Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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Critical findings
2091 results(10 / 84)
Urbant landbruk i det offentlige rom: erfaringer fra Oslo
2025Katinka H. Evensen, Vebjørn Egner Stafseng · · Norway (Oslo)
This chapter presents case studies from Oslo (2018–2020), exploring urban agriculture integration in public spaces through interviews with initiators and managers of eight projects. The projects are motivated by creating social meeting places and learning arenas for cultivation and ecological knowledge, and are used as a tool for local urban space development. Findings suggest that perceived publicness of spaces can be increased through deliberate design to ensure accessibility for diverse urban populations.
CommunityPolicyHealthFood educationSTATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF URBAN PEOPLE'S KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES FOR URBAN AGRICULTURE
2025K. C. Sahu · Open MIND · Global
A study on urban farmers' knowledge of rooftop gardens found that those with gardens had very good knowledge (average score > 80%), while those without had only 45% knowledge. Farmers with rooftop gardens also showed a positive attitude towards rooftop farming, whereas households without gardens had a negative attitude. A positive correlation between knowledge and attitude was observed for both male and female farmers, with the relationship being stronger for female farmers.
Food educationCommunityBridging the Gap: Misaligned Perceptions of Urban Agriculture and Health Between Planning and Design Experts and Urban Farmers in Greater Lomé, Togo
2025Akuto Akpedze Konou, Kossiwa Zinsou-Klassou, Pablo De Roulet, Armel Firmin Kemajou Mbianda, Jérôme Chenal · Land · Togo
This study in Greater Lomé, Togo, interviewed 11 experts and surveyed urban farmers to compare their perceptions of urban agriculture and health. The findings reveal a disconnect: urban farmers identify various challenges, including health-related difficulties, while experts tend to assume different health concerns, highlighting a misalignment between the perspectives of planning and design experts and urban farmers.
Governance failureHealthPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityBUILDING FOR PLANT CONSERVATION – A CASE STUDY FROM BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
2025Anca Monica PARASCHIV, Eugenia NIȚĂ, Anca SÂRBU · Acta Horti Botanici Bucurestiensis · Romania (Bucharest)
This case study from Bucharest, Romania, describes a small, intensive rooftop garden built in 2011 on a 40 sqm private house terrace. The garden, created using ZinCo Technology, aims to conserve plants and reconnect people with nature. As of 2023, it hosts 55 taxa of vascular plants, including 51 non-native and 4 native species.
CommunityBiodiversityUrban Gardening and Public Health—A Bibliometric Analysis
2025Daniela Haluza, Julia Ortmann, Tanja Lazic, Jonas Hillmer · Sustainability · Global
This study conducted a bibliometric analysis of urban gardening research from 1991 to 2020 using VOSviewer. The field has grown steadily since the early 1990s, with a shift in focus over the last two decades from poverty and food security to the impact of urban gardening on human well-being and quality of life, predominantly in developed countries. Recent studies indicate differentiated impacts of urban gardening on various socioeconomic groups. Despite robust evidence of public health benefits, policy implementation remains limited, and researchers emphasize the need for more quantitative data to inform decisions.
HealthCommunityFood educationWelfareGrowing together – How institutional structures influence communal agricultural prosumption types and their potential for continuity
2025Stefan Galley, Rita Saleh, Patrick Bottazzi · Journal of Rural Studies · Switzerland
This qualitative study compares three Swiss communal agricultural prosumption (CAP) types: allotment gardens (AGs), community gardens (CGs), and community supported agriculture (CSA), using Grounded Theory. It found that community-centred CAPs (CSAs, CGs) generate political agency but face financial barriers limiting participation. Individual-centred CAPs (AGs) offer autonomy but have high knowledge requirements and lack political leverage, posing crucial challenges for long-term viability. The study concludes that targeted policy and institutional strategies are needed to ensure the continuity of all CAP types.
Economic viabilityCommunityCSA & TeikeiPolicyEconomicsImplementation and Sustainability of Gulayan Sa Paaralan Program Implementation: A Case Study
2025Victoria Milka Santiago · International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science · Philippines
This qualitative case study explored the implementation and sustainability of the Gulayan sa Paaralan Program (GPP) in a public secondary school in Misamis Oriental, Philippines. Data from interviews, focus groups, and artifact analysis revealed that GPP's success relied on strong curriculum integration, stakeholder ownership, innovative farming, and regular monitoring. Identified barriers included limited infrastructure, funding gaps, and inconsistent administrative backing.
Food educationCommunityHealthCommunity Urban Farming: Challenges In Maximising Urban Farm Capacity
2025M.M. Rasmuna, VGR Chandran, J.S. Keshminder · Malaysian journal of consumer and family economics/Malaysian Journal of Consumer and Family Economics · Malaysia
This study explored challenges in maximizing the capacity of urban farms for economic viability and sustainability in Malaysia. Through in-depth interviews with urban farmers in several case studies, five key challenges were identified: financial, human capital, environmental, institutional, and psychosocial. These challenges impede the economic viability and sustainability of community urban farming.
Economic viabilityCommunityEconomicsPolicyFrom communal urban gardens to profitable businesses: green rationalization in Swedish local sustainability policy
2025Ylva Wallinder, Maria Langa · Environmental Sociology · Sweden
A study investigated the consequences of institutional policy change on urban gardening practices in Swedish municipalities over the last decade. Local sustainability policies have led to an increasingly business-centered model, which clashes even with entrepreneurial gardens. This shift caused associational gardening to give way to an extended focus on entrepreneurship and food production, representing a "green rationalization" of gardening practices in urban sustainability policies that hinders their sustainability potential.
Governance failurePolicyEconomicsCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceCultivating wellbeing: healing effects of an urban māra kai (community garden) in community housing in Aotearoa New Zealand
2025Lori Leigh, Edward Randal, Amber Logan, Karen Witten, Crystal Victoria Olin, Elinor Chisholm, Philippa Howden‐Chapman · Local Environment · New Zealand
An Indigenous-led community garden (māra kai) in an urban social housing environment in New Zealand was examined. Guided by an Indigenous model of wellbeing and using go-along interviews, the study found that this community initiative uplifted the autonomy, confidence, and wellbeing of community housing residents. This was achieved by fostering healthy relationships with themselves, their immediate community, and the wider community across the city.
CommunityHealthWelfareSustainable Practices in Urban Health
2025Richa Joshi, Jagneet Kour, Raino Bhatia · · Global
This chapter will investigate sustainable practices, including green infrastructure like urban forests and community gardens, to improve urban environments and address intertwined challenges. It will examine how green infrastructure enhances air and water quality, creates recreational spaces, and fosters community well-being. The chapter will also explore integrating environmental policies with public health initiatives through sustainable urban planning to create resilient communities with equitable access to green spaces, enhanced public transportation, and clean energy.
HealthCommunityPolicyClimate changeEnhancing Post-Disaster Food Security Through Urban Agriculture in the Context of Climate Change
2025Yanxin Liu, Victoria Chanse, Fabricio Chicca · Land · New Zealand (Wellington)
This study evaluated the role of urban agriculture (UA) in enhancing post-disaster food security in Wellington, New Zealand, a region highly prone to earthquakes. It calculated vegetable self-sufficiency by mapping potential productive land, estimating vegetable yields, and assessing post-disaster food demands across multiple scenarios. Potential productive land accounted for 0.3% to 1.5% of the total area, primarily distributed in the eastern part of the city. Results indicate that Wellington's vegetable self-sufficient rates through UA range from 3% to 75%, with higher rates for displaced and vulnerable populations. Realizing this potential will require stronger policy support and integration with urban planning and disaster preparedness.
Food sovereignty & justiceClimate changeCommunityEconomicsEffect of urban agriculture on the quality of urban life: A review
2025Babatunde S. Adedotun, Martin Binde Gasu, Ismail A. Oyerinde, Dele Sunday Ogundahunsi, Oluwatoyin David ADEDOTUN · The Journal of Agriculture and Development · Global
This research conducted an extensive literature review on the correlation between urban agriculture and the quality of life of urban residents, synthesizing 20 peer-reviewed scholarly papers published between 2010 and 2022 from databases like Scopus. Urban agriculture was shown to offer economic benefits, community engagement, health improvements, environmental benefits, and cultural connections, but also presented negative externalities such as resource exploitation, contamination, and ecosystem disruption.
EconomicsCommunityHealthClimate changeThe influence of payments and time payments: Preconditions to implement nature-based solutions in Austrian cities
2025Ulrike Pröbstl‐Haider, Magdalena Feilhammer, Alice Wanner · Cities · Austria
This paper analyzed opportunities and barriers for implementing nature-based solutions (NBS) in Austrian cities. A survey of 1055 urban residents investigated conditions under which NBS reduce particulate matter, NO2, and air temperature. Results highlighted the relevance of design types like green corridors and community gardens, and the importance of direct and time payments, indicating that a €45 payment with a 10-minute walking distance to home was acceptable if high environmental benefits were achieved.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsClimate changeThe Contribution of Urban Agriculture to the Sustainable Development of Cities
2025Katarina Đurić, Mirjana Lukač Bulatović, Mihaela Kavran, Rajna Duletić, Nikola Puvača · Journal of Agronomy Technology and Engineering Management (JATEM) · Global
This paper argues that urban agriculture can serve as a significant tool for achieving sustainable urban development during intensive urban growth. Applying methods of analysis, synthesis, and descriptive research, it systematizes the economic, environmental, and social benefits provided by urban agriculture, including community gardens. The paper also highlights the most significant challenges currently faced by urban agriculture.
CommunityEconomicsClimate changeProximity despite distance? A community-supported agriculture initiative across rural mountain and urban areas in Switzerland
2025Sarah Steinegger, Nora Katharina Faltmann · Journal of Political Ecology · Switzerland
This qualitative research examined the challenges consumers and farmers face in establishing proximity within a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) initiative in Switzerland that links rural mountain and urban areas. The study found that consumers and farmers are facing challenges in establishing proximity. Nevertheless, shared experiences of farming activities and social events, along with participants' willingness to improve CSA operations and strengthen ties for mutual understanding and joint efforts, contribute to the ongoing process of establishing proximity.
Governance failureCSA & TeikeiCommunityUrban–rural linkageDe la gestion des déchets à l’agriculture urbaine : circularités et tensions des filières de matières organiques à Nkayi (République du Congo)
2025Noémie Régeard · L’Espace Politique · Congo
This article explores the circularity of organic matter streams in Nkayi, an intermediate city in Congo, through interviews and observations. The qualitative inquiry reveals the coexistence of institutional household waste streams, supported by a development project, and informal organic matter streams, identified through intra- and peri-urban agricultural practices. These streams are subject to various socio-territorial, political, and economic tensions.
Governance failureOrganic cycleCompostPolicyEconomicsCommunityThe development of RBL-STEM learning materials to improve students' environmental literacy in solving urban farming problems using locating metric coloring and STGNN
2025Khusnul Hotimatus Agustina, Dafik Dafik, Arika Indah Kristiana · World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews · Global
This research and development study focused on creating RBL-STEM learning materials to improve students' environmental literacy in solving urban farming problems. The developed learning tools, including assignment designs, worksheets, and tests, met a 93.8% validity requirement. A trial with 35 students showed the RBL-STEM resources were effective (95.22%) and practical (95.82%), leading to increased environmental literacy levels based on pretest and posttest results. The study identified high, medium, and low proficiency levels and validated findings through statistical and image analysis, N-Vivo, and word cloud.
Food educationCommunityClimate changeSustainable Urban Agriculture New Frontier
2025Asifa Asifa, Muhammad Azizan · Urban Policy and Research · Global
Rapidly growing urbanization presents complex socio-economic and environmental challenges, necessitating a sustainability approach that encompasses social well-being (the brown agenda) and ecological protection.
Climate changeEconomicsCommunityOPTIMIZATION OF LIMITED HOME YARD SPACE AND UTILIZATIONOF HOUSEHOLD ORGANIC WASTE INTO ECOENZYME TO REDUCE CHEMICAL DEPENDENCY IN THE HOUSEHOLD ENVIRONMENT
2025Novi Mailidarni Novi, Othman Sulaiman, Juliawati, Ahmad Jauhari, Tasliati Djafar, Syarifuddin Syarifuddin · WISDOM Jurnal Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat Wisdom · Global
This community service program addresses limited yard space and chemical dependency in urban households by empowering residents, particularly women and youth, to practice sustainable urban farming and convert organic waste into ecoenzyme. The program provides education and training on ecoenzyme production and its use as fertilizer, pesticide, and cleaning solution, aiming to reduce chemical usage, minimize waste, and foster environmental awareness.
DIYCompostOrganic cycleFood educationCommunityRural Education, Agroecology, and Environmental Know-How
2025Lucas Bricca · · Chile
This chapter details the environmental education articles of the 2022 constitutional text in relation to a community garden initiative in the Province of Los Andes, central Chile. It explores how the text's educational framework aimed to institutionalize local knowledge networks by supporting diverse learning environments, participatory education, and linking education to holistic social outcomes, examining their relevance for agroecology.
Food educationCommunityPolicyFAZENDAS VERTICAIS NA SEMIPERIFERIA DO CAPITALISMO
2025Claudia Rochael Oliveira · Terra Livre · Global
This article argues that while vertical farms (VFs) are often presented as indispensable for sustainable cities, their purported sustainability is difficult to achieve without structural changes to reduce social inequalities. Critiques of urban agriculture, including VFs, point to their contribution to gentrification, racialization of space, and vulnerability to real estate capital, indicating a critical finding regarding equity. The article advocates for VFs to be appropriated by social movements to foster critical stances against conventional agriculture and catalyze urban utopias.
Equity & displacementFood sovereignty & justicePolicyCommunityEconomicsUtvikling og institusjonalisering av offentlig politikk og planlegging for urbant landbruk
2025Inger‐Lise Saglie · · Norway
This chapter presents the development of public policies and the main actors in urban agriculture in three Norwegian cities: Oslo, Bergen, and Trondheim. While showing common traits in institutionalization, differences exist in the role of voluntary groups, bottom-up versus top-down processes, networking, relationship to peri-urban agriculture, and implementation in plans. Oslo's approach is politically driven with traditional participatory methods, developing urban agriculture as a social activity and professional food production. In Bergen, the voluntary sector actively co-creates policy and runs a competence center. Trondheim's policy is co-produced annually with growers based on their experiences, with a strong connection to professional agriculture, and has consciously chosen not to develop specific strategies for urban agriculture.
PolicyCommunityPeri-urban agricultureEnhancing the Well-Being of Older Adults and Young Adults with Developmental Disabilities Through an Intergenerational Community Garden: Participatory Action Research
2025Diane Keen · Global Qualitative Nursing Research · Global
This participatory action research explored ways to enhance the well-being of four young adults with developmental disabilities and five older adults through intergenerational interaction in a community garden. Using semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and field notes, the study identified five themes of well-being: engagement, positive relationships, accomplishment, meaning and purpose, and positive emotion. The research found that enlisting the wisdom of older adults enhanced the well-being of both young adults with developmental disabilities and the older adults themselves.
CommunityHealthWelfareElderlyAssessing land suitability and potential for extending the area for urban agriculture in Norway using GIS-MCDA
2025Ulrike Bayr, Svein Olav Krøgli, Sebastian Eiter · Urban forestry & urban greening · Norway (Bergen)
This study ranked urban and peri-urban farmland areas in Norway based on their suitability for urban agriculture (UA) and identified opportunities for extending UA to currently unused farmland. Through collaboration with urban farmers, four key themes and eleven criteria were identified and weighted for on-farm and off-farm sales scenarios. A GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) using TOPSIS was performed on 1x1 km grid cells. In the City of Bergen, 15.3% (on-farm) and 14% (off-farm) of the total farmland was both unused and highly suitable for UA, compared to 2.8% (on-farm) and 2.4% (off-farm) in Oslo.
PolicyPeri-urban agricultureCommunity