Research & reports

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.

Matias Pino Cabeza · Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental · Spain (A Coruña)

This research aimed to identify useful instruments and resources for the governance of community urban gardens. It involved a literature review and an analysis of A Coruña's participation in the European Ru:rban project, which transfers Rome's urban garden management model. Data on A Coruña's participation was collected through interviews with involved actors, event attendance, and document review, and the analysis concluded that the best governance model for community urban gardens is based on collaboration between organized users and the local government.

Arnaud Sapin, Philippe Bodénan, Thierry Lebeau, Ghozlane Fleury‐Bahi · Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology · France

A qualitative study in Nantes, France, interviewed 28 allotment garden users to examine psychosocial impacts. While highlighting benefits like psychological well-being, physical health, self-development, and social bonding, the study found these were balanced by various conflicts reported by participants. Lexicometric analysis confirmed that positive and negative social aspects are significantly associated and must be considered jointly.

Antonia Lippert, Karina Pallagst, Patricia Hammer · Ra Ximhai · Germany (Dessau)

This bachelor thesis examines the revitalization of urban brownfields in shrinking cities, using the "Urban Farm Dessau" project as an example. It defines brownfields, revitalization, and urban farming, and details the GIAGEM project which develops alternative solutions for brownfield revitalization meeting bio-economic requirements. The "Urban Farm Dessau" project in Dessau-Roßlau is analyzed through a preliminary study and evaluated using a criteria grid, forming the basis for recommendations on its transferability to other cities.

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.

Maicol Negrello, Daniele Roccaro, Kevin Santus, Isabella Spagnolo · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Europe

This paper examines urban agriculture's role in enhancing the resilience of European urban areas against climate change. Through a historical overview and analysis of contemporary case studies, it provides design tools for interventions at urban and architectural scales. The essay presents a replicable morpho-typological approach for designers and policy-makers to increase urban resilience.

Davide Marino, Giampiero Mazzocchi, Davide Pellegrino, Veridiana Barucci · Land · Italy

This study investigated the role of Ecosystem Services (ES) assessment within a "place-based policy-mix model" for urban planning, testing and integrating three ES assessment methodologies: mapping and assessment, expert-based evaluation, and social perception. Results indicate that mapping assessment assigns higher values to regulating ecosystem services, expert-based evaluation assigns slightly lower values to regulating ecosystem services, and social perception highlights the importance of cultural ES but tends to underestimate other ecosystem functions. These methodologies lead to sectoral, non-dialoguing policies based on partial and non-integrated information.

Eda Ustaoğlu · European Scientific Journal ESJ · Turkey (Istanbul)

This study assessed land suitability for urban agriculture, forest, and natural vegetation in the Pendik district of Istanbul, Turkey. It integrated GIS with a Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) approach, using both deterministic and fuzzy membership methods. Key evaluation criteria included geophysical factors, transport and services accessibility, land cover/use, blue and green amenities, soil properties, geology, and erosion susceptibility.

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.

Madara Dobele, Aina Dobele, Andra Zvirbule · Rural Sustainability Research · Europe

This research aimed to identify the main functions of urban agriculture and evaluate their significance in Latvia. The study identified 14 functions of urban agriculture, classified into five groups: political, economic, social, environmental, and technological. The most significant functions in Latvia were found to be social (promotion of social cohesion and public health, education, and maintaining traditions and values) and technological innovations.

Kimo van Dijk, Lotte Veenemans, Ciska Nienhuis · · Netherlands (Amsterdam)

This report explains the importance of improving sanitation circularity, its link to circular urban food production, and the opportunities and barriers for its realization in Amsterdam. It discusses aspects related to sustainability, environment, quality, agronomy, legislation, health and safety, technology, economics, and awareness. The report provides recommendations for Amsterdam and other cities to stimulate the transition to circular sanitation and nutrient recovery/reuse in urban agriculture, including clarifying legislation and addressing barriers.

Phil Nichols, Sara Heitlinger · interactions · United Kingdom (London)

Spitalfields City Farm, an urban farm in Inner East London, has served as a site for participatory design collaborations with researcher Sara Heitlinger for over 10 years. This article presents an exchange of views between Heitlinger and farm manager Phil Nichols regarding the farm's work and their ongoing collaboration in the context of social and environmental sustainability.

Janina Wittenberg, Maria Gernert, Hamid El Bilali, Carola Strassner · Sustainability · Germany (Münster)

This paper explores the role of grassroots initiatives in the transition towards a sustainable urban food system in Münster, Germany, using questionnaires, interviews, and desk research. Results indicate that many initiatives in Münster focus on education and information, raising awareness, rather than offering material alternatives. Policy, education, networks, and communication were identified as key leverage points.

Bianca Minotti, Angela Cimini, Gabriella D’Amico, Davide Marino, Giampiero Mazzocchi, Simona Tarra · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Italy (Rome)

This study analyzed food policy processes in the city of Rome, Italy, focusing on the Agrifood Plan, Food Policy for Rome, and Community Gardens Movement. Using a conceptual framework combining policy integration and governance innovation, the research showed that each process performs a different form of governance based on the actors and backgrounds involved. The study demonstrated a strong link between governance innovation and policy integration, with the conception and application of policy integration varying according to the process's governance vision.

Dorota Winnicka-Jasłowska, Sabrina TKACZUK · Architecture Civil Engineering Environment · United Kingdom

This study conducted qualitative research on three rooftop gardens in London, investigating their way of use, attractiveness, maintenance, and popularity levels. Surveys were carried out among visitors, alongside two non-participant observational surveys during warm and cold months. The research established a profile of users visiting such public spaces and determined characteristic architectural features that make these spaces accessible, attractive, and willingly visited.

Anna Kapała · Laws · France

This study aimed to identify legal instruments implemented in France that support short food supply chains and local food systems. The research identified these tools from various domains and levels, including national laws, government policies, and local government initiatives, analyzing them in relation to forms of short supply chains like direct marketing, producer stores, basket systems, urban agriculture, and public catering deliveries. The French instruments were found to be multiple, diverse, mostly innovative, and to consider social, environmental, and solidarity values.

Hüseyin Berk TÜRKER, İlayda ANAÇ · Mimarlık Bilimleri ve Uygulamaları Dergisi (MBUD) · Turkey

This bibliometric study analyzed academic research on urban agriculture in Turkey published between 2001 and 2021, using Google Scholar, YÖK Akademik, and YÖK thesis center databases. It identified 3 doctoral dissertations, 14 master's theses, 1 book, 3 book chapters, 12 journal articles, and 32 symposium/conference papers. The research found that academic studies began in 2001 and increased after 2013, but noted that the subjects and methods of these studies are limited.

Sandrine Simon · Educação Sociedade & Culturas · United Kingdom (Bristol)

This article explores three types of climate change activism expressed through urban agriculture: 'proximities', 'disruptive dissent', and 'participatory urban governance'. It analyzes how urban agriculture, as a form of grassroots climate change activism, can help in taking action, using illustrative examples from Bristol, UK, and Lisbon, Portugal. The paper suggests that citizens are exploring ways to participate in combating climate change by changing economic and productive systems in their daily lives and lifestyles.

Zsuzsanna Varga, Etelka Katits, Katinka Magyari, Ildikó Palányi, Éva Szalka · Soproni Egyetem Kiadó eBooks · Europe

A report examining the practice of sustainable management and growth, taking the 1987 UN report as a starting point, through a case study and situation analysis of a nascent, innovative Hungarian agricultural start-up, examining how financial accounting data can be used to measure and interpret the sustainable growth rate (SGR). Drawing on case and situation analysis from the Hungarian consulting sector, the study applied a quantitative technique using a self-developed financial diagnostic and value-creation expert system called FINel. Alongside the theoretical conception of sustainable management and SGR, the report demonstrates its application in business practice, presenting sustainable finance adapted to corporate life cycles as the basis for sustainable corporate management in a holistic approach.

Ana M. Bartolome, Deiyalí Carpio, Beatriz Urbano · Amfiteatru Economic · Europe

This study used the digital agricultural geographic information system AGRO-GIS to calculate and predict potential urban agriculture from abandoned horticultural lands and greenhouses in urban areas, applying binary logistic regression to identify determinants of abandoned horticultural land and greenhouses and ANOVA to test differences in agrarian land variation among urban areas. Results showed an average of 97.85 ha of abandoned horticultural land and greenhouses providing potential urban cultivable land per city; a one-hectare decrease in non-irrigated land was associated with an 87.98% increase in the odds of potential urban agriculture, and a one-hectare increase in grassland-shrubland was associated with a 67.59% increase in the likelihood of potential urban agriculture.

Barbora Duží, David Fanfani, Stanislav Martinát · Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems · Europe (Italy)

A case study of Prato Province (Tuscany, Italy) analyzing how urban and peri-urban farming is embedded in local community life. Methods combined spatial analysis, semi-structured interviews with local stakeholders (N=9), field observations and discussions with local farmers (N=17). The study identified a diversity of locally rooted agrifood initiatives and food networks connecting individual farmers with local residents, with farms varying in how re-embedded they were in the urban space of Prato and its inhabitants. Cooperation among local agrifood initiatives was found to contribute to a more sustainable territorial agrifood system, and a tendency toward more sustainable land management was observed in the region. The authors argue that coordinated local food governance and innovative territorial planning instruments could contribute to sustainable agrifood systems elsewhere.

Fürüzan Aslan, Yaşar Menteş, Oğuz ATEŞ · Turkish Journal of Agriculture - Food Science and Technology · Europe

This study examines strategies for integrating agriculture with the city of Kirklareli, Turkey, and its surrounding area to address problems arising from rapid population growth and irregular urbanization, using a four-stage method. Following a literature review, it collected and examined natural and socio-cultural data for the province, identified through field observation which neighborhoods were most suitable for applying an urban agriculture model, and set out implementation strategies and recommendations aimed at human health, environmental health, food safety, urban aesthetics, social integration and urban sustainability.

Beatriz Pineda Revilla, Sarah Essbai · · Europe

A chapter examines how community-led initiatives contribute to institutionalizing alternative food practices against a backdrop of urban-rural divide reinforcing growth-oriented food production and consumption. It analyzes two Amsterdam community-led food initiatives—a food co-op and a Community Supported Agriculture farm—in terms of their social, organizational, infrastructural, and institutional capacities, identifying two major organizational and institutional challenges, while arguing that the initiatives are increasing awareness of rural-urban interdependencies and laying groundwork for a shift toward a post-growth food system.

Ana María Bartolomé Sualdea, Beatriz Urbano · Revista española de estudios agrosociales y pesqueros/Revista española de estudios agrosociales y pesqueros · Spain

A case study of Palencia, in Castilla y León, Spain, analyzes urban agriculture's potential to address new challenges facing cities. It examines the challenges set out in the city's Sustainable and Integrated Urban Development Strategy (EDUSI) and urban agriculture's possible contribution to them, calculates the potential from recovering abandoned horticultural land using geographic information system agricultural data, and conducts semi-structured surveys and site visits with managers of urban agriculture initiatives. Results show a drastic decline in horticultural land in Palencia city alongside large multifunctional recovery potential, but existing urban agriculture experiences indicate a need for dedicated managers, detailed analysis of usable agricultural land, resolution of land allocation, and greater support and regulation to develop urban farming models serving social, occupational, leisure, participatory and productive functions.