Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
266 results(11 / 11)
Historia de los huertos urbanos. De los huertos para pobres a los programas de agricultura urbana ecológica
2011Nerea Morán Alonso, Agustín Hernández Aja · · Europe
This historical review traces the functions and characteristics of urban agriculture (UA) in Western cities. It notes that UA flourished during economic and energy crises for self-sufficiency, serving subsistence, hygiene, and social control in the 19th century and patriotic functions during 20th-century world wars. Since the 1970s, UA projects have focused on local development, social integration, and environmental education, led by community and ecological organizations.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsFood educationWelfareStories Of Apples: An exploration of the arenas of a London food supply
2010Poppy Nicol · ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) · United Kingdom (London)
This paper studies how various apples enter a community in London, using the apple as a device to analyze the city-region's food system and its connection to productive land. A multi-level analysis examined four arenas of procurement: mainstream retail (supermarkets), wholesale markets, direct links with producers (CSA box schemes, farmers' markets), and ecologically localized procurement (gleaning projects, community orchards). The study explores how these different journeys are understood and accounted for.
CommunityUrban–rural linkageFood miles & supply chainEconomicsEl "Manifiesto Verde" de Leberecht Migge
2009de Cárdenas Maestre I. · Cuaderno de Notas, no. 12, 119-134 · Germany
A Spanish-language study of Migge's 1919 'Green Manifesto', examining his utopian call for self-sufficiency and self-governance through small, interconnected rural-urban groups he termed Stadtland or Landstadt.
CommunityEconomicsPolicyLocal food, food miles and carbon emissions: A comparison of farm shop and mass distribution approaches
2009Coley, D., Howard, M., Winter, M. · Food Policy 34(2), 150–155 · United Kingdom
Compares farm-shop and mass-distribution approaches, showing that if a consumer drives more than 6.7 km one way, even local produce can emit more carbon than mass distribution—a classic paper opening the debate that 'local food is not automatically sustainable'.
EconomicsThe Cluster of Urban Agriculture: Case of Bartın-Turkey
2009AÇIKSÖZ Sebahat · Tarım Bilimleri Dergisi · Turkey (Bartın)
This study investigated whether urban agriculture activities in Bartın, Turkey, could be organized as a cluster according to Cluster Growth Theory, and examined its cluster characteristics as part of the TR-26 Bartın Regional Development Project. While urban agriculture in Bartın was identified as having cluster characteristics and growth potential, the study found that a fundamental problem for its future development is weak coordination and cooperation among stakeholders. It proposes a model for urban agriculture activities for a "Bartın Urban Initiative" at the city level.
Governance failureEconomicsCommunityPolicyCommon ground? Motivations for participation in a community-supported agriculture scheme
2008Rosie Cox, Lewis Holloway, Laura Venn, Liz Dowler, Jane Ricketts Hein, Moya Kneafsey, Helena Tuomainen · Local Environment · United Kingdom
This paper examines the motivations of producers and consumers participating in a community-supported agriculture (CSA) project in Scotland. It reveals the diverse motivations and philosophies consumers bring to the scheme, contrasting them with the organizers' stated aims. The study argues that effective communication within direct marketing schemes is important for fostering long-term commitment between producers and consumers, and for encouraging consumers to consider broader behavioral changes.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsUrban and Peri-urban Agriculture in Kyiv (Ukraine): "Crisis Induced Strategy" versus Recreational Resource
2008Zoia Komirenko, D.M. Hoermann, Komirenko, Z., Hoermann, D.M. · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Ukraine (Kyiv)
This study surveyed 240 Kyiv households with urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in 2005 using a standardized questionnaire. Data collected covered production, inputs, sales, and the importance of plots for self-sufficiency, recreation, and leisure. Cluster analysis identified four groups of UPA users, revealing that the importance of UPA shifts from livelihood necessity to recreational resource, or combines both, depending on the plot type.
Peri-urban agricultureEconomicsCommunityWelfareCorporate social responsibility: a case study of the UK's leading food retailers
2005Jones P., Comfort D., Hillier D., Eastwood I. · British Food Journal · United Kingdom
Analyzes CSR reporting by the UK's leading food retailers, finding support for local food producers, healthy eating, charitable donations, and local community initiatives as principal CSR themes promoted in stores.
CommunityEconomicsPolicyContinuous Productive Urban Landscapes: urban agriculture as an essential infrastructure
2005André Viljoen, Katrin Bohn · University of Brighton Repository (University of Brighton) · United Kingdom (London)
This paper, from a U.K. perspective, discusses urban agriculture using London as an example. While the benefits of urban agriculture for food security and income have often focused on the Global South, its integration into a multifunctional land use strategy could significantly reduce a city's ecological footprint, raising questions about its wider implementation.
Urban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsClimate changePolicyEthno-cultural representation in the urban landscape
2004Clare Rishbeth · Journal of Urban Design · United Kingdom (London)
This paper investigates how urban greenspace can be designed and managed to reflect ethnic diversity and how this is perceived by users, using two case studies of community gardens in London. It found some differences in the response to the gardens by people from different ethnic backgrounds. The use of obvious symbolism was not necessarily a primary means of encouraging users from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, though appreciated for educational and design strengths. Concern is expressed about aspects of the physical and psychological containment of ethnic groups in fixed places and identities leading to the perpetuation of stereotypes.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyEconomicsLes jardins familiaux dans l’arc méditerranéen : cent ans d’agriculture dans la ville. Analyse comparative de trois agglomérations : Marseille, Gênes et Barcelone
2004Jean-Noël Consalès · Mélanges de l École française de Rome Italie et Méditerranée · France (Marseille), Italy (Genoa), Spain (Barcelona)
This comparative analysis traces one hundred years of urban agriculture in the Mediterranean arc, focusing on family gardens in Marseille (France), Genoa (Italy), and Barcelona (Spain). It identifies three major stages: from the 19th century to post-WWII, family gardens developed in France; during the Trente Glorieuses, they declined in France but emerged in Italy and Spain; and since the mid-1970s, the diffusion of ecological values has conferred important territorial functions upon family gardens.
CommunityEconomicsOrganic cycleL'agriculture face au développement économique : un combat inégal ou des politiques périurbaines à construire
2003N. Bertrand, Nicole Rousier · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · France (Grenoble)
In the Grenoble urban region, agriculture holds relatively minor economic importance despite the region's strong technological development. However, the region's 2000 master plan assigned an essential role to farming. Peri-urban agriculture is a key issue in planning policies, engaging local officials, planners, and farming community representatives, but its economic weight remains low.
Economic viabilityPolicyPeri-urban agricultureEconomicsL'agriculture face au développement économique : un combat inégal ou des politiques périurbaines à construire / Agriculture versus economic development : an unequal fight or a question of new policies for the peri-urban area
2003Nathalie Bertrand, Nicole Rousier · Revue de géographie alpine · France (Grenoble)
This study analyzed the economic role of agriculture in the Grenoble urban region, France. From an economic perspective, agriculture was considered an activity of relatively minor importance in this region, known for its strong technological development. However, in the regional master plan approved in 2000, farming occupies an essential position. The study aimed to understand the role of peri-urban agriculture in the preparation of the urban region's development plan by specifying its assigned functions and analyzing how agriculture has been considered in regional plans.
Governance failurePeri-urban agriculturePolicyEconomics"No House Building without Garden Building!" ("Kein Hausbau ohne Landbau!"): The Modern Landscapes of Leberecht Migge
2001Haney D. H. · Journal of Architectural Education, 54(3), 149-157 · Germany
Examines Migge's designs for Weimar-era Siedlungen of small flats and row houses with adjacent garden plots, arguing that landscape was central to competing visions of interwar modernity and that productive gardens were integral to modern housing.
CommunityEconomicsOrganic cycleL'agriculture périurbaine : paradigme et paradoxes d'une péri-agriculture. Illustration en région méditerranéenne
2001J.J. Tolron · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · Europe
This article examines peri-urban agriculture, which is subject to land constraints imposed by nearby cities. Two case studies in the Mediterranean region illustrate that adaptations to the peri-urban context trigger radical changes in agricultural systems' functioning rationale, leading to sometimes paradoxical operations. The study emphasizes the diversifying effect on systems and the challenges linked to land management.
Governance failurePeri-urban agriculturePolicyEconomicsUrban–rural linkageA Pledge Unredeemed: The Housing Crisis in Weimar Germany
1970Silverman D. P. · Central European History, Vol. 3, No. 1–2, pp. 112–139 · Germany
Examines the Weimar constitution's pledge of adequate housing (Article 155) and how chronic shortages and postwar upheaval left it unrealized, providing the institutional backdrop to settlement and housing policy.
PolicyWelfareEconomics