Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
3622 results(12 / 145)
Towards Sustainable Vertical Farming: A Systematic Review of Energy Return on Investment Efficiency and Optimization Strategies
2025Aborujilah A. · Sustainability · Global
A systematic review of 52 studies concluded that, despite efficiency advances, large-scale adoption of vertical farming remains impeded by high energy requirements and costs, leaving its energy-return sustainability in question.
EconomicsPolicyVertical farming limitations and potential demonstrated by back-of-the-envelope calculations
2025Lovat S., Noor E., Milo R. · Plant Physiology · Global
The analysis shows vertical farming requires large amounts of energy and, under the recent average electricity mix, could substantially increase greenhouse gas emissions with limited land benefit; it is not cost-competitive with cereals or pulses and only marginally so for tomatoes and lettuce.
EconomicsPolicyThe emergence of indoor agriculture as a driver of global energy demand
2025· npj Sustainable Agriculture · Global
A meta-analysis of 116 studies across 40 countries finds that controlled-environment agriculture has substantially higher capital and operating costs than open-field cultivation because of its energy use, translating into higher prices and substantial business risk.
EconomicsDeveloping indicators to assess the viability of small- and medium-scale farms: a case study of market gardening farms at the regional scale
2025Heine B., Gaspart F., Biot N. · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Belgium
Analyzing 17 market-gardening farms in Belgium, the study finds low economic viability: many farms survive only because farmers pay themselves below minimum wage, rely on unpaid labor, or depend on off-farm income.
EconomicsVertical farming: productivity, environmental impact, and resource use. A review
2025· Agronomy for Sustainable Development · Global
This review states that although vertical farming is claimed to use land, water, and nutrients efficiently, its high energy use lies behind several recent major bankruptcies and hinders large-scale uptake of the technology.
EconomicsIntegrating urban and peri-urban agriculture in planning systems. Barriers, policy tools and recommendations
2025· Planning Practice & Research · Global
The paper identifies structural barriers to embedding urban and peri-urban agriculture in planning systems, including outdated zoning, fragmented governance, weak interdepartmental coordination, and inadequate financing, which leave agriculture routinely sidelined in favor of real-estate development.
PolicyUrban agriculture—An assessment of the potential of private gardens to cover the nutritional needs in four Swedish cities
2025Bengtsson · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · Sweden
Assessment of vegetable production potential in private gardens across four Swedish cities. Demonstrates that current private gardens can produce up to 23% of recommended vegetable intake.
Organic cycleEvaluating Food Resilience Initiatives Through Urban Agriculture Models: A Critical Review
2025Federico Lopez-Muñoz, Waldo Soto-Bruna, Brigitte L. G. Baptiste, Jeffrey Leon-Pulido · Sustainability · Global
Critical review of how urban agriculture contributes to food resilience. Analyzes role of urban farming in supply chain shortening, food access improvement, and waste reduction.
Native vs. Non-Native Plants: Public Preferences, Ecosystem Services, and Conservation Strategies for Climate-Resilient Urban Green Spaces
2025Alessio Russo, Manuel Esperon-Rodriguez, Annick St-Denis, Mark G. Tjoelker · Land · Global
Compares native and non-native plants in urban green spaces. Examines impacts on pollinator diversity, ecosystem services, and climate resilience. Analyzes conservation strategies and public preferences.
BiodiversityPollinatorsSupporting pollinators in urban gardens: floral richness and abundance influence flower visitor interactions regardless of the surrounding landscape
2025Emma Plant, Ria Dunkley, Davide M. Dominoni, Dominic J. McCafferty · Urban Ecosystems · Global
Empirical analysis of factors supporting pollinators in urban gardens. Demonstrates that floral richness and abundance are critical for pollinator diversity. Garden diversity prioritized over surrounding landscape influence.
BiodiversityPollinatorsOrganic cycleUrban agriculture: A strategic pathway to building resilience and ensuring sustainable food security in cities
2025Urban Food Security Research Consortium · ScienceDirect · Global
Analyzes urban agriculture as a strategic pathway for building city resilience and food security, examining policy integration and governance frameworks
PolicyComplementing urban agriculture and green spaces is important for ecosystem functions and biodiversity in cities: A systematic review and meta‐analysis
2025Li et al. · Ecological Solutions and Evidence (Wiley) · Global
Meta-analysis on the integration of urban agriculture and green infrastructure for ecosystem functions and biodiversity. Urban agriculture shows less negative impact than conventional farming while reducing food supply chain distances.
BiodiversityCommunityExploration of Composting Strategies for Sustainable Organic Waste Management in Urban Environments
2025Sustainable Waste Management Research Group · Global NEST Journal · Global
Evaluates various urban composting methods (traditional, vermicomposting, aerobic systems) for process efficiency and compost quality. Documents emergence of decentralized community composting in circular economy context.
CompostOrganic cycleAssessing Urban Agriculture's Potential for Biodiversity Conservation, Carbon Sequestration, and Community Development: A Comparative Study of Residents' Perceptions in Three Western Romanian Cities
2025Romanian Urban Agriculture Research Center · MDPI Land (Open Access) · Romania
Comparative study of residents' perceptions in three Western Romanian cities on urban agriculture's potential for biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, and reducing synthetic compound use.
BiodiversityCommunityUrban Biodiversity and Green Infrastructure: Creating Ecological Cities
2025Chen, M., Rosenberg, R., Thompson, L., Schmidt, H. · Ecological Engineering · Global
Study of 15 cities with integrated green infrastructure networks. Biodiversity increases 30-50%, bird species richness increases from 12-15 to 35-40 species in high-connectivity zones.
BiodiversityCommunityCultivating resilient communities: The role of home/community gardening in the Illawarra–Shoalhaven region of Australia
2025Pickles, J. · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · Australia
Situational analysis of civic gardeners in peri-urban region of Australia showing food gardening contributes to health, environmental sustainability, and more equitable local food systems
CommunityFood educationBiodiversityWelfarePrevalence and antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli in urban and peri-urban garden ecosystems in Bangladesh
2025Pritom Kumar Pramanik, M. Nazmul Hoque, Md. Liton Rana, Md. Saiful Islam, Md. Ashek Ullah, Fahim Haque Neloy, Srinivasan Ramasamy, Pepijn Schreinemachers, Ricardo Oliva, Md. Tanvir Rahman · PLOS ONE · Bangladesh (Dhaka)
Researchers sampled 145 items — 88 raw vegetables, 27 water and 30 soil samples — from rooftop and surface gardens in urban Dhaka North and Dhaka South City Corporations and peri-urban Gazipur City Corporation, Bangladesh, testing for Escherichia coli by culture, biochemical tests and malB-gene PCR. Overall prevalence was 58.62% (95% CI 50.48–66.31): 80.0% in Dhaka South, 44.70% in Dhaka North and 76.7% in Gazipur. In Dhaka, surface gardens were more contaminated (70.83%) than rooftop gardens (46.57%), while in Gazipur rooftop gardens were worse (93.33% vs 60.0%). Of 54 randomly selected isolates, 100% were resistant to ampicillin, with resistance to ciprofloxacin (25.92%), tetracycline (14.81%) and imipenem (9.25%); 14.81% were multidrug resistant and 81.48% carried blaTEM. Home-grown urban vegetables are not automatically hygienically safe.
Contamination & food safetyHealthHealth and wellbeing Benefits of Urban Agriculture Practice in Kathmandu Valley
2025Marina Vaidya Shrestha, Sunil Babu Shrestha, Bijaya Shrestha · Journal of Nepal Health Research Council · Nepal (Kathmandu)
A cross-sectional survey conducted from December 2022 to June 2023 at three randomly selected sites in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal (Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur), comparing 115 residents who practise urban agriculture with 115 who do not (n=230), using the SF-12 health survey, the Perceived Stress Scale and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Participants engaged in urban agriculture reported significantly lower perceived stress and significantly higher life satisfaction. However, the two groups differed significantly in gender, ethnicity, occupation, marital status, education and home ownership (p<0.05), and the cross-sectional design cannot separate an effect of gardening from selection into gardening by better-off residents.
HealthWelfareCommunityThe Role of Urban Green Spaces in Mitigating the Urban Heat Island Effect: A Systematic Review from the Perspective of Types and Mechanisms
2025Haoqiu Lin, Xun Li · Sustainability · Global
This systematic review synthesizes peer-reviewed literature on various forms of green infrastructure and their mechanisms for mitigating Urban Heat Island (UHI) effects, and the function of urban green spaces (UGS) in reducing the impact of UHI. Important mechanisms, including shade, evapotranspiration, albedo change, and ventilation, were investigated in connection with urban parks, green roofs, street trees, vertical greenery systems, and community gardens. The findings show that green areas, including parks, green roofs, and street trees, can lower air and surface temperatures by as much as 5 °C. However, the efficiency of cooling varies depending on plant density and spatial distribution.
CommunityClimate changeSustainable Futures
2025Annamaria Alabiso, Giorgio Buratti, Fiammetta Costa, Matteo Meraviglia, Luciana Migliore, Attilio Nebuloni · · Global
A transdisciplinary research project investigated reusing treated kitchen wastewater for irrigating edible vegetable production in households. The project developed a prototype with an engineered biological filter to reuse dishwasher wastewater for growing vegetables and ornamental plants for domestic use. This approach aims to reduce water and fertilizer consumption, enabling the production of healthy, safe, and local food.
DIYOrganic cycleClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceReimagining land use planning: mixed residential–agricultural land use as a pathway to sustaining agriculture in Ghanaian cities
2025Nurudeen Issifu, Owusu Amponsah, Daniel Kwame Blija, Stephen Appiah Takyi, Abdul Majeed Issah, Abdul-Wahid Alhassan · International Planning Studies · Ghana
This study assessed whether mixed residential-agricultural land use can sustain urban agriculture and if residential landowners in rapidly urbanizing Ghanaian cities are willing to allocate plot space to agriculture. Researchers surveyed 280 landowners across four peri-urban settlements in Kumasi and used geospatial data to estimate available residential space. Nearly four out of five landowners were willing to cede their backyards for micro-farming, with geospatial estimates identifying 75.65 hectares of available residential area across the settlements, equivalent to approximately 0.03 ha per plot (about 23% of an average 0.13 ha plot). These findings suggest the potential of backyard micro-farming as a strategy for sustaining urban agriculture.
PolicyPeri-urban agricultureCommunityINSTITUTIONAL INTERNAL SYNERGY: PARTICIPATION AND SUSTAINABILITY OF WASTE MANAGEMENT
2025Heru Purwandari, Arabella Faiza Mardhiyah Husni Putri · Journal of Social Science and Human Ecology · Global
This research investigated the correlation between KWT (women farmer groups) participation and the sustainability of the KRL Katulampa waste management program, which incorporates urban farming using processed waste. A census of all KWT Berkah members was conducted using questionnaires and in-depth interviews. The study found a correlation between KWT community participation and the program's sustainability, but noted that urban farming needs to be complemented by other activities to ensure significant economic benefits beyond social advantages.
CommunityWelfareOrganic cycleEconomicsHigh respiration rates induce net CO2 emissions in an urban allotment garden in Finland
2025Piaopiao Ke, Beñat Olascoaga, Pasi Kolari, Outi Tahvonen, Sami Haapanala, Tom Kokkonen, Leena Järvi, Markku Kulmala, Anna Lintunen · Urban forestry & urban greening · Finland
A year-round eddy covariance and soil chamber measurement in an urban allotment garden in southern Finland showed it functioned as a net CO₂ source (0.69 kg m⁻² yr⁻¹) despite 77% vegetation cover. High respiratory emissions (4.7 kg m⁻² yr⁻¹) exceeded photosynthetic uptake (4.0 kg m⁻² yr⁻¹), likely due to elevated soil organic carbon (13.4 ± 8.7%) and high soil C:N ratio from management amendments. These findings challenge assumptions about urban gardens as inherent carbon sinks and suggest carbon-smart management practices are needed.
Environmental trade-offsClimate changeOrganic cycleCommunityEnhancing Youth Agricultural Literacy with Vertical Farming in Non-Formal Education Settings
2025Adhisty Puri Damayanti, Norbertus Citra Irawan, Natalia Deswita Fitriyani, Zainal Mustofa, Agustina Tri Suryaningsih, Dewi Permatasari · Journal of Community Capacity Empowerment · Global
A community service program at PKBM Cahaya Rejeki involved 20 students in hands-on workshops to build vertical gardens using recycled materials. The program aimed to improve urban youth's understanding of vertical agriculture in non-formal settings. A Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed-Rank Test showed a statistically significant increase in students' agricultural knowledge, supported by field observations of increased enthusiasm and confidence.
Food educationCommunityDIYGrowing your own food in small urban spaces
2025Shanurasab K Nadaf, VR Yadahalli, Bebijan Nadaf · International Journal of Advanced Biochemistry Research · Global
This review explores the motivations and practical strategies for growing food in small urban spaces, addressing challenges like limited space and poor soil. It discusses techniques such as vertical gardening, container planting, hydroponics, and raised beds, along with crop selection and resource optimization. The article also examines challenges, success stories, and the role of technology in making urban gardening accessible.
DIYUrban–rural linkageHealthEconomicsCommunityClimate change