Research & reports

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.

A Noussia · Research Open (London South Bank University) · Brazil

This paper discusses urban agriculture on city peripheries within a scenario of urban expansion, focusing on the Guaratiba neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro. It argues that the city's urban expansion process does not invest in the inclusion of urban agriculture activities within the area's socio-environmental dynamics.

Michelle Tendai. Chihambakwe, Paramu Mafongoya, Obert Jiri · Challenges · Zimbabwe

This review maps the use of food sovereignty principles in urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in Zimbabwe, addressing its potential for food security. Despite UPA being ingrained in urban households' livelihoods, institutional arrangements governing the practice remain ambivalent. The review underscores that the failure to involve all stakeholders undermines UPA, leading to heightened food insecurity and unsustainable practices.

Suranga Wadduwage · Journal of Land Use Science · Australia (Adelaide)

A multi-criteria spatially-explicit study in the Adelaide metropolitan area, Australia, investigated agricultural land vulnerability to urban sprawl under opposing policy directions. The study showed higher agricultural land vulnerabilities in “Business-As-Usual” and “Accelerated Economic Development” scenarios, extending into rural areas with a leap-frog effect. This confirms the need to sacrifice farmland uses to maintain land supply for urban development under these conditions.

FX Andy Sutrisno, Bakti Setiawan · Jurnal Perencanaan Pembangunan The Indonesian Journal of Development Planning · Indonesia

This case study of Surakarta, Indonesia's sustainable agricultural land protection policy -- focusing on conservation within the urban environment -- used field observations, stakeholder interviews, and secondary data to analyze the local government's policy and how urban farmers and landowners perceive it. It found that the policy is not well understood by the farmers and landowners directly affected, that the local government itself views urban agricultural land mainly from an economic standpoint and is less supportive of conservation, and that farmers and landowners, while believing the policy is essential, reject it because designation requires relinquishing some land rights and the incentives offered are not economically sufficient to compensate them.

Kra Kouakou Valentin · European Scientific Journal ESJ · Africa

A study of Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire, analyzes new land-use dynamics around intra-urban shallow lowlands (bas-fonds) and their effects on market gardening. It finds that rising stakes over these lowlands have drawn in new actors, reducing cultivated areas and making market gardening more unstable and casualized. The operating rules for the floodplain plots previously allocated to gardeners have been redefined, and public servitude land and unbuilt areas are increasingly subject to illegal land transactions and unauthorized construction — indicating a breakdown in land governance and the neglect of urban agriculture within public policy and city management in Côte d'Ivoire.

David Ceaser · Agritecture · United States

In this December 7, 2018 article for Agritecture, horticultural consultant David Ceaser reports on the challenges facing agrihood development, using The Cannery in Davis, California (500+ homes, 150 acres, with a 7.4-acre organic farm) as a case study. He notes that residents held unrealistic expectations about how the farm would be run and their role in it, and that poorer-than-expected soil quality required amending with organic matter, delaying farm development. Farm Director Sri Sethuratnam described the aging farmer population and food-production challenges as "a national security issue."

Andrew Butt, Elizabeth Taylor · Geographical Research · Australia (Victoria)

This paper analyzes planning appeals and media from 2011–2016 in Victoria, Australia, regarding intensive poultry developments, revealing tensions between planning processes and local politics. Planning for intensive farming assumes stability and agricultural primacy, but concerns about agricultural industrialization are live local issues in dynamic peri-urban areas. Code-based planning's certainty does not negate the ongoing, inconvenient politics of intensive peri-urban agriculture.

Annalisa Lodigiani · · Europe

This research addresses the ineffective governance of peri-urban agricultural territory in Europe, noting that spatial planning lacks the tools to guide agricultural sector forces influencing landscape transformation. Public action, through agricultural and rural development policies, significantly transforms the environment and territory but does not directly target space. The study finds that the separation between spatial planning and rural development policy creates ineffectiveness and stalemates in governing peri-urban agricultural land, concluding that integration of these two fields is required.

Alhadj Markhous Nazal, Abdelsalam Tidjani, Yassine Doudoua, Abdourahamane Balla · · Chad (N'Djamena)

This study characterized urban and peri-urban market gardening in N'Djamena, Chad, through a focus group with 92 market gardeners on development constraints and individual surveys of 61 producers on techniques. Producers were mostly men (67.21%) with an average age of 35, operating on administrative reserves (34.43%) and private property (65.57%). While holdings were diversified, leafy greens dominated (47% of products), and many problems were identified as obstacles to the sector's development.

P. V. ERMINI, M. R. DELPRINO, B. GIOBELLINA · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Argentina (Santa Rosa-Toay)

In the Santa Rosa-Toay metropolitan area of Argentina, urban and peri-urban agriculture is noted for its scarce recognition in urban development policies and food security policies. Despite the region's urbanization, the absence of political recognition as a metropolitan area has hindered planning and management of land use and occupation according to its potential and limitations. This study developed and applied a methodological proposal to generate information on urban and peri-urban agricultural activities, integrating a spatial perspective with participatory procedures.

Esther Sanz Sanz, Claude Napoléone, Bernard Hubert, Aruna Popuri · · Global

Existing urban planning documents inadequately consider the specificities of peri-urban agriculture as an economic activity requiring arrangements not always adapted to an urban vision of agricultural spaces. This paper proposes a systemic methodology to characterize peri-urban agricultural spatial units, aiming to provide an inventory of peri-urban agricultural areas tailored to urban planning practitioners' constraints. The approach seeks to focus public action on areas where it is most likely to be efficient within a territorial project.

Eva Olsson, Eva Kerselaers, Lone Søderkvist Kristensen, Jørgen Primdahl, Elke Rogge, Anders Wästfelt · Sustainability · Europe

A study focusing on peri-urban land in Gothenburg (Sweden), Copenhagen (Denmark), and Gent (Belgium) analyzed the relationship between peri-urban food production and urban resilience. It found that arable farming has declined in all three areas since 2000 due to urban expansion and recreational land use changes. While policies for farmland preservation exist, strategies for local food production are not expressed in current planning documents, and competing land uses and high dependence on global food systems reduce peri-urban food production and improvements in urban food security.

Cristina D’Alessandro, Kobena T. Hanson, George Kararach · African Geographical Review · Southern Africa

This paper critically examined existing literature on peri-urban agriculture in Southern Africa, arguing it is a viable livelihood response to feeding urban residents. Despite its potential, the literature indicates that peri-urban agriculture does not play a major role in Southern Africa. The study concluded that a lack of political will and weak or absent policy frameworks, stemming from capacity deficits, hinder its promotion.

Yolanda Gil, David Kirkland, Rocco Sergi · Water science and technology library · Australia (Sydney)

This chapter outlines the process of developing and implementing a master plan for urban farming in Horsley Park, Western Sydney. The case study highlighted that the implementation of the master plan has a number of challenges, including legislative and regulatory processes, and environmental and social matters. This suggests difficulties in transitioning from planning to the reality of farming in the Sydney region.

Katherine Alexandra Herrera Hernández, Yohanna Marcela Pinzón, Ruth Zamira Herrera Rincón · · Colombia (Bogotá)

This project aimed to contribute to the study of Urban Peri-urban Agriculture (UPA) in Bogotá by describing projects led by the José Celestino Mutis Botanical Garden from 2004 to 2016, analyzed from an environmental education perspective. Using a qualitative methodology, the study investigated fundamental elements in education-management development, such as participation, the construction of the concept of environment, and the strengths and weaknesses in achieving these projects within the framework of successive city governments during that period.

LE Wynne, Dana Cordell, Joanne Chong, Becky L. Jacobs · UTS ePRESS (University of Technology Sydney) · Australia (Sydney)

This report, using Sydney as a case study, examines land-use planning on the urban fringe for peri-urban food production. It finds that for many cities, including Sydney, a large proportion of peri-urban food production has already been lost due to conversion to residential and infrastructure uses. The report reviews various planning responses to address threats to peri-urban agriculture.

Solange Hernandez · International Review of Administrative Sciences · France

This case study in the urban community of Pays d’Aubagne et de l’Etoile, France, over 25 years, aimed to understand paradoxical territorial management practices in peri-urban agriculture. Based on quantitative analyses of qualitative data, the study demonstrated the relevance of these management practices in action, but identified paradoxes as a recurring source of tension and deadlock in territorial public administration. The research proposes managerial tools applicable in the framework of public action in peri-urban agriculture.

Masdjidin Siregar · Jurnal Agro Ekonomi · Indonesia (Jakarta)

This paper describes intensive peri-urban leafy vegetable agriculture in Jakarta, which utilizes idle land and provides employment and income for rural migrants. However, the prospect of this agriculture is unclear because it uses non-agricultural land that will eventually be developed. The study concludes that government assistance in credit, extension, and research is needed, and alternative lands for cultivators must be found.

Elke Rogge, Eva Kerselaers, Charlotte Prové · · Europe

This study explores opportunities and challenges for peri-urban agriculture, examining envisioning processes in Ghent and Kortrijk, Belgium, initiated by local authorities. Results indicate that pressure on farmland is a key issue in both contexts. Multifunctionality is complex in practice and governance, and successful envisioning processes require clear objectives, defined study areas, policy support, strong leadership, and reliable data.

Christopher Bryant, Ghalia Chahine · Geographical Research · Canada (Montreal)

This 2015 case study from the Montreal Region, Canada, analyzed an action research project initiated in 2008 to reduce the vulnerability of peri-urban agriculture. Despite initiatives since the mid-1960s, significant pressures continue to increase the vulnerability of peri-urban farming, with farmland often removed from agricultural reserves. The project in Senneville involved farmers, non-farm actors, and municipal presentations over three years, aiming to integrate conservation and leisure activities.

Sarah Oloo Masawa, George G. Wagah, Reuben Oyoo Mosi · International Journal of Physical and Social Sciences · Kenya

This 2011 study in Bondo Sub County, Kenya, assessed the integration of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPUagr) into urban planning, using a descriptive survey design with 368 households and 248 traders. A major challenge identified was the lack of supportive local policy and legal frameworks for UPUagr, and problems with its integration into broader urban development plans. The study found that UPUagr complemented rural agriculture and increased food system efficiency.

Achamyeleh Gashu Adam · · Ethiopia

A study assessed the process of built-up property formation in Ethiopia's peri-urban areas. Through analysis of survey results and a review of relevant literature, the study elucidated the processes of peri-urbanization and new property development. It demonstrated that both formal (legal) and informal methods are equally important in converting peri-urban agricultural lands into urban built-up non-agricultural properties. This process creates intense competition for land between agriculture and non-agriculture, leading to the emergence of new property rights and the dissolution of existing traditional rights.

Rocío Pérez-Campaña · European Planning Studies · Spain

This research analyzed land-use transformations of peri-urban agricultural deltas and vegas in Andalucía, Spain, focusing on medium-sized cities between 1956 and 2007. It also assessed their consideration in regional spatial planning. The findings indicate that these landscapes are changing land use and sometimes disappearing, receiving meagre attention and vague consideration in spatial planning.

Giuseppe Cinà, Francesco Di Iacovo · PORTO Publications Open Repository TOrino (Politecnico di Torino) · Italy

This paper examines urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in Italy, identifying challenges in its planning, including the traditional exclusion of agricultural areas from territorial planning and the lack of local agricultural policy. The study highlights a disconnect between top-down policies and bottom-up practices, noting that numerous autonomous initiatives have emerged due to insufficient regional and local planning solutions. The authors conclude that overcoming the limitations of the top-down planning system, particularly in governance and inclusiveness, is a primary challenge for Italy.