Research & reports

台東区 · 台東区 · Japan

Taito Ward partners with Daimaru Matsuzakaya and Local Food Cycling to sell subsidized home compost containers and run collection events for circular food-waste use. Over the one-year period from December 2024 to November 2025, the ward reports about 5.4 tons of food waste reduction and about 2.6 tons of CO2 reduction.

国土交通省 · 国土交通省 都市局公園緑地・景観課 · Japan

This MLIT Urban Bureau page introduces rooftop and wall greening promotion measures implemented annually since fiscal 2000. As of the end of March 2008, rooftop greening in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki government district reached about 14,500 sqm (roughly 55 tennis courts), equivalent to about 1.5% of all rooftop-type greened area in Tokyo. It notes a rooftop garden was open to the public until August 19, 2021, after which it was scheduled for removal due to waterproofing layer repair work.

United States Environmental Protection Agency · US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · United States

The EPA's Soak Up the Rain page states that green roofs can significantly reduce the amount of rainwater that would otherwise run off an impervious roof surface, and can also help reduce building energy usage and noise while increasing roof durability and lifespan compared to conventional roofs. It explicitly notes that structures must be able to support the loading of green roof materials under fully saturated conditions.

· Wikipedia · United States

According to the English Wikipedia article 'South Central Farm', the South Central Farm in Los Angeles operated from 1994 to 2006 as a 14-acre (5.7 ha) urban farm, considered one of the largest of its kind, used by roughly 350 families of moderate means from the surrounding community. On June 13, 2006, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department carried out an eviction and more than 40 protesters were arrested; on July 5, 2006, workers began bulldozing the farm amid further protests.

· Wikipedia · United Kingdom

According to the English Wikipedia article 'Manor Garden Allotments', the Manor Garden Allotments in London was a 4.5-acre (18,000 m2), 80-plot allotment site established in 1924 by Major Arthur Villiers. It was cleared in October 2007 to make way for landscaping of the London 2012 Olympic Park, and tenants were moved to a temporary site two kilometres away. Restoration on the original site and a 2.1-hectare provision of replacement plots were promised, but the successor Pudding Mill Lane allotments did not open until roughly four years after the Games ended.

· Wikipedia · Cuba

This Wikipedia article on the Cuban economy states Cuban GDP declined at least 35% between 1989 and 1993 due to the Soviet collapse and loss of Eastern Bloc trade. Liberalized agricultural markets, letting state and private farms sell above-quota production at free-market prices, were introduced in October 1994. Reforms from 2011 onward expanded usufruct leasing of fallow state land to residents, with more than 150,000 farmers registered by 2012 leasing land from the government to grow surplus produce.

· Wikipedia · United Kingdom

This Wikipedia article covers Incredible Edible, an urban gardening movement started in 2007 in Todmorden, UK by Pamela Warhurst, Mary Clear and others, run on a 'three spinning plates' model of community (public-space growing anyone can pick from), business (supporting local food firms), and learning (food education). As of 2018 there were 120 official UK groups and over 700 worldwide; UK groups reported a 37% year-on-year rise in produce, 9,763 sqm of growing land, 4,861 participants, and 207 events. The project received a £500,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund.

European Commission · European Commission (single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu) · Europe

This is the European Commission's official Critical Raw Materials (CRM) page. It confirms that both 'Phosphorus' and 'Phosphate Rock' appear as separate entries on the EU's 2023 fifth CRM list. The page illustrates supply-concentration risk with examples for other materials (China supplying 100% of heavy rare earth elements, Turkey 99% of boron, South Africa over 71% of platinum group metals), but does not itself state a specific EU import-dependency figure for phosphorus or phosphate rock.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · United States

This official U.S. EPA page on 'The Effects' of nutrient pollution explains that excess nitrogen and phosphorus entering air and water cause algal blooms, degrading water quality and reducing dissolved oxygen. It states cyanobacteria can release toxins that sicken people and animals via contact, drinking water, or contaminated seafood, that nitrates in drinking water pose risks to infants, and that excess airborne nitrogen contributes to ammonia and ozone formation. The page itself contains no specific numeric statistics on economic damages or dead-zone area.

· Wikipedia · Global

The URL for 'Peak phosphorus' now redirects to the Reserves section of Wikipedia's 'Phosphorus' article. Per a 2023 USGS estimate, world commercially extractable phosphate rock reserves are 72 billion tons, against 2022 world mining production of 220 million tons — implying roughly 300 years of supply at zero growth. Before new deposits were discovered in Norway in 2023, Earth's commercially affordable phosphorus reserves were expected to be depleted in 50-100 years. Reserve estimates are described as contested: a 2010 IFDC report is criticized by a 2014 review as presenting 'an inflated picture of global reserves,' particularly for Morocco, where largely hypothetical and inferred resources were simply relabeled 'reserves.' The article also states that a shortage in rock phosphate or significant price increases might negatively affect world food security. Mitigation measures cited include reducing agricultural runoff (no-till farming, contour tilling, windbreaks), incinerating phosphorus-rich sewage sludge and recovering the ash, and recovering phosphorus-rich materials such as struvite from waste — though current recovery technologies are described as not yet cost-effective given phosphorus market prices.

· Wikipedia · Global

This Wikipedia article on 'metabolic rift' explains that German agricultural chemist Justus von Liebig, in his 1840 'Organic Chemistry in its Application to Agriculture and Physiology,' argued that if all solid and liquid excreta of city inhabitants were returned to farmers, land productivity could be maintained for centuries virtually unimpaired. Marx, combining his understanding of the labor process with Liebig's analysis, wrote in Capital Vol. 1 that capitalist production, by concentrating population in cities, 'disturbs the metabolic interaction between man and the earth' and prevents the return of soil constituents consumed by humans as food and clothing — defining this as 'an irreparable rift in the interdependent process of social metabolism.' John Bellamy Foster, in his 2000 book 'Marx's Ecology: Materialism and Nature,' reassessed Marx's ecological perspective, arguing the metabolic rift concept enabled the development of a critique of environmental degradation. The article notes that as food and fiber were transported over long distances, soil nutrients moved to cities as agricultural produce but were not returned as human and animal waste, producing 'a one-way flow of materials' — a plundering of the soil to sustain society's reproduction.

· Wikipedia · Europe

This Wikipedia article on allotment gardening covers its history and national systems. In the United Kingdom, an 1809 engraving of Birmingham already shows allotment gardens surrounding the town, and the 'Great Somerford Free Gardens' in Wiltshire were founded in 1809; the 1908 Small Holdings and Allotments Act legalized allotments, amended in 1922 and 1950, with plot numbers rising from 244,268 in 1873 to a peak of about 1.5 million in 1918 before declining to roughly 300,000 by 2009. In Germany, 'Schrebergarten' plots trace to the 'Schreber movement' begun in Leipzig in 1864, formalized by the 1919 Small Gardens and Small Leaseholds Land Law; there are now about 1.4 million allotments covering 470 square kilometers, including 833 allotment complexes in Berlin alone. In France, family gardens that emerged in the late 19th century are managed by the 'Fédération Nationale des Jardins Familiaux et Collectifs,' with about 135,000 members. In the Netherlands, the article states the first allotment garden was founded in 1838, there are now 240,000 allotment gardens, and the 'Algemeen Verbond van Volkstuindersverenigingen in Nederland' (AVVN) was founded in 1928.

· Wikipedia · Netherlands

This Wikipedia article on Wageningen University & Research states it was founded in 1876 as the Rijkslandbouwschool (National Agricultural School), renamed the Agricultural and Forestry College in 1896 and the National Agricultural, Horticulture and Forestry College in 1904, before becoming a degree-awarding institution named 'Rijks Landbouw Hoogeschool' under the Academic Education Act on 9 March 1918 — a date now celebrated as the university's dies natalis. The article states the university is highly ranked globally in agriculture, ranking 1st worldwide in Agriculture and Forestry in the QS World University Rankings 2022, 19th in Life Sciences in Times Higher Education 2022, and 1st in Food Science & Technology in the Academic Ranking of World Universities 2017. It states the university has about 13,564 students.

· Wikipedia · Netherlands

The URL 'Agriculture in the Netherlands' redirects to Wikipedia's general 'Netherlands' article. Despite being a densely populated country of 41,850 km2 and over 18 million people, the article states the Netherlands is the world's second largest exporter of food and agricultural products by value, owing to its fertile soil, mild climate, intensive agriculture, and inventiveness.

· Wikipédia (français) · France

French Wikipedia entry on 'jardin ouvrier' (workers' garden), tracing origins to Félicie Hervieu's initiative in Sedan (1889), Abbé Lemire's 1896 league, the rapid growth of gardens in the Paris region from 48 in 1904 to 1,515 in 1913, and a nationwide total of 250,000 gardens by the end of World War II. The law of 26 July 1952 formalized the term 'jardins familiaux'.

· Wikipedia (English) · Singapore

English Wikipedia entry on agriculture in Singapore. The country imports about 90% of its food. The 2019 'Singapore 30 by 30' goal (30% of nutritional needs grown locally by 2030) was revised in November 2025 into a new target of 20% for produce like leafy vegetables and 30% for protein (including seafood and eggs) by 2035. As of 2024, there were 225 farms (153 land-based, 72 sea-based) with total production value of S$231 million.

· Wikipedia (English) · Singapore

English Wikipedia entry on the Singapore Food Agency, established on 1 April 2019, consolidating the food-related functions of the former Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) along with parts of the National Environment Agency and Health Sciences Authority. The '30 by 30' goal — raising home-grown food from 10% to 30% of nutritional needs by 2030 — was announced on 8 March 2019, and was revised again in 2025.

· Wikipedia · Singapore

This Wikipedia article on food security in Singapore states that about 90 percent of the country's food comes from overseas imports, and that the government set the '30 by 30' goal to produce 30% of its nutritional needs locally by 2030. It further states new targets for 2035 to produce 20 per cent of the country's fibre consumption and 30 per cent of protein consumption (eggs and seafood) domestically, and that as of 2024 eight per cent of fibre and 26 per cent of protein consumed in Singapore was produced domestically.

· Wikipedia · Singapore

This Wikipedia article on Lim Chu Kang, a 17.3 km2 area in Singapore's North Region, describes it as the nation's main agricultural zone, housing a diverse range of farms engaged in food production, aquaculture, and agri-technology. Approximately 62 farms operated in the western part before being cleared progressively from April 2020 to December 2022 for military development. As of 2025 the area had a population of only 30, one of Singapore's least populated planning areas.

· Wikipedia · Global

This Wikipedia article on social capital defines it as networks of relationships that are productive towards advancing the goals of individuals and groups, and presents Robert Putnam's distinction between bonding social capital (the value assigned to networks between homogeneous groups) and bridging social capital (the value assigned to networks between socially heterogeneous groups). It cites criminal gangs as generating bonding capital and choirs or bowling clubs as generating bridging capital, illustrating that social capital is not always beneficial to society as a whole.

· Wikipedia · United States

This Wikipedia article on Robert Putnam's 2000 book Bowling Alone describes its central argument as the reduction in all forms of in-person social intercourse in the United States, evidenced by decreased voter turnout, attendance at public meetings, service on committees, and an aggregate loss in membership and volunteers in many existing civic organizations. It cites the example that while the number of people who bowled increased over the prior 20 years, the number who bowled in leagues decreased. Putnam attributes the decline in civic engagement since 1965 to roughly: television/electronic entertainment 25%, generational change 50%, pressures of time and two-career families 10%, suburbanization/commuting 10%, and unexplained 15-20%.

NYC Parks (New York City Department of Parks & Recreation) · NYC Parks · United States

This NYC Parks page introduces GreenThumb, established in 1978 and described as the nation's largest urban gardening program, sustaining over 550 community gardens and supporting thousands of volunteer gardeners across the five boroughs. It explains the program originated from derelict vacant lots left by the city's 1970s fiscal crisis, and operates through three teams—Community Engagement, Operations, and Planning and Programs—providing free materials, technical assistance, and educational workshops.

· Wikipedia · United States

This Wikipedia article covers the Liz Christy Garden, described as the first and oldest community garden in New York City. In 1973 Liz Christy founded the Green Guerillas and petitioned the city for access to a vacant lot for $1 a month; the garden was officially created in 1974. Located at the corner of the Bowery and Houston Street in Manhattan, it is now managed by about 20 volunteer gardeners. It was renamed in Christy's honor after her death in 1985, became a legally protected community garden in 2002, and was included in the Bowery Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.

農林水産省 · 農林水産省 · Japan

This Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) page explains Japan's key laws on citizen farms. The Act on Special Measures Concerning the Lending of Specified Farmland, enacted in 1989, created Farmland Act exceptions for short-term lending of small subdivided plots, and a 2005 amendment allowed entities other than local governments and agricultural cooperatives to open citizen farms. The Act on Promotion of Citizen Farm Development, enacted in 1990, promotes farms equipped with facilities such as tool sheds and rest areas, while the 2018 Act on Facilitation of Lending of Urban Farmland makes it easier to lease urban farmland (productive green land) for citizen farms.

· Wikipedia (de) · Germany

German Kleingärten (allotment gardens) trace back to early-19th-century 'poor gardens' (Armengärten), with the first Schreber plot opened in Leipzig's Johannapark in 1865. Today about 15,000 clubs organized under 20 state federations and the national umbrella BKD manage roughly 867,092 registered plots, out of over 1 million plots nationwide covering about 46,000 hectares. The average plot size is 370 m²; as of 2008 the average transfer fee was €1,900 (€3,300 in large cities), average annual cost was €373, and the average user age was 60.