Research & reports

Yizhi Zhang · · Global

This report systematically reviews the environmental performance of rooftop greenhouses, focusing on life cycle assessment (LCA) approaches. The review found that existing studies are limited, often case-specific, and use diverse methodologies, hindering comparisons. Environmental performance is highly context-dependent and influenced by methodological assumptions, with conventional LCA often failing to capture dynamic interactions between greenhouse operations, crop growth, and host buildings, leading to an incomplete representation of environmental performance.

Paul Emile Tchinda, Thi-Thanh-Hiên Pham · Canadian Geographies / Géographies canadiennes 70(3) · Cameroon (one large and one medium-sized city)

Urban agriculture appears in many sustainability agendas yet has been ignored in the public policies of many African countries. Combining multi-scale mapping (city and neighbourhood) with semi-structured interviews in one large and one medium-sized Cameroonian city, this study tests how well those techniques characterise urban agriculture for local decision-making. Mapping from 5-metre SPOT satellite imagery gives a general grasp of the spatial distribution of practices, but crop types, emerging entrepreneurial practices and the temporality of crops are invisible to it and surface only through field mapping and interviews. Echoing critical remote-sensing scholarship, the authors propose a methodological framework for profiling urban agriculture and argue that the choice of research method shapes our understanding of it, so it should be made with each city's specific characteristics in mind.

Swarna Devi Palanivelu, Nur Amira Zainul Armir, Amalia Zulkifli, Ainul Hafiza Abdul Hair, Kushairi Mohd Salleh, Keith Lindsey, Muhamad Hafiz Che Othman, Sarani Zakaria · Polymers · Global

This review discusses the potentials and limitations of hydrogel in urban agriculture. While hydrogel has been introduced in urban agriculture over the past few decades, its application is still being explored regarding hydrogel types, structure, physical and chemical properties, changes due to external factors, and suitability for different plant species. The study presents the current state of knowledge on hydrogel production methods, characteristics, advantages, and limitations.

Bikram Pratim Bhuyan, Ravi Tomar, Amar Ramdane-Chérif · Sustainability · Global

An extensive systematic review of knowledge representation techniques used in smart agriculture, specifically in the urban agricultural domain, was conducted. The review found that spatial-temporal characteristics were rarely approached, a generalized representation technique to include all agricultural domains remains an issue, and a proper validation technique was missing in such ontologies.

Bettina König, Ranka Junge, András Bittsánszky, Morris Villarroel, Tamás Kőmíves · Ecocycles · Global

A literature review was conducted on the social, environmental, and economic impacts of aquaponics. The technology has potential applications in various settings, including commercial or community-based urban food production, industrial-scale production, small-scale farming, and educational systems. However, it is concluded that due to the complexity within markets, value chains, communities, infrastructure, and policy settings, further research and data acquisition are needed to fully assess all sustainability aspects.