Research & reports

Can Xu · Applied Mathematics and Nonlinear Sciences · Global

This study demonstrates advancements in sustainable urban planning through an an AI-driven decision support system. Experimental results show solar panel efficiency at 25%, rainwater harvesting capacity at 600 liters per square meter, and 3 square meters of community garden space per resident. The system also provided 1.5 bike-sharing stations per 1000 residents, exceeding market averages in several areas.

Yichen Jiang, He Fang, Shihui Li, Hang Lu, Rouran Zhang · Land · Global

This paper compares urban agriculture (UA) patterns in Europe and China using bibliometric analysis of Web of Science and 2230 CNKI publications, alongside field research on nine European practices and UA development in Hangzhou, China. The study recommends that China consider European approaches for realizing social and cultural benefits in future UA practices. It also suggests integrating UA projects into urban green space planning and rationalizing construction types.

M. Malek Lou, S M Mirdamadi, Shahab Alddin Alddin Shokri, S. J. F. Hosseini · Brazilian Journal of Biology · Iran

A survey study was conducted in Ghazel Dareh village, Markazi province, Iran, to design a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model for increasing food security. Questionnaires were administered to 110 active farmers, with 84 responses collected. The results indicated that economic, socio-institutional, policy-making, educational, and infrastructural factors significantly influenced CSA development. Infrastructural factors had the largest effect (impact factor 0.88), while socio-institutional factors had the smallest (impact factor 0.54). All impact factors were positive, suggesting that improving these factors could enhance CSA development in the study area.

Prajal Pradhan, Daya Raj Subedi, Kshitij Dahal, Yuanchao Hu, Prakriti Gurung, Sijal Pokharel, Sagar Kafle, Biplav Khatri, Sudeeksha Basyal, Monika Gurung, Aruna Joshi · Cell Reports Sustainability · Global

This systematic analysis of 1,450 urban agriculture publications examined its impacts on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It found urban agriculture is linked to all SDGs, with 142 targets showing positive sentiments and 136 showing negative sentiments, with positive sentiments roughly double the negative. The study concludes that urban agriculture does not inherently contribute to sustainability, as its impacts depend on specific practices and require tackling identified hurdles.

Kinanti Indah Safitri, Oekan S. Abdoellah, Budhi Gunawan · Jurnal Sosial Humaniora · Global

This study in Indonesia investigated the commercialization of urban agriculture from a political ecology perspective, using mixed methods including a questionnaire and interviews. It found that the commercialization index for urban farmer households was 94.71%, indicating most harvests are market-oriented. While commercialization contributes to food safety and environmental stability through regulatory instruments, farmers are increasingly entangled in partnerships with agricultural companies, leading to a loss of authority over production methods, input types, and selling prices.

Anila Kausar, Viola Vambol, Sergij Vambol, Saima Sultana Sharfi · International Journal of Economic and Environmental Geology · Pakistan (Karachi)

This study conducted a Land Use Land Cover (LULC) analysis of Murad Memon Goth, a peri-urban area of Karachi, Pakistan, comparing data from 2013 and 2021. The results revealed a 9.6% increase in settlement sprawl, indicating significant encroachment on agricultural lands. Cropland area decreased from 38.86% in 2013 to 26.11% in 2021, highlighting a negative trend for peri-urban agriculture in the region.

Beata Sirowy, Deni Ruggeri · ˜The œGeojournal library · Global

This chapter reflects on urban agriculture practices in public spaces, emphasizing their unique role in the individual and communal well-being of city dwellers. It concludes with a brief reflection on the future trajectories for urban agriculture practices in compact cities.

Cecil C. Konijnendijk · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · Global

This chapter examines the diverse uses of urban green spaces, encompassing recreation, biodiversity conservation, public health, and regulatory ecosystem services, with food production also re-emerging. Changing urban populations, including cultural diversity and ageing, have altered demands and uses. The study identifies a critical need to manage potential conflicts and trade-offs among these varied demands, despite many uses being able to coexist.

Matthijs T. Wessels, Gert Jan Veldwisch, B.J.M. van Vliet, Alphonce Kyessi, Shaaban M. Mgana · Water International · Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)

This study examined the policy dynamics of irrigated urban agriculture in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, using stakeholder interviews and a literature review. It found that while irrigated urban agriculture is positively received for its productivity, it faces challenges from discourses prioritizing health and modernity. Authorities pursue modern farming models, but most urban farmers operate with informal and insecure access to land and water, highlighting a tension between planning ideals and urban reality.

Munifah Siti Amira Yusuf, Norsida Man, Nur Bahiah Mohamed Haris, Ismi Arif Ismail, Siaw Shin Yee, Tengku Halimatun Sa’adiah T. Abu Bakar · Sarhad Journal of Agriculture · Malaysia

This study evaluated the effectiveness of Malaysia's Urban Agriculture Program, implemented by the Department of Agriculture since 2010. Primary data from 230 participants were analyzed using PLS-SEM, revealing a positive association between all CIPP factors (Context, Input, Process, Product) and program effectiveness.

Magdalena Biernacka · · Global

Ensuring equal access to attractive green spaces for all urban residents, including vulnerable groups, is crucial due to pandemics, climate change, and lifestyle diseases. Both formal and informal green spaces provide ecosystem services, and smaller green infrastructure can be effective in compact city centers.

Stephen Leitheiser, Rubén Vezzoni · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Global

This paper presents a conceptualization of radical food democracy (RFD), linking diverse economies with diverse citizenship. Diverse economies scholarship, while valuable for theorizing alternative food networks (AFNs), has been criticized for essentializing the autonomy of alternative economic practices, risking the confusion of emancipatory social change with market-embedded products and the displacement of negative impacts. The paper argues that realizing RFD requires both experimenting with new economic practices that create food economies alternative to capital accumulation and cultivating new political subjects capable of universalizing these struggles.

Meriem Korchi, Ouassila Bendjaballah · Indonesian Journal of Social Science Research · Algeria

This study assessed urban actors' perspectives on urban agriculture in Annaba, Algeria, and mapped agricultural activities to integrate them into urban policy. Interviews with decision-makers and farmers, combined with spatial analysis, revealed that while there is interest in urban agriculture, it is not effectively integrated into institutional and legal frameworks. Agricultural plots in cities are often reserved for future urban development.

Consultant Engineer, 107B El. Venizelou str., 73132, Chania, Crete, Greece, John Vourdoubas · International Journal of Current Science Research and Review · Global

This review emphasizes the multiple environmental, economic, energy, and social benefits of green roofs installed on urban buildings. Green roofs are reported to remove atmospheric pollutants, release oxygen, mitigate the urban heat island effect, reduce building energy consumption, improve rainwater management, and promote urban agriculture. Their construction is financially subsidized in several countries due to these benefits, which contribute to urban sustainability and resident well-being.

Bacha Nesrine, Hadj Mohamed Naima · International Journal of Innovative Technologies in Social Science · Algeria (Algiers)

Algerian cities face uncontrolled urbanization, with Algiers experiencing a reduction in agricultural area per inhabitant from 0.82 hectares in 1962 to 0.18 hectares in 2010. This study, using historical analyses, interviews, and field observations, assessed the integration of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in Delly Ibrahim to restore ecological and economic balance and enhance local food security. Findings indicate that UPA can play a crucial role in mitigating negative urbanization effects by preserving agricultural land, ensuring secure local food supplies, and promoting environmentally friendly development.

Carina Rose Layfield · Teaching and Learning Anthropology · Global

This student essay examines a senior thesis project from Barnard College's urban studies program, advocating for the use of container farms to expand urban agricultural education in career and technical education settings. The author reviews their research process, results, and argument regarding the essential role of Perkins Act funding for such programs.

Anna Ternell, Bosse Lagerqvist, Anders M. Nilsson, Mauricio Sagastuy Klie, Martin Berg, Martin Andre-Bae Pedersen, Maciej Lasocki, Márta Kreidlmayer, Csaba Oláh, Zoltán Szekér, Sándor Némethy · Ecocycles · Global

This study investigated the integration of ecosystem-centred urban planning and multifunctional land use into landscape conservation strategies to foster sustainable and resilient urban environments. A mixed-methods approach combined a comprehensive literature review, case study analysis from various European cities, and the development of a conceptual framework and a novel urban metabolism model. The results demonstrated how urban agriculture and ecosystem-centred planning can be effectively utilized to enhance landscape conservation and urban sustainability.

Anjoulie Brandner, Karolina Taczanowska, Brenda Maria Zoderer, Christoph Schunko · Urban forestry & urban greening · Austria (Vienna)

A survey of 458 respondents in Vienna, Austria, analyzed urban wild food foraging locations and preferences for urban green spaces (UGS). 1239 foraging locations were identified across 9 UGS types, with forest and meadow landscapes, parks, and UGS mosaics being most utilized. Foragers' major concerns were contamination from traffic and dogs.

Bernard Afiik Akanpabadai Akanbang, Millicent Awialie Akaateba, Prosper Issahaku Korah · Discover Cities · Ghana (Wa)

This exploratory cross-sectional survey in seven rapidly growing neighborhoods in Wa, Ghana, administered 285 questionnaires to residents to understand motivations, challenges, and constraints of home gardening. Results showed 56% of respondents had gardens, primarily motivated by beautification (56.1%) and food production (52.3%). Limited space (49%) and busy schedules (34%) were identified as main barriers. The study found that while garden ownership aligned with the autonomy need, the relationship need, which correlates with environmental motivations, was notably low among residents. This indicates a limited effect of environmental awareness on home gardening motivation in the surveyed population.

Fabián Adolfo Aguilera-Martínez, Fabián Alonso Sarmiento-Valdés, Juan José Castiblanco-Prieto · Ediciones Comunicación Científica eBooks · Colombia (Bogotá)

This 2024 interdisciplinary study examined transformation dynamics in urban fringe territories, focusing on Bogotá, Colombia, with cases in Guatemala and Costa Rica. Using participatory methodologies, it identified community participation, environmental management, territorial planning, and social empowerment as key transformative elements. Community workshops and projects like "Nuestra Casa, Nuestra Huerta" demonstrated the importance of collaborative design, public space recovery, and urban agriculture for sustainable urban fringe transformation.

Mariana Sanchez Salvador · · Portugal (Lisbon)

This paper examines the historical evolution and current state of Lisbon's foodscape. Historically, Lisbon possessed large agricultural spaces and a tight-knit food network, but nowadays, food has largely disappeared from the public realm. Mapping past and present urban food assets is key to providing a comprehensive portrait of Lisbon's foodscape and its potential for solutions.

Gustavo Nagib · Atlantis highlights in social sciences, education and humanities/Atlantis Highlights in Social Sciences, Education and Humanities · Global

This qualitative study, conducted between 2016 and 2022 in São Paulo, Paris, and Lausanne, explored the relationship between urban agriculture, activism, and the right to the city. It found a convergence between discourse and practice in intraurban horticulture, emphasizing public space reappropriation, social bond strengthening, urban biodiversity promotion, and a new city-nature relationship. Community gardens in all three cities serve as hubs of collective experience, offering a critique of contemporary cities and an alternative to urban life.

Nour Alkhaja, Khaled Alawadi, Kholoud Almemari, Ghalya Alshehhi · Progress in Planning · Global

This literature review of 51 articles examines how urban agriculture (UA) is practiced, institutionalized, and sustained, focusing on governance. It identifies consistent challenges such as discord between civil and municipal actors, contextual factors hindering supportive policies, and urban densification encroaching on UA land. These issues lead to informal or constrained UA practices and tenure insecurity.

Lesli Hoey · Urban agriculture · Global

This paper highlights that urban agriculture (UA) serves as a vital lifeline for food and income security for many urban growers in the Global South. However, it notes that many governments in the Global South actively resist UA in the name of "modernization," and by promoting supermarkets and restricting informal food markets, they potentially undermine the positive impacts of UA on urban food security and poverty.

Ahmed Alhuseen, H. M. A. M. Omer, Eva Pauditšová, Hussein M. Sulieman, Mária Kozová, Pavel Cudlín · · Sudan (Khartoum)

A study assessed spatial accessibility disparities and users' opinions regarding public green spaces (UGSs) in Khartoum State, Sudan. Using GIS and questionnaires, it evaluated potential accessibility to 44 urban parks, community gardens, and city forests within 5, 10, and 15-minute travel intervals. Results showed inequitable access opportunities to UGSs, primarily favoring first-class residential areas. Within a 5-minute walking interval, the UGSs service zone covered less than 1% of the population. User opinion assessment revealed that 80% of parks required entrance fees, and the study concluded that UGS accessibility does not correspond to international quality of life indices.