Research & reports

Raktima Ghosh · · India (Kolkata)

This study examined the roles and emergent risks of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area, India, using a mixed-method approach combining empirical findings and geospatial techniques. Field observations and land use land cover (LULC) mapping validated land conversion patterns and the spatial shrinkage of UPA in the Kolkata metropolis. The study revealed current socioecological changes and governance patterns in the context of UPA, indicating that UPA faces multiple challenges arising from land-use transformations, privatization of lands, and changing social equations in the city.

Andrew Millie · Crime Media Culture An International Journal · United Kingdom

This article considered guerrilla gardening, which involves taking on other people’s land without permission. A qualitative study of guerrilla gardeners from the North West of England found that guerrilla gardening is a normalised form of law-breaking. Despite not necessarily being to everyone’s taste and gardeners having an autocratic view of property, it is broadly accepted and welcomed, even by those who enforce the law.

Can Wu, Xiaoma Li, Yuqing Tian, Ziniu Deng, Xiaoying Yu, Shenglan Wu, Di Shu, Yulin Peng, Feipeng Sheng, Dexin Gan · Agronomy · China (Changsha)

This study investigated the impact of perceived ecosystem services (ES) and disservices (EDS) on behavioral intention towards urban community gardens (UCGs) among 1142 residents in Changsha, China. While government decision-makers often refuse UCGs, residents' attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms positively impacted their behavioral intention towards UCGs. Perceived ES had a direct positive impact on behavioral intention, whereas perceived EDS had a direct negative impact.

Bethuel Sibongiseni Ngcamu · Environmental & Socio-economic Studies · Africa

This literature review explored the effects of urbanization on food security in Africa by reviewing eleven empirical journal articles. Findings indicate that rapid, unplanned urbanization has led to increased food insecurity, environmental degradation, and unsustainable food security, exacerbated by ill-prepared and incompetent governments. Key issues identified include poor government interventions, inadequate land-use planning, and high incompetency among urban planners.

Grete Swensen, Vebjørn Egner Stafseng, Véronique Karine Simon · International Journal of Heritage Studies · France (Bordeaux)

This comparative case study examines two regeneration projects, the Darwin Ecosystem Project in Bordeaux, France, and Dr. Dedichen’s Greenhouse in Oslo, Norway, to understand how heritage combined with urban gardening can enhance areas requiring regeneration. The study notes that conflicting economic, political, and cultural views are likely to affect the heritage discourse in marginalized urban areas. It describes how old buildings and historical fragments can be integrated into urban planning initiatives, with residents, artists, and citizen groups cooperating with planning authorities to transform neighborhoods.

Pablo Torres Lima, Kristen Conway-Gómez, Karla Almanza-Rodríguez · Frontiers in Sustainable Cities · Mexico (Mexico City)

This study examined local community involvement in governance processes in Milpa Alta, a peri-urban agricultural area of Mexico City, using surveys, interviews, and participatory workshops. It found that Milpa Alta lacks integral adaptive capacity to address urban pressures, environmental deterioration, and agricultural dynamics. Limited participation, low local organizational levels, and distrust of government institutions hinder effective governance, indicating that a "local is not enough" approach is insufficient for adaptive governance in this peri-urban context.

Gabe Arif Ditama Sinaga, Yani Kurniawan, Ayuni Kusumawati · Jurnal Ilmu Sosial dan Humaniora · Indonesia (Malang)

This reflective study, conducted with 30 informants in Malang City, Indonesia, investigated factors driving urban farming success during the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous research identified external constraints, such as minimal government intervention, and internal issues, like low public enthusiasm. However, this study found that during the pandemic, urban farming conditions, public enthusiasm, and government intervention increased. The research also correlated communal society and local cultural elements with urban farming activities, suggesting optimal practice when implemented at a community scale and linked to local culture.

Qazi Shafayetul Islam, Nasima Akter · European Journal of Nutrition & Food Safety · Canada (Toronto)

This qualitative study, involving nine community organization representatives and 15 volunteers in Toronto's priority neighborhoods, identified significant barriers to providing and receiving free food support during COVID-19. Community members faced a lack of information, language barriers, social stigma, and fear of COVID-19. Organizations struggled with insufficient information on needs, limited transportation, storage space, committed volunteers, and funding, highlighting systemic and financial challenges in effective food support programs.

Wanda Martin, Lindsey Wagner, Kerry Marshall · Human Geography · Canada

This qualitative study investigated the controversy surrounding urban hen bylaws in Canadian cities, based on semi-structured interviews with 15 urban residents. The research identified three main areas of struggle: the need for education on urban agriculture, differing values for city life, and tensions between individual rights and the collective good. The findings expose challenges in urban hen legislation.

Zihao Chen, Lin Guo, Zilong Zhang · Highlights in Science Engineering and Technology · China (Shenzhen)

As urbanization accelerates in China, urban green space is becoming increasingly insufficient. This study analyzed Shenzhen's current three-dimensional greening policies and compared them with those of advanced foreign cities. The findings revealed three problems in Shenzhen's policies: a small scope of application, a lack of planning elements, and a low degree of compulsion. The paper proposes improvement solutions and optimization suggestions based on the governance experiences of other cities to address these shortcomings.

Susan Anne Mansel Fitzgerald · · Cuba

This chapter reviews various perspectives on urban agriculture in Havana, Cuba, focusing on farm types, food access, and cultural expressions. It highlights that research also addresses the hierarchies and power struggles surrounding urban agriculture sites and their integration into land-management systems. The study advocates for understanding the rhythms of everyday life to deepen insights into these sites.

Shawn Bodden · City · Hungary (Budapest)

This essay reflected on the everyday political work of community projects to open up space for new possibilities of living with difference within hostile political environments, drawing on Doreen Massey's ideas of space. Through the case of the Auróra community center in Budapest, Hungary, and its members' community garden project, it examined the mundane and local techniques community groups use to construct better possible futures. The analysis suggested the importance of analyzing the situated and ongoing "terms of engagement" through which people open up, or close down, better possible spaces and ways of living with difference.

Alexandra Zivkovic, Emily V. Merchant, Thomas Nyawir, Daniël J. Hoffman, James E. Simon, Shauna Downs · Current Developments in Nutrition · Kenya (Nairobi)

A feasibility and preliminary impact assessment of sack gardens for women in Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya, involving 21 participants in 2018-2019, found reduced household food insecurity. However, key barriers included insufficient inputs and difficulties in group work, particularly communication. The study suggests sack gardens may partially improve diet quality, but further research is needed on household income impact.

Aisling Bailey, Jonathan Kingsley · Land · Australia (Melbourne)

This qualitative study explored perceptions of benefits and challenges in six urban community and allotment gardens in Melbourne, Australia, through semi-structured interviews with 23 participants. Findings identified perceived benefits and demographic patterns, but also highlighted challenges to participation due to insecurity around ongoing land access. The gardens were perceived to contribute to social and environmental wellbeing.

Ana Zazo Moratalla, Alejandro Orellana-McBride, Claudia Cerda-Inostroza · · Chile

A study investigated how Chilean urban planning has conceived productive agriculture within urban limits, analyzing the evolution of territorial planning instruments in five Chilean cases. While agriculture was once conceived as an urban use, changes in Chilean legislation have led to this activity being conceived as transitory and in fallow, inevitably transforming into other more profitable urban uses.

Axel Prestes Dürrnagel, Matias Siueia Júnior, Simone Prestes Dürrnagel · Boletim GeoÁfrica · Mozambique

In Maputo, Mozambique's capital, urban agriculture is at a critical point, with accelerated urban growth and climate change impacts increasingly compromising agricultural spaces. A qualitative case study focusing on farmer associations in the urban district of KaMavota indicated that horizontal relationships among farmers enable information sharing and social capital creation. Conversely, vertical relationships between farmers and the government primarily promote knowledge exchange and competencies related to agricultural extension and land rights allocation.

Fiona Greenland · Social Forces · Germany (Ruhr valley)

This review of "How Green Became Good" by Hillary Angelo examines why urban greening became a public good, challenging conventional accounts. Tracing urban greening in Germany's Ruhr valley, Angelo argues that greening constructs not only physical spaces but also social imaginaries, where nature as a public good is mutually constitutive with economic production needs, rather than being in opposition. The work shifts the understanding of urbanized nature from inherently contentious politics to a socio-cultural process of urban modernization.

Giulia Giacchè, Véronique Saint-Gès, Yoann Durrieu, Mélanie Collé, Christine Aubry · Territoire en mouvement · France

A multi-phase method, METH-EXPAU®, is proposed for defining urban agriculture (UA) projects, aiming to help landowners select appropriate UA forms based on territorial characteristics. Applied to three case studies in France—Montrouge, a priority district in Lille, and a new district in Bordeaux—the method revealed its potential and shortcomings. It demonstrated how structural, technical, and social characteristics of spaces and agents can rule out certain UA forms that do not correspond to the territory's current needs.

Putu Adi Wiratenaya, Ni Nyoman Yuliarmi · Jurnal Penjaminan Mutu · Indonesia (Bali)

This research investigated strategies to improve urban agriculture quality for food security in Bali Province, Indonesia, using a literature study method. The findings revealed that urban farming in Bali faces many obstacles, including the absence of regulations on urban farming, the lack of an institution to protect urban farming communities, and ineffective marketing methods. Government support is needed for the agricultural sector.

Abdulaziz I. Almulhim, Patrick Brandful Cobbinah · International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology · Saudi Arabia

This article reviews literature on urbanization and its implications for the urban environment in Global South cities, discussing eight implications of the urbanization-environmental conundrum with cases from Saudi Arabian cities. Findings indicate that the sustainable development agenda in Saudi Arabian cities is skewed towards socio-economic development with limited focus on environmental issues. This situation is threatening the sustainability of rapidly urbanizing cities.

Giulia Caterina Verga, Ahmed Z. Khan · Frontiers in Built Environment · Belgium (Brussels)

This study examined spatial factors fostering or hampering the embedding of urban circularity practices (UCPs) in the Brussels Capital Region (BCR) through a literature review and case-study research. It showed that access to spaces and land emerges as one of the most recurrent barriers to embedding UCPs. Beyond real estate prices, frictions in political agendas where the need for housing, productive spaces, urban agriculture land, and green-blue infrastructures compete for the same limited space also contribute to this issue.

Petr Klusáček, Stanislav Martinát, Klára Charvátová, Josef Navrátil · Land · Europe

This study investigated the drivers of de-agrarianization in post-socialist cities, using Brno, Czech Republic, as a case study through qualitative interviews. It found procedural issues in preserving architectural heritage during the redevelopment of a former Cistercian monastery site, often resulting in only fragments being preserved. The research also demonstrated a decline in the use of urban agricultural properties, which are rapidly transformed into new urban environments under intense urbanization pressures.

Elvis Albert Robe Wandscheer, Rosa Maria Vieira Medeiros · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil

This study investigated the interrelations between urban agriculture and local institutions in Belém-PA and Porto Alegre-RS, Brazil. In both municipalities, actions were observed that were implemented temporarily but lacked continuity. Porto Alegre showed more commercial channels derived from previously established institutional relations, while Belém presented several elements without alternative solutions for problems related to high temperatures and navigation distances.

Denise Arroyo-Lambaer, Luís Zambrano, Miguel Rivas, Diana Laura Vázquez-Mendoza, Fernanda Figueroa, Martha B. Puente-Uribe, Ana Cecilia Espinosa‐García, Marco A. Tapia-Palacios, Marisa Mazari-Hiríart, Daniel A. Revollo-Fernández, Alaíde Jiménez-Serna, Marco Covarrubias, Carlos Sumano · Frontiers in Sustainable Cities · Mexico (Mexico City)

This study investigated the needs and commercialization challenges of chinampa producers in Xochimilco, Mexico City, to assess the potential of a green label. The analysis, based on a literature review and producers' mental model analysis, found that unresolved issues like commercialization problems, consumers' unwillingness to pay fair prices, soil degradation, and poor irrigation water quality persist. These issues make it difficult for most producers to bear certification costs, indicating that implementing a green label would likely fail to deliver its intended benefits.

Arnim Wiek, Stefanie Albrecht · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States (Phoenix)

A multiyear transdisciplinary project in Phoenix, United States, analyzed the development of a sustainable urban food forest enterprise. The project built a coalition of supporters, secured a suitable site, codeveloped a vision and action plan, and fundraised a major start-up donation. However, research findings indicate that despite achieving success factors to some extent, an underdeveloped sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem jeopardizes long-term success and multiplication efforts.