Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
29 results(1 / 2)
La dimensión urbana del patrimonio agrario: el paisaje de la huerta de Nerja, Málaga
2025Mar Loren-Méndez, Celia Chacón-Carretón, Pablo Manuel Millán Millán · ACE Arquitectura Ciudad y Entorno · Spain (Málaga)
This study examines the urban dimension of agricultural heritage, specifically urban orchards, in cities where agrarian activity is deeply intertwined with their origin and evolution. Using Nerja, Málaga, Spain, as a case study, the research highlights that accelerated urban transformation in recent decades has led to a rupture, undermining agrarian logic by abandoning historical growth practices. The study emphasizes the fundamental role of agrarian activity in built environments and advocates for the protection of urban orchards.
Governance failureUrban–rural linkagePolicyHeirloom & landraceCo-designing infrastructures
2024Sarah Bell, Charlotte Johnson, Tse‐Hui Teh, Kat Austen, Gemma Moore · · United Kingdom (London)
This chapter explores co-design in developing urban infrastructures, presenting a six-step "Bottom-Up Infrastructure" model. The method was applied to a rooftop garden on a London social-housing estate, intended to function as drainage infrastructure. The case study revealed the potential for co-design, but also highlighted significant constraints on implementation in cities where communities possess limited power and resources.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageQuantification and valorization of compost derived from urban households’ waste in Bukavu City, Eastern D.R. Congo
2024Géant Basimine Chuma, Jean M. Mondo, Adrien Byamungu Ndeko, Etienne M. Akuzibwe, Espoir Mukengere Bagula, Gustave Nachigera Mushagalusa · Discover Sustainability · Democratic Republic of Congo (Bukavu City)
This study investigated the quantity, composition, and disposal practices of domestic waste in Bukavu City, Eastern D.R. Congo. Findings revealed significant challenges in waste management infrastructure and practices, showing that approximately 5% of waste undergoes composting, while 10% is used as livestock feed, 66% incinerated, and 17% buried. Waste management is primarily handled by children (82%), with very limited involvement from non-governmental organizations.
Governance failureCompostOrganic cycleUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceCultivating change: Exploring policies, challenges, and solutions to support city region food systems development in six European countries
2024Ann-Kristin Steines, Michele D’Ostuni, Anna Wissman, Kathrin Specht, Chiara Iodice, Runrid Fox-Kämper, Francesco Monticone, Isabella Righini, Véronique Saint-Gès, Antonella Samoggia, Francesco Orsini · Cities · Europe
This research addressed international and national policies, as well as related constraints and challenges affecting City Region Food System (CRFS) development in six European countries. Data was collected through desktop research, stakeholder interviews, and a workshop. The study found that planning laws restrict possibilities for food production in cities, and legal frameworks prevent the marketing and sale of food produced by non-commercial actors or informal farmers. It also identified a need to expand vocational training in the agricultural sector.
Governance failurePolicyUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceErnährungsrat, Essbare Stadt, Gemeinschaftsgärten: Innere und äußere Logiken und Widersprüche der sozialökologischen Transformation durch Urban Gardening am Beispiel Köln
2024Alexander Follmann, Dorothea Hohengarten · transcript Verlag eBooks · Germany (Cologne)
This publication, titled "Ernährungsrat, Essbare Stadt, Gemeinschaftsgärten: Innere und äußere Logiken und Widersprüche der sozialökologischen Transformation durch Urban Gardening am Beispiel Köln," discusses the internal and external logics and contradictions of socio-ecological transformation through urban gardening, using Cologne as an example. The abstract states that this work was published in "Unterwegs in die Stadt der Zukunft" on page 241.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageUnderstanding Social-Ecological Memory in Urban Agriculture: A Case Study from Istanbul
2023Susana Alves, Bahar Bașer Kalyoncuoğlu · Ecopsychology · Turkey (Istanbul)
This study explored the socio-ecological potential of urban agriculture in 10 family-related projects in Istanbul, where Bostans (historical urban vegetable gardens) are culturally significant. Despite their importance and UNESCO recognition, the planning and management of bostans have been hampered by rapid urbanization and a lack of integrative policies. Data from interviews, observations, and fieldwork highlighted the role of kinship in knowledge transfer and how farmers base activities on past-present affordances and future expectations.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceTransforming the Use of Agricultural Premises under Urbanization Pressures: A Story from a Second-Tier Post-Socialist City
2022Petr 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.
Governance failureUrban–rural linkagePolicyEconomicsClimate changeSignificance of Allotment Gardens in Urban Green Space Systems and Their Classification for Spatial Planning Purposes: A Case Study of Poznań, Poland
2021Dominika Dymek, Agnieszka Wilkaniec, Leszek Bednorz, Magdalena Szczepańska · Sustainability · Poland
This study in Poznań, Poland, examined the significance of allotment gardens in the urban green space system and developed a classification method for urban planning. While over 30% of allotment gardens were found to be of high significance, urban planning documentation indicates plans to reduce their area. Even highly significant gardens are slated for liquidation, highlighting a conflict between their ecological value and current urban development plans.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageHow are allotment gardens managed? A comparative study of usage and development in contemporary urban space in Germany and Poland
2021Magdalena Szczepańska, Ewa Kacprzak, Barbara Maćkiewicz, Lidia Poniży · Moravian Geographical Reports · Germany; Poland
A comparative study analyzed the use and development of allotment gardens (AGs) in Westphalia and Lippe (Germany) and Wielkopolska (Poland). AGs in Westphalia and Lippe are accessible and harmoniously integrated into the landscape, while AGs in Wielkopolska are less accessible, prioritize internal users, and do not always blend with their surroundings. The considerable freedom enjoyed by Polish plot-holders leads to a gradual marginalization of edible-plant growing.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyBiodiversityUrban–rural linkageUrbane Landwirtschaft im Ruhrgebiet
2020Ulrich Häpke · sub\urban zeitschrift für kritische stadtforschung · Germany (Ruhrgebiet)
While statistical data demonstrates the significance of urban agriculture in German cities and metropolitan areas, urban agriculture faces the problem of constant land loss despite its proximity to consumers. The example of the Ruhrgebiet highlights challenges such as land loss and high proportions of leased land, indicating governance issues faced by urban agriculture.
Governance failureUrban–rural linkageEconomicsPolicyCommunityl’Horta De València: Past and present dynamics in landscape change and planning
2019Carme Melo Escrihuela · International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning · Spain (Valencia)
The evolution in the preservation, management, and planning of l'Horta de València, a historical Mediterranean huerta in Valencia, Spain, was assessed. It is argued that negative changes and impacts in l'Horta are not simply the outcome of global dynamics but result from the region's planning trajectory and landscape management approach. This approach has been shaped by a lack of territorial and supra-municipal perspective and the primacy of culture, identity, and heritage aspects over the landscape's productive dimension.
Governance failurePeri-urban agriculturePolicyUrban–rural linkageTemporary urban landscapes and urban gardening
2019Sofia Nikolaidou · Manchester University Press eBooks · Europe
This chapter examines new forms of urban gardening, often involving informal and temporary reuse of vacant land, and their impact on urban green space governance and planning practices. Using examples from Greece and Switzerland, it highlights differences and similarities in practices, social and institutional contexts, and collaborative governance patterns. The study calls attention to the critical role of the temporary nature of these initiatives, which affects new configurations of urban green areas and public space, and related planning practices.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageEconomicsAn Analysis of the Changes in the Structure of Allotment Gardens in Poland and of the Process of Regulating Legal Status
2018Anna Trembecka, Anita Kwartnik-Pruc · Sustainability · Poland
This study analyzed data on the number and area of allotment gardens, their distribution across Poland, and the process of regulating the legal status of land occupied by allotment gardens. The research identified the number and area of family allotment gardens in Poland, along with the range and types of claims against them. The study found that land occupied by family allotment gardens requires protection and legal status regulation, which is difficult due to various entities submitting claims to these areas because of their attractive urban locations.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityUrban–rural linkageFuture of Allotment Gardens in the Context of City Spatial Policy – A Case Study of Poznań
2017Lidia Poniży, Kamila Stachura · Quaestiones Geographicae · Poland (Poznań)
This case study of Poznań, Poland, examines urban spatial policy regarding allotment gardens. It finds that despite their importance as green infrastructure, allotment gardens receive little attention in city plans and policies, and face threats from investment pressure due to an underestimation of their role. The study emphasizes that preserving these gardens relies on local spatial planning.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityUrban–rural linkageUrban agriculture and place-making: Narratives about place and space in Ghent, Brno and Bristol
2017Marlinde Koopmans, Daniel Keech, Lucie Sovová, Matthew Reed · Moravian Geographical Reports · Europe
This paper analyzed urban agriculture (UA) and place-making in Ghent, Brno, and Bristol, using a spatial lens across three case studies. It revealed that local authorities struggle to find space for UA, leading to its frequent, often temporary, emergence in marginal areas vulnerable to planning changes. The analysis exposed inherent tensions within UA, conceptualized as tensions between abstract space and concrete place narratives. It was suggested that UA, as a collective socio-cultural process, can transform functionally replicable spaces into unique places, contributing to place-making, and urban planning should secure physical spaces and create possibilities for local autonomous governance.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageHuertos en precario ¿en peligro de extinción? Su encaje en una propuesta integrada de gestión de la agricultura urbana y periurbana en el área metropolitana de Barcelona
2017Elena Domene Gómez, Francesc Coll, Marta Garcia-Sierra · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Spain (Barcelona)
Informal vegetable gardens have proliferated in Barcelona's urban periphery since the 1980s, serving as leisure spaces and food sources, and are a relevant form of agriculture. However, these "unregulated" spaces are not considered in urban and peri-urban agriculture promotion policies. A GIS methodology mapped these gardens in the Barcelona metropolitan area for 2009 and 2015, showing an increase in occupied surface during the recent economic crisis. The study evaluates contradictions leading municipal managers to eliminate or regulate these informal spaces, attributing them partly to the subjectivity of the urban and peri-urban agriculture concept and its supposed multifunctionality.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageEconomicsPeri-Urban Food Production and Its Relation to Urban Resilience
2016Eva 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.
Governance failurePeri-urban agriculturePolicyUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceEnvisioning Opportunities for Agriculture in Peri-Urban Areas
2016Elke 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.
Governance failurePeri-urban agriculturePolicyUrban–rural linkageEconomicsVegas and Deltas in the Vicinity of Medium-Sized Cities in Andalucia, Spain: Landscapes under Pressure but Scarcely Considered in Planning
2015Rocío 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.
Governance failurePeri-urban agriculturePolicyUrban–rural linkagePolicies and practices of urban and peri-urban agriculture: a great deal of participation but a little public action/ Politiche e pratiche dell’agricoltura urbana e periurbana: molta partecipazione e poca azione pubblica
2014Giuseppe Cinà · PORTO Publications Open Repository TOrino (Politecnico di Torino) · Italy
This paper examines Italian planning, highlighting an unresolved discrepancy between urban and agricultural policies due to a long-standing separation of urban and rural worlds. It outlines how this historical gap results in two inconsistent and low-effective policies. The paper discusses agricultural parks as an attempt to overcome this planning backwardness by integrating spatial planning and agricultural activity, documenting three Italian examples.
Governance failurePolicyPeri-urban agricultureUrban–rural linkageCommunityEarth under the Nails: : The Extraordinary Return to the Land
2014· Hart Publishing eBooks · United Kingdom (England and Wales)
This paper explores the phenomenon of people in England and Wales returning to the land for various food-growing projects, including over 1,000 community gardens and 82 school farms. It examines the legal frameworks regulating these diverse projects and finds that the legal framework is fragmented, poorly signposted, and often absent, with projects sometimes depending entirely on landowner goodwill. The study concludes that there is little coherency in the law regarding these initiatives.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceObserving Guerrillas in the Wild: Reinterpreting Practices of Urban Guerrilla Gardening
2013David Adams, Michael Hardman · Urban Studies · United Kingdom
This paper uses ethnographic data from 'F Troop', a guerrilla gardening group in an English midland city, to re-examine urban guerrilla gardening practices. It argues that these practices may not be as "resistant" or "celebratory" as often suggested in existing literature. The study highlights that the social backgrounds and motivations of participants, along with their relationships with other users of the space, are important but largely unacknowledged aspects of guerrilla gardening.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageChapter 29 Public space, urban agriculture and the grassroots creation of new commons: lessons and challenges for policy makers
2012Chiara Tornaghi · · United Kingdom
This academic-activist research on grassroots urban agriculture initiatives, focusing on four projects in Leeds, UK, found that local and regional institutions have limited ability to respond to these new demands. Planning traditions constrain institutions, failing to create flexible public spaces. Consequently, short-term solutions are found in "loose spaces" or ad-hoc negotiations, but these remain emergency or residual practices, highlighting challenges for urban public space management.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageProximité entre ville et agriculture au Nord et au Sud de la Méditerranée
2011Saloua Toumi, Roland Vidal · Projets de paysage · Europe, Africa
Urban agriculture is expanding in various metropolitan areas, but its agro-economic and socio-spatial logic differs by context. Tunisia's urban agriculture is threatened by increasing urban expansion and is not yet integrated into territorial projects. Issues related to land value appreciation are dominant, and its landscape and environmental benefits could be compromised in the relatively short term if it does not find its place in urban development plans.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyUrban–rural linkageLes documents d’urbanisme, un outil pour la régulation des conflits d’usage de l’espace agricole périurbain ?
2006Samuel Martín, Nathalie Bertrand, Nicole Rousier · Géographie Économie Société · France (Rhône-Alpes)
This paper examines spatial planning documents in two Rhône-Alpes city regions, France, as a tool for regulating land use conflicts in peri-urban agricultural areas under urbanization pressure. The analysis highlights rising tensions between local actors and suggests that agriculture is instrumentalized by spatial planning policies at the inter-communal level. At the communal level, local plans manage neighborhood and land ownership conflicts.
Governance failurePolicyPeri-urban agricultureUrban–rural linkage