for educational and design strengths. Concern is expressed about aspects of the physical and psychological containment of ethnic groups in fixed places and identities leading to the perpetuation of stereotypes.

  Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyEconomics
  Read source →DOI: 10.1080/1357480042000283878

• DIFFERENTIATING MULTIPLE MEANINGS OF GARDEN AND COMMUNITY

  2001

  Hilda E. Kurtz · Urban Geography · United States (Minneapolis)

  This paper examines the variations among community gardens in Minneapolis, Minnesota, suggesting they reflect differing interpretations of "community" and "garden" in urban settings. While community gardens are seen as responses to urban decay, the study highlights that issues of enclosure, inclusion, and exclusion are central to their function. Decisions regarding garden enclosure shape their role in urban neighborhoods, indicating potential limitations related to equity.

  Equity & displacementCommunityEconomicsPolicy
  Read source →DOI: 10.2747/0272-3638.22.7.656

• Geographies of social activism: Women, democracy, and change in an urban community garden

  2001

  Huei-Hsuan Lin · Syracuse University Libraries (Syracuse University) · United States

  This three-year qualitative study of an urban community garden in a mid-size city in upstate New York, United States, examined how women community gardeners perceive their participation. It found that the community garden, intended as a space for social change, paradoxically became a site of internal struggles among participants. Emancipatory efforts to build a less unequal society did not automatically result in an egalitarian space, as the process of community building by individuals with various social positions required arduous efforts and involved negotiation and confrontations, rather than simple unity.

  Equity & displacementCommunityPolicy
  Read source →

• Farming in the shadow of the city: changes in land rights and livelihoods in peri-urban Accra

  1999

  Daniel Maxwell, Wordsworth Odame Larbi, Grace Mary Lamptey, Sawudatu Zakariah, Margaret Armar‐Klemesu · Third World Planning Review · Ghana (Accra)

  This paper compares four cases within peri-urban Greater Accra, Ghana, to assess the impact of rapid urban sprawl on the surrounding area. The study examines cases including land loss to housing, protection of agricultural land from urban sprawl, environmental degradation due to urbanization, and commercialization of peri-urban agricultural production from changing market demand. The paper also reviews the perspective that rapid peri-urban growth leads to the destruction of agricultural livelihoods without necessarily replacing them with alternative economic activity.

  Equity & displacementPeri-urban agriculturePolicyEconomicsUrban–rural linkage
  Read source →DOI: 10.3828/twpr.21.4.l150726w76634305

• The changing nature of the peri‐urban zone in Africa: Evidence from Dar‐es‐Salaam, Tanzania

  1999

  John A. G. Briggs, Davis Mwamfupe · Scottish Geographical Journal · Tanzania (Dar-es-Salaam)

  Drawing on recent evidence from Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, this paper suggests that a combination of structural adjustment measures and the eased economic crisis in the 1990s changed conditions, resulting in the increasing commodification of land in the peri-urban zone. This shift transformed the peri-urban zone into an area of investment and economic opportunity, rather than survival, leading to the increasing exclusion of poorer urban groups. Furthermore, confusion arising from current Tanzanian land law, particularly tensions between customary and statutory law, complicates the situation.

  Equity & displacementPeri-urban agricultureEconomicsPolicyUrban–rural linkage
  Read source →DOI: 10.1080/00369229918737070