Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
3274 results(100 / 131)
Impacts of urbanization on urban agricultural landscape——A case study of Chang'an District, Xi'an City
2014Yu Wang · · China (Xi'an City)
This study analyzed the dynamic changes in urban agricultural landscape (arable lands and garden plots) due to urbanization in Chang'an District, Xi'an City, China, using remote sensing, GIS, and FRAG-STAT techniques. Compared to 1999, arable land area decreased and aggregation declined by 2.45% in 2011, while garden plot area increased and aggregation rose by 10.44%. Improved urbanization levels decreased arable land area and increased fragmentation, but correlations with garden plot landscape indexes were insignificant.
Environmental trade-offsUrban–rural linkageClimate changePolicy제5분과 : 계획관리 및 서비스 ; 도시농업을 통한 사회적경제 활성화 -용산생협 사례를 중심으로-
2014장진, 오충현, 권혁문, 최윤정 · 한국환경생태학회 학술발표논문집 · South Korea (Seoul)
This study analyzed the case of the "Haengbokjungsim Yongsan Consumer Cooperative" (Yongsan Cooperative) in Hyochang-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, to provide basic data for policies activating the social economy related to urban agriculture. A survey was conducted among 100 cooperative members from October 15 to November 30, 2013, for 45 days, complemented by literature reviews, field surveys, interviews, and GIS analysis. The findings indicated that 83% of members were women aged 30-40, 4-person households constituted 49%, and the cumulative membership reached 1,027 by December 2013.
Food sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsCommunityParadise, Future
2014Pierrette Hondagneu‐Sotelo · · United States (California)
This chapter discusses possibilities for rethinking and reinventing new models of garden making in Southern California and metropolitan regions more generally. In Southern California, diverse gardens promoting environmental and cultural sustainability, shared backyard gardening, organic vegetable gardening, wall gardens, and lawn removal efforts are observed. The chapter reviews these projects, looking at new efforts in private residential gardens, urban community gardens, and public spaces, with a focus on immigration and the Southern California region.
CommunityPolicyBiodiversityHealthUrban Agriculture Policy Making in New York’s “New Political Spaces”
2014Nevin Cohen, Kristin Reynolds · Journal of Planning Education and Research · United States (New York City)
This article examines urban agriculture (UA) policy-making processes in New York City, focusing on aspects of UA not fully addressed by existing policies, plans, and research strategies. Interviews with UA stakeholders and an analysis of the city’s UA policy-making processes show that resource needs and race- and class-based disparities within the UA system persist.
Equity & displacementPolicyCommunityEconomicsChartering Worcester's Success
2014Benjamin Drury, Renee Laliberte, Jared Watson, Connor Wilgress · Digital WPI · United States (Worcester)
The city of Worcester, MA, faces health issues due to economic instability and low access to affordable healthy food. While urban farming has the potential to address these problems, the city lacks an effective policy.
Governance failureHealthEconomicsPolicyFood sovereignty & justicePresent Situation of Protected Horticulture in Hainan and Its Strategy for Sustainable Development
2014Tian Lib · Chinese Journal of Tropical Agriculture · China (Hainan)
This paper summarized the status of protected horticulture in Hainan, China, identifying major problems such as a deficiency of special varieties, unsuitable introduced facility types, lack of a non-nuisance production system, and insufficient capacity for resisting natural disasters and environmental control. To achieve sustainable development, the local government needs to strengthen funding and policy support, enhance farmers' awareness of pollution-free production, and improve management techniques.
Governance failureClimate changeEconomicsPolicySeeds for Change? Attaining the benefits of community gardens through council policies in Sydney, Australia
2014Gregory Mintz, Phil McManus · Australian Geographer · Australia (Sydney)
This research in Sydney, Australia, evaluates and compares the quality of community garden policies with the distribution of community gardens across local councils and broader geographic regions. It identifies areas that could benefit from increased access to community gardens and discusses ways for councils and the Sydney Region to improve their policies. The study aims to determine what elements community garden policies should contain to best promote these gardens and their benefits.
CommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageDriving forces of land use
2014Matilda Thelin · · Sweden
This qualitative study in peri-urban Uppsala, Sweden, identifies driving forces influencing land use decisions by commercial farmers and institutional landowners. It notes that approximately 700 hectares of land in Sweden are diverted from food production annually, with Uppsala Municipality showing the greatest change in 2013. The expropriation of agricultural land for urban development leads to farmers losing land resources and increased competition for remaining land, resulting in high land prices.
Governance failurePeri-urban agriculturePolicyEconomicsUrban–rural linkageDefinicje oraz formy miejskiej agrokultury – przyczynek do dyskusji
2014Wojciech Sroka · Wieś i Rolnictwo · Poland
This article addresses the concept of urban agriculture in Polish economic and agricultural literature. It aims to develop a definition of urban agriculture, operationalize it, and present its main forms. The study reviews research from various countries and proposes a definition suitable for Polish socio-economic conditions, describing key actors, products, functions, and distinguishing two main forms: urban farming and urban horticulture.
Urban–rural linkageEconomicsPolicyClimate-Resilient Design Strategies for Urban Drainage Systems in Coastal Ghana
2014Yaw Kofi, Abena Adwoa, Kwasi Anane · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Ghana
Urban drainage systems in coastal Ghana are vulnerable to climate-induced flooding due to rising sea levels and increased rainfall intensity. Hydrological models indicated a need for increased stormwater infiltration capacity in ATMA, especially along the coastal belt where sea levels could rise by up to 50 cm. Designing drainage systems with enhanced permeability and elevated flood walls is recommended to ensure resilience against projected climate change risks over the next three decades.
Climate changePolicyBiodiversity도시농업 활성화를 위한 도시농업조례 항목별 중요도와 참여 만족도 및 지속가능성의 관계 분석
2014Eun Young Choi, 정윤남, 김세용 · 한국도시설계학회지 도시설계 · South Korea
This study analyzed the relationship between the importance of urban agriculture ordinance items, participant satisfaction, and sustainability, from an institutional perspective. Findings indicated that participants' sustained engagement in urban agriculture involves conscious stages. Participants prioritized educational and direct support for individuals over indirect government support. Furthermore, a difference in perception regarding the importance of urban agriculture ordinance items was observed between experts and participants.
PolicyCommunity도시농업 공간 확보를 위한 도시계획관련 제도 개선 방안
2014최정석 · 환경정책 · South Korea
This research from South Korea identifies legal and institutional problems in securing space for urban agriculture, noting that the 2013 Urban Agriculture Promotion and Support Act has not boosted urban agriculture due to a lack of space. The study focuses on urban planning regulations, parks, green areas, the Urban Agriculture Promotion and Support Act, and other related policies to suggest solutions for these issues.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityRecreational use and health functions of allotments gardens in the Katowice conurbation, Poland
2014Edward Duś · Environmental & Socio-economic Studies · Poland
This analysis examines the recreational use of allotment gardens in the industrial Katowice conurbation, Silesia, southern Poland, considering their historical development. Allotment gardens serve as a primary base for recreation for their owners, offering both physical activities and passive leisure. Recreational use is seasonal and varies daily, influenced by weather and available free time, with socio-economic changes impacting utilization methods and types of recreational use.
CommunityHealthPolicyEizenberg, Efrat. 2013. From the ground up: community gardens in New York City and the politics of spatial transformation. Farnham: Ashgate. Reviewed by Matt W. Murray
2014Matt Murray · Journal of Political Ecology · United States (New York City)
Efrat Eizenberg's book "From the Ground Up" explores New York City's community gardens as spaces that resist the commodification of land. The book details the history of these gardens, including their emergence during the 1970s economic crisis when primarily Black and Hispanic residents transformed vacant land into communal green spaces. As the real estate market recovered in the 1980s, land values increased, and many gardens were threatened by gentrification pressures. Eizenberg analyzes these transformations at individual, collective, and institutional levels, highlighting how gardeners create common spaces, solidify interpersonal ties, and organize to defend their gardens.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyEconomicsResearch-informed gardening activism: steering the public food and land agenda
2014Chiara Tornaghi, Barbara Van Dyck · Local Environment · United Kingdom
This paper explores the "spheres of influence" and contradictions that shaped the trajectory of the Edible Public Space project in Leeds, UK, drawing on the authors' personal experience. It analyzes the dynamics and contradictions at play in the formation of an urban gardening group stemming from scholarly and committed action ambitions. The study focuses on the role of spatial interventions in fostering social innovation in the public food and land agenda, aiming to capture learning elements for scholarly activism, political gardening, and radical urbanism.
Governance failureCommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyCommunity Gardens in Zagreb, Croatia: Old/new practices for the local sustainability
2014Lana Slavuj Borčić, Cvitanović Marin, Aleksandar Lukić · · Croatia (Zagreb)
Community gardens have long existed in Zagreb, Croatia, where residents have transformed underused public urban areas into gardens. While these activities largely occurred outside formal government frameworks, the "City Gardens" policy was adopted in 2012 to allocate urban public parcels to interested citizens. This policy increased participation in community gardening, and previous research indicates that community gardens offer multiple benefits and positive impacts on individuals, local communities, and urban spaces.
CommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceHealthThe meanwhile lease: enabling temporary community use of vacant property
2013Meanwhile Foundation · Meanwhile Foundation (UK) · Global
The 'meanwhile lease' lets landlords grant short-term use to voluntary groups while keeping ownership and the right to recover the site; an intermediary provides standard contracts and insurance to make interim use legal and smooth.
PolicyCommunityGlobal ex-situ crop diversity conservation and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault: assessing the current status
2013Westengen O.T., Jeppson S., Guarino L. · PLOS ONE · Global
Assesses the completeness of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault's safety-duplication collection against the world's ex-situ holdings, quantifying global backup of crop genetic diversity across 156 crop genera.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityPolicyBuilding Culture: Ernst May and the New Frankfurt am Main Initiative, 1926–1931
2013Henderson S. R. · Peter Lang (Studies in Modern European History, vol. 64) · Germany
A comprehensive history of Ernst May's New Frankfurt initiative within the Weimar context, covering housing settlements, construction and material innovations, the parks-and-garden-colony program, the Frankfurt Kitchen, and reforms in schools and medical facilities.
PolicyCommunityWelfareFood educationSpatial Variation of Soil Lead in an Urban Community Garden: Implications for Risk‐Based Sampling
2013Lauren Bugdalski, Lawrence D. Lemke, Shawn P. McElmurry · Risk Analysis · United States (Detroit, MI)
This study examined small-scale spatial variability of soil lead within a 15 × 30 m urban community garden plot on two adjacent residential lots in Detroit, Michigan, analyzing 80 samples for total, fine-fraction, and bioaccessible lead. Concentrations varied at 1–10 m scales with a hot spot exceeding 400 ppm, and Monte Carlo simulations showed that increasing sample numbers reduces the chance of missing hot spots while compositing reduces overestimation of the mean. The authors suggest US EPA sampling objectives and guidelines should be reconsidered for reclaimed city lots where soil lead is nonuniform.
HealthCommunityPolicyWhite Spaces in Black and Latino Places: Urban Agriculture and Food Sovereignty
2013Hoover B. · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · USA
Argues that urban agriculture, largely championed by a middle-class white populace, creates 'white spaces' within Black and Latino places, overlooking the practice's historical roots in those communities and producing exclusion.
CommunityPolicyMunicipal Food Strategies and Integrated Approaches to Urban Agriculture: Exploring Three Cases from the Global North
2013Mansfield Brent, Mendes Wendy · International Planning Studies · Global North
Examines three Global North municipal food strategies aiming to integrate urban agriculture into single policy frameworks. Highlights tensions and limits in translating integrated food-strategy ambitions into implementation, revealing gaps between comprehensive policy design and on-the-ground delivery.
PolicyDeterminants of vacant lot conversion into community gardens: evidence from Philadelphia
2013In Kwon Park, Patricia Ciorici · International Journal of Urban Sciences · United States (Philadelphia)
This study in Philadelphia, United States, identified determinants of vacant lot conversion into community gardens using a logit model. Data on lot attributes were collected from the Philadelphia Neighbourhood Information System and a city-wide survey. The results indicate that neighborhood characteristics like poverty level, educational attainment, zoning, and owner occupancy, along with parcel characteristics such as ownership and topography, significantly impact the conversion.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsObserving 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 linkageDynamics of peri-urban agricultural development and farmers' adaptive behaviour in the emerging megacity of Hyderabad, India
2013Zakir Hussain, Markus Hanisch · Journal of Environmental Planning and Management · India
This paper describes the adaptation of agricultural management practices in the urban periphery of Hyderabad, India, due to structural changes. Based on 120 farmer interviews, the study found that increasing costs for agricultural inputs like labor and land motivated farmers to intensify water, machine, and chemical use, which created problematic environmental impacts. Farmers also adapted by resorting to part-time farming and organizing efforts to share family labor.
Environmental trade-offsPeri-urban agriculturePolicyEconomics