Research & reports

Giovanni Allegretti, Stefania Barca, Lúcia Fernandes · Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) · Global

This article reviews contemporary experiences in small-scale sustainable agriculture worldwide, framing urban and peri-urban farming as a form of "popular art/craft" practiced in response to the modern agricultural dilemma's alienation of most people, particularly urban residents, from the natural world. It surveys the variety of forms, spaces and social actors involved, focusing on the rise of agricultural gardens in urban areas and the neo-rural transition movement, and discusses the frequent involvement of artists and designers in urban gardening initiatives before closing with critical observations on the state of research on urban agricultural practices.

Lawrence B. de Graaf · Journal of American History · United States (California)

A book review of Post-ghetto, edited by Josh Sides and comprising ten essays by fourteen authors, examines South Los Angeles's (formerly South Central) long history of poverty, gangs, and violence, and changes since the 1992 riots, including a proliferation of nonprofit service providers and a declining crime rate. Three of the essays focus on "food justice" — the idea that everyone deserves healthy food — arguing this goal could be reached through more supermarkets, improved local stores, community gardens, and campaigns against liquor and junk food stores. Other chapters cover the absence of large retail and malls, art, black politics, the rising status of blacks in unions, and policy for keeping youth out of gangs.

박진욱, 안계복 · · South Korea

This study analyzes the current state of urban farming in South Korea through its legal system, the implementation status of the urban farming act, on-the-ground conditions, and comprehensive plans, in order to identify institutional improvements. It concludes that securing more space for urban farming and improving the support system for urban farmers are the two essential factors for improvement, and that—beyond these institutional and systematic reforms—enthusiastic engagement from local governments, secured budgets, and cooperation with citizens are necessary to expand sustainable urban farming.

Vanessa Aparecida Camargo, Maria Christina de Mello Amorozo, Marcos Aparecido Pizano · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil (São Paulo)

A study of urban agriculture in Charqueada, São Paulo state, Brazil, georeferenced all 97 cultivated vacant lots in the urban area; 77 were selected for farmer questionnaires characterizing the population and the lots, and a subsample of 30 lots was surveyed in detail for all crops via a guided walkthrough. Results showed 80% of farmers were men over age 50 with low income, though the activity was not essential to their subsistence. Among 75 types of food plants cultivated, cassava (mandioca) was present in over 90% of lots, with a preference for crops requiring little investment. The activity was practiced informally, motivated by a desire to grow plants, without any public or private support.

City Farmer News · City Farmer News · Cuba

This City Farmer News article introduces the 2013 documentary 'TIERRALISMO' (directed by Alejandro Ramirez Anderson) about a 26-acre agricultural cooperative in the Alamar district outside Havana. It notes over half the laborers are elderly, including an 82-year-old worker described as outperforming anyone in their twenties at weeding. It describes the government permitting cooperative formation after the early-1990s Soviet collapse cut access to chemical fertilizers and farm machinery, methods using compost and manure fertilization and self-bred pest-control insects, and workers who transitioned from careers as doctors, fishermen, and oil-industry workers.

Annie Crane, Leela Viswanathan, Graham Whitelaw · Local Environment · Canada (Kingston, Ontario)

This paper examines guerrilla gardening as an example of sustainability in action, using participatory action research methods. Two case studies were developed in Kingston, Ontario: Dig Kingston, a guerrilla gardening project, and the Oak Street Community Garden. The research found that interventions like guerrilla gardening open up unexpected possibilities for conceptualizing sustainability and contribute to producing engaging and sustainable communities.

Kathryn Colasanti, Michael W. Hamm, Charlotte M. Litjens · Urban Geography · United States (Detroit)

This research explores perceptions of expanding urban agriculture in Detroit, Michigan, through semi-structured interviews and focus groups. While revealing widespread support for urban agriculture as a strategy for food security and urban sustainability, the study highlights contested aspects regarding the extent to which it should occur, its purpose, and the people it would involve.

Nathan McClintock, Heather Wooten, Alethea Brown · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States (California)

This 2012 reflective case study documented the efforts of the Oakland Food Policy Council (OFPC) in Oakland, California, to develop recommendations for urban agriculture zoning. Despite popular interest in urban agriculture, zoning often acts as an obstacle to its expansion. The OFPC faced obstacles in gaining the attention of city officials and advancing its policy agenda for new zoning definitions and operating standards for urban agriculture.

Shane J. Ralston · The Pluralist · Global

This research article, published in The Pluralist in 2012, presents a Deweyan defense of guerrilla gardening. The full text of the article is available only as a PDF.

Du, Xing-ying · 亚洲农业研究：英文版 · China (Huainan)

This paper analyzes the necessity of developing urban agriculture in Huainan City, China, identifying it as crucial for agricultural industry transformation, urban-rural integration, sustainable urban development, and effective resolution of issues concerning agriculture, countryside, and farmers. It also examines the city's endowments for urban agriculture and proposes a basic conception for its industrial form and spatial framework.

Jennifer Dean · Educational Media Reviews Online · United States (Detroit)

The documentary "We Are Not Ghosts" tells the story of Detroit through interviews, focusing on the city's future and revitalization initiatives like urban farming. However, according to the review, the film glosses over the city's troubles and attempts to cover too many issues in 52 minutes, resulting in a lack of appropriate analysis for any single issue. It is described as serving more as a promotional video for Detroit than an academic one.

Eden K Olsen · School for International Training Digital Collections (School for International Training) · Australia

This paper details an internship at the Mullumbimby Community Garden (MCG) in Byron Shire, Australia, focusing on the development of its Children's Garden. The intern spent 152.5 hours over four weeks in late 2012 on tasks including planting, project planning, and designing new structures. The study also examines the broader importance of community gardens and children's spaces, drawing conclusions on environmental education and communication practices based on participant observations and three interviews.

Godfrey Tawodzera, Lazarus Zanamwe, Jonathan Crush · Scholars Commons (Wilfrid Laurier University) · Zimbabwe (Harare)

This study conducted an AFSUN baseline food security survey in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 2008 to investigate the city's food insecurity situation. The survey revealed results sharply at odds with official surveys from 2003-2009, which had indicated food insecurity was not a serious problem. Findings showed that by 2008, Harare had become the most food-insecure city in the SADC region, with extraordinarily high levels of food insecurity as poor households struggled to find income for food. Participation in the informal food economy and urban agriculture for home consumption were major crisis responses.

Oladele Oladimeji Idowu · African Journal of Agricultural Research · Sierra Leone (Freetown)

This study conducted a gender analysis of urban agriculture (UA) land use and livelihood sustainability in Freetown, Sierra Leone, interviewing 91 producers (30 male, 61 female). The majority of producers were female, and female-managed farms showed higher gross margins (23,895 Leones) and returns than male-managed farms (15,130 Leones). Key determinants of UA income contribution included household size, access to credit, farmer association membership, gender, age, and farm size, with UA income decreasing as household size and the number of male producers increased.

Erica Giorda · · United States (Detroit)

This chapter examines the emergence of urban gardens and farms in Detroit, United States, as a grassroots response to urban decay and food deserts. It notes that while institutional support was initially limited, the number of gardens is growing, with over 300 community gardens and five self-identified farms operating. The study argues that Detroit's urban farmers envision the city's future as one of gardens, driven by concepts of food justice.

Redazione · TERRITORIO · United States

This paper presents the basic features of two urban farming projects in Milwaukee and Philadelphia aimed at solving the problem of food deserts in declining inner cities of the US rustbelt. It discusses the forms and relevance of convergences between food culture and food justice, relating them to the debate on the future of urban forms in these inner cities.

Sarah Yixin Zhang, Zhang Zhi-xing · Journal of the Association for Information Systems · China

This study investigates how Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) pioneers in China use microblogging technology to engage members and develop their communities. CSA is a sustainable agriculture model where members support farms and share risks, making trust-building crucial. Microblogging platforms provide farmers with a channel to communicate updates, address member problems, and facilitate interactions among CSA members, especially when frequent farm visits are not possible. The study analyzed microblog posts from China's first CSA farm.

Amy E. Thom, Beatrice Conradie · Open University of Cape Town (University of Cape Town) · South Africa (Cape Town)

This study, focused on Cape Town, South Africa, proposes social enterprise fresh produce box schemes as a sustainable business opportunity for urban agriculture to contribute to development. The research compared three existing box scheme models, analyzed a consumer survey to explore the consumer market, and investigated poor producers' agency through cross-case analysis. This analysis yields suggestions for key characteristics of an "ideal" social enterprise box scheme that is both financially sustainable and contributes to improvements in poor producers' agency.

Danfeng Huang · Journal of Changjiang Vegetables · China

This paper analyzed the requirements of China's urban development and vegetable quality and safety, expounding on the important roles of organic vegetable production and marketing in urban agriculture development. After a full analysis of the quality and safety, ecological function of organic vegetables, and the relationships between price and organic product price, the paper provided suggestions for promoting the development of urban organic vegetable production, including production mode, key technology, and marketing strategy.

Chiara Tornaghi · · United Kingdom

This academic-activist research on grassroots urban agriculture initiatives, focusing on four projects in Leeds, UK, found that local and regional institutions have limited ability to respond to these new demands. Planning traditions constrain institutions, failing to create flexible public spaces. Consequently, short-term solutions are found in "loose spaces" or ad-hoc negotiations, but these remain emergency or residual practices, highlighting challenges for urban public space management.

Bruntfield, Jaclyn Rose · Scholars Archive - University at Albany (University at Albany, State University of New York) · United States (Columbia County, NY)

This abstract discusses the increased public scrutiny of food origins in the U.S. and the growing demand for alternatives to the mainstream food system, as evidenced by more farmers markets, organic products, and Community Supported Agriculture programs. It notes that post-WWII industrialization of food production, while providing inexpensive food, has potentially compromised people's relationships with food. Currently, only one percent of Americans identify farming as their primary occupation.

Anthony M. Fuller, Theresa Schumilas, Zhenzhong Si · Digital Commons - Lingnan (Lingnan University) · Canada; China

This presentation examines innovations and contradictions in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in Canada and China, where farmers pursue economic, social, and ecological goals. It describes the evolving CSA movement in Canada and identifies three paradoxes, including the economic paradox of market-based social change, questioning if CSAs can maintain their alternative nature or if co-optation is inevitable.

Coline Perrin · International Planning Studies · France, Italy

Case studies in Provence and Tuscany indicate that planning prescriptions and land-market control are insufficient for protecting farmland on the urban fringe. Farmland is not effectively protected if regulatory approaches are not integrated into a global strategy for agriculture and food based on community involvement. Farmland protection policies are more effective when combining top-down policies with bottom-up initiatives and recognizing the multifunctional character of urban agriculture.

Siqing Chen · APCBEE Procedia · United States

This paper uses a housing development project in the United States to exemplify how civic agriculture can be integrated into urban development through forms like Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), kitchen gardens, and farmer's markets. This integration creates a local food web, enhancing civic engagement and welfare among residents, maintaining landscape authenticity, strengthening ecosystem services, reducing carbon footprint, and promoting long-term sustainability. Civic agriculture represents a transition in agricultural practice from large-scale commodity enterprises to small-scale, self-sustaining civic activities.

Katrin Bohn, André Viljoen · · Germany (Berlin), United Kingdom (London)

This chapter reviews the evolving Continuous Productive Urban Landscape (CPUL) City concept in the context of Berlin and London, exploring ways to integrate sustainable food systems into the urban fabric. The CPUL City Toolkit provides an overview of key steps for planning and implementing urban agriculture as part of coherent productive urban landscape strategies. The toolkit introduces four methods of action: Action U+D, Action VIS, Action IUC, and Action R.