Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
11393 results(115 / 456)
Collaborative survival in the city: Envisioning alternative urban futures through Black agrarian praxis
2023Justine Lindemann · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · United States (Cleveland)
This article explores the potential for "collaborative survival" in deindustrialized urban spaces, arguing that abundant so-called vacant parcels offer a pathway toward more self-determined food systems. Using the work of Black gardeners and farmers in Cleveland, Ohio as a case, it frames urban food production as a praxis of liberation that contests structural racism and reimagines alternative urban futures.
CommunityPolicyUrban vegetable production in Beijing, China
2023· Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · China (Beijing)
Examines the state and challenges of urban vegetable production in Beijing, China.
EconomicsPolicyAssessing the Foodshed and Food Self-Sufficiency of the Pearl River Delta Megacity Region in China
2023· Foods · China (Pearl River Delta)
Quantifies the foodshed and food self-sufficiency of the Pearl River Delta megacity region using land footprints, finding regional and urban self-sufficiency is not achievable.
PolicyEconomicsGoverning for food security during the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan and Nanjing, China
2023Chang Y., Si Z., Crush J., Scott S., Zhong T. · Urban Governance · China (Wuhan, Nanjing)
Examines central, provincial, and municipal government responses to ensuring stable urban food supply during zero-COVID measures in Wuhan and Nanjing, China.
PolicyWelfareClassification of Urban Agricultural Functional Regions and Their Carbon Effects at the County Level in the Pearl River Delta, China
2023· Agriculture · China (Pearl River Delta)
A study classifying urban agricultural functional regions at the county level in the Pearl River Delta, China, and analyzing their carbon effects from 2002 to 2020.
PolicyEconomicsUrban agriculture as nature-based solutions: Three key strategies to tackle emerging issues on food security in Chinese cities under climatic and non-climatic challenges
2023· Frontiers of Engineering Management · China
A paper framing urban agriculture as nature-based solutions and proposing three key strategies to address food security in Chinese cities under climatic and non-climatic challenges.
PolicyBiodiversityRisk Assessment and Source Analysis of Soil Heavy Metal(oid)s Pollution in Beijing, China
2023· Water, Air, & Soil Pollution · China (Beijing)
A study assessing the concentrations, potential sources, and risks of soil heavy metal(loid)s pollution in Beijing, China.
HealthAdapting to urban gardening in China: how will policymaking help migrant and native gardeners?
2023· Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · China
A study discussing how policymaking can support both migrant and native gardeners engaged in urban gardening in China.
PolicyCommunityThe Promoting Effect of Mass Media on Participatory Landscape Revitalization—An Analysis from Newspaper Coverages of Participatory Urban Gardening in China
2023· Land · China
Analyzes newspaper coverage of participatory urban gardening in China to examine how mass media promotes participatory landscape revitalization.
CommunityPolicyGreen Spaces and the Spontaneous Renewal of Historic Neighborhoods: A Case Study of Beijing's Dashilar Community
2023· Sustainability · China (Beijing)
Case study of Beijing's Dashilar historic neighborhood analyzing resident-driven small-scale gardening as spontaneous green renewal, an alternative to government-led redevelopment.
CommunityDIYA Review of Chinese and Western Research on Community Garden Design: A Visualized Analysis Based on CiteSpace
2023· Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering · China
CiteSpace-based visualized review comparing Chinese and Western research on community garden design, mapping research trends and differences between the two contexts.
CommunityCommunity-supported agriculture as food democratic experimentalism: Insights from Germany
2023· Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Germany
Analyzes Community-Supported Agriculture (Solidarische Landwirtschaft) in Germany as a form of food-democratic experimentalism, in which producers and consumers share the costs, risks and governance of production.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsHolistic wild bee management in urban spaces
2023· Frontiers in Sustainable Cities · Germany (Freising)
Developed a holistic assessment of bee and flowering-plant diversity in the medium-sized city of Freising using citizen science, identifying 22 bee-diversity hotspots and evaluating planted flower patches as stepping stones for oligolectic bees.
PollinatorsBiodiversityPolicyVegetation complexity and nesting resource availability predict bee diversity and functional traits in community gardens
2023Felderhoff J. · Ecological Applications · Germany (Berlin)
Documented 26 genera and 102 bee species across 18 Berlin community gardens, finding that higher plant species richness and greater deadwood amounts increased wild bee species number and functional diversity.
PollinatorsBiodiversityThe degree of urbanisation reduces wild bee and butterfly diversity and alters the patterns of flower-visitation in urban dry grasslands
2023Herrmann J., Buchholz S., Theodorou P. · Scientific Reports · Germany
In German urban dry grasslands, examined effects of local habitat quality, urbanisation (impervious surfaces), and 3D connectivity on flower visitors; bee and butterfly species richness declined with increasing impervious surface.
PollinatorsBiodiversityDrivers of cultivated and wild plant pollination in urban agroecosystems
2023Nguyen H., Schmack J., Egerer M. · Basic and Applied Ecology · Germany (Munich)
Conducted a pollination-exclusion experiment with two cultivated and two wild plant species across 13 Munich community gardens, finding cultivated-plant fruit and seed mass positively correlated with temperature and pollinator diversity.
PollinatorsBiodiversityA large share of Berlin's vegetable consumption can be produced within the city
2023De Simone M., Pradhan P., Kropp J. P., Rybski D. · Sustainable Cities and Society · Germany (Berlin)
Evaluates five urban space types (residential areas, allotments, rooftops, supermarket parking lots, cemeteries) and estimates the potential to produce a large share of Berlin's vegetable consumption locally.
EconomicsCommunityPolicyAllotment Garden Products as Contribution to Sustainable and Resilient Cities: An Analysis in Leipzig, Germany
2023Schäfer, Kleemann, Spyra · Sustainability · Germany (Leipzig)
Analyzes allotment garden products in Leipzig and their contribution to sustainable and resilient cities.
CommunityBiodiversityEconomicsAllotments for all? Social–environmental values of urban gardens for gardeners and the public in cities: The example of Berlin, Germany
2023Haase · People and Nature · Germany (Berlin)
Assesses the social–environmental values of urban gardens for both gardeners and the wider public, using Berlin as an example.
CommunityBiodiversityWelfareDesign and Simulations of a Self-Assembling Autonomous Vertical Farm for Urban Farming
2023· Agriculture · Global
Presents a conceptual design and simulations of a self-assembling, low-cost, fully automatic vertical farm with a small footprint intended to be installed and used by a non-specialist. Cost minimisation is achieved by using one set of resources moved by a robot arm to service the plants.
DIYEconomicsDevelopment of a Low-Cost and Modular Vertical Farming Rig for Sustainable Farming Process
2023· Instrumentation Mesure Métrologie · Global
Develops a low-cost, modular vertical farming rig based on a steel cuboid enclosure constructed with sustainable and locally sourced materials. Monitoring and control use a Raspberry Pi with microcontrollers and IoT sensors/actuators for remote automation.
DIYEconomicsDesign and validation of an open-sourced automation system for vertical farming
2023· HardwareX · United Kingdom
Designs and validates MACARONS, a scalable, customisable, open-sourced modular platform for plant care, monitoring, and transportation. It offers per-plant dosing, automated logging of temperature/humidity/images, and Python-programmable behaviours, validated by autonomously caring for five lettuce plants over five weeks under artificial lighting.
DIYEconomicsDecentralized in-vessel composting: an efficient technology for biodegradable solid waste management
2023· Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery · Global
Examines decentralized in-vessel composting as an efficient technology for managing biodegradable solid waste.
DIYCompostOrganic cycleMunicipal Waste Degradation by Vermicomposting Using a Combination of Eisenia fetida and Lumbricus rubellus Species
2023· Agronomy · Global
Investigates the degradation of municipal waste through vermicomposting using a combination of Eisenia fetida and Lumbricus rubellus.
DIYCompostOrganic cycleLife cycle assessment of source separation of biowaste, pay as you throw systems and autonomous composting units in the Municipality of Katerini, Greece
2023· Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management · Greece
Life cycle assessment comparing source separation of biowaste, pay-as-you-throw systems and autonomous (decentralized) composting units in the Municipality of Katerini, Greece.
DIYCommunityCompost