Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
4122 results(132 / 165)
Establecimiento de indicadores de calidad física, química y biológica de suelos urbanos de Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba
2013Juan Miguel Moreno Alvarez · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Cuba (Ciudad de La Habana)
This doctoral thesis aimed to establish a system of urban soil quality indicators for Havana, Cuba, under different land-use scenarios (agricultural, parks/gardens, wooded areas, idle/underutilized spaces). Researchers selected 35 urban soils in Havana, described their morphological profiles, and determined physical, chemical, and biological properties. Eight variables were selected as soil quality indicators using principal component analysis, and a soil quality index, including one for heavy metals, was defined and evaluated for different uses. The studied soils, heavily affected by human activity, were classified as Urbic or Garbic Technosols and showed high heterogeneity in properties.
Organic cyclePolicyClimate changeThe role of urban agriculture in the development of middle-sized towns: Cases from East Africa
2013Dick Foeken · Journal of Geography and Regional Planning · East Africa
This paper, discussing the role of urban agriculture in the development of middle-sized towns using three East African cases (Nakuru, Morogoro, Mbeya), argues that urban agriculture can be transformed into a thriving sector contributing to employment, income, and food provision. It describes the current situation, focusing on resource allocation, benefits, and environmental challenges, and concludes that a favorable legal and policy setting, support and education, and improved market conditions, led by both government and the private sector, are necessary to achieve this.
EconomicsPolicyFood educationCommunityThe Rise of Urban Agriculture: A Cautionary Tale – No Rules, Big Problems
2013Matthew V. Bradshaw · The William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository (William & Mary) · United States
This Note identifies that while the urban agriculture movement is growing in popularity across the United States, legislatures have often ignored foundational laws related to the sale and distribution of goods, including inspection, labeling, labor, and compensation laws. This oversight has led to the creation of unconstitutional trade barriers in some instances. The study raises a cautionary voice to government officials regarding the potential future consequences of these regulatory gaps.
Governance failurePolicyWhich way for UPA in Africa?
2013Diana Lee-Smith · City · Africa
This paper reviews a synthesis from late 2010 on Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (UPA) data from East and Central Africa, identifying major issues such as UPA's relationship to food security and poverty, its waste recycling effectiveness, and policy responses. The analysis is updated with data from Southern Africa, suggesting UPA's capacity to recycle nutrients, particularly on efficient crop-livestock backyard farms, signifies its potential role in making cities sustainable.
Food sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyOrganic cycleCommunitySurvey and Analysis on the Demand of Urban Agriculture Development on Finance in Tianjin
2013Zhao Shu-ji · Tianjin Agricultural Sciences · China (Tianjin)
In Tianjin, the demand characteristics for financial support for urban agriculture development were investigated. The results showed that peasant households and agricultural zones had multiple needs for agricultural techniques, and urban agriculture development required significant support from government fiscal and monetary resources.
EconomicsPolicyUrban–rural linkageSchool Gardens and pupils in Croatia's economy in the second half of the 19th century, with special emphasis on the school in Sibinj
2013Krešimir Škuljević · · Croatia
This study addresses the topic of student economy and school gardens in Croatia between 1848 and 1880. With a special focus on the school in Sibinj, the effects of legal changes and problems in their implementation were examined. It is noted that existing literature rarely elaborates on related concepts such as teachers' obligations and rights, characteristics of school gardens, the role of local political administration, and the purpose of gardens.
Food educationEconomicsPolicyState of Australian Cities Conference (SOAC) 2013 Comparing food efficient design and planning of built environments in Sydney and Miami
2013Sumita Ghosh · · Global
This paper aims to measure and compare the morphologies and spatial dimensions of three typologies of small local food production spaces—urban small farms, community gardens, and home gardens—in two low-density suburban residential neighborhood case studies in Sydney and Miami. Miami's integrated form-based zoning code, "The Transect," provides design and planning guidelines for six zones from urban to natural areas. Results indicate that morphological analysis can significantly assist in the design and planning of built environments and the formulation of planning policy.
CommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageIl ruolo delle aree non urbanizzate nei contesti metropolitani: scenari di adattamento ai cambiamenti climatici
2013Daniele La Rosa, Francesco Martinico, Riccardo Privitera · TERRITORIO · Italy
This study discusses how non-urbanized areas in metropolitan contexts can be reconsidered for new land uses, combining peripheral urban agricultural production with environmental protection for climate change adaptation and ecosystem service production. Through a review of urban planning instruments in Mascalucia, a new land-use scenario for non-urbanized areas was proposed using a land suitability model that combined land cover and fragmentation analysis.
PolicyClimate changePeri-urban agricultureBiodiversityPemodelan dan Simulasi Berbasis Agen untuk Sistem Kegiatan Urban Farming Komunitas Bandung Berkebun
2013Senoaji Widianto, Cahyadi Nugraha, Khuria Amila · · Indonesia (Bandung)
This study presents an Agent Based Modeling & Simulation method to model the urban farming activities of the Bandung Berkebun Community in Bandung, Indonesia. The model shows the effect of system parameters such as the intensity of community programs, campaigns, and the availability of land for gardening on the growth of these activities. The output of the simulation model suggests that these activities can help to increase the supply of vegetables for the people of Bandung.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyResearch on specialized level of agricultural structure in Beijing
2013LI Rui-fen · Journal of Beijing University of Agriculture · China (Beijing)
This paper aimed to recognize the comprehensive level and scale of the agricultural structure in Beijing, China. It also sought to identify developing differences within Beijing's agricultural sector.
EconomicsPolicyTactics of Development Zone Construction Under the Direction of the Theory of Garden City
2013Ran Shu · Journal of Huaiyin Institute of Technology · China
This study examined the guiding significance of the over 100-year-old Garden City theory for the construction of new development zones in China. Addressing issues like continuous development and urban-rural separation in Chinese cities, the research analyzed the core ideas of the Garden City theory and its relevance for development zone construction. It discussed the ideal composition of development zones, including city groups, urban complexes, urban green space systems, urban agriculture, and rapid transit systems, as well as development tactics encompassing city construction, industrial development, urban-rural integration, social management, and policy formulation.
PolicyUrban–rural linkageAnalysis on Urban Agriculture Park Development Patterns at Home and Abroad
2013LI Xiao-shuan · Anhui nongye kexue · Global
Urban agriculture development patterns at home and abroad were studied, combined with actual cases, to discuss future urban agriculture development patterns. This study aims to provide a reference for the planning of modern urban agriculture parks.
PolicyCommunityCommunity Garden Interventions
2013Melvin Delgado · Columbia University Press eBooks · United States
This chapter focuses on community gardening as an intervention aimed at addressing obesity, tracing its history in the United States back to the late nineteenth century as a response to social and economic crises. While community gardens can achieve various social, economic, political, educational, and health-related goals, the chapter also discusses potential pitfalls of community gardening. It emphasizes a social justice perspective for community gardens, particularly regarding community inclusion and participatory democracy.
Equity & displacementCommunityHealthFood educationPolicyIntegrated Pest Management in Urban Ghanaian Gardens: A Three-Year Impact Assessment
2013Chikwendiu Okechukwu, Femi Adekunle, Sunday Nwokolo · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Nigeria
A three-year mixed-methods study in selected urban areas of Nigeria assessed the impact of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) among gardeners. Community members' understanding of IPM principles significantly improved, with 20% initially reporting successful pest management strategies, increasing to 75% over the three years. The findings suggest that sustained education and support are crucial for effective IPM adoption in urban gardening communities.
CommunityFood educationPolicyUrban and Peri-urban Agriculture in Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Challenges and Opportunities
2013Simon Underhill, Underhill, Simon · Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development · Cambodia
This paper reported on trends in urban agriculture (rice, vegetables, cattle, swine, and poultry) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, since 1993. Approximately 20% (125 square kilometers) of the municipal area of Phnom Penh is used for agriculture, supporting nearly 300,000 livestock. Between 1993 and 2011, livestock populations declined but increased in 2011, while vegetable production and cultivated area decreased, and rice production increased.
Urban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyCalifornia: Making A "Williamson Act" for California's Cities
2013Nicholas F. Reed · Stanford law & policy review · United States (California)
This legal note centers on California Assembly Bill 551 (AB 551), introduced on February 20, 2013 by Assemblyman Phil Ting, which would create incentives for owners of undeveloped urban residential property to lease their land for agricultural use or the creation of urban green space. It positions AB 551 as a potential "Williamson Act for cities," in contrast to the 1965 California Land Conservation Act (the Williamson Act), which was intended to protect rural agricultural land from urban development; AB 551 would instead let local governments encourage commercial agriculture where urban development is infeasible or has stalled. The author reviews the social, economic, and environmental benefits attributed to urban agriculture, legal barriers such as property tax and zoning codes, and the history of differential tax programs protecting agricultural land, before explaining the rationale for the AB 551 proposal.
PolicyEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceGovernance Mechanisms in Food Community Networks
2013Stefano Pascucci, Alessia Lombardi, Luigi Cembalo, Domenico Dentoni · Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) · Global
This paper discusses the concept of the food community network (FCN) — an organizational model in which consumers and farmers use membership-based contracts to pool resources and assign decision and property rights for credence food transactions, combining democratic and communitarian elements with few market or bureaucratic elements — and applies new institutional economics and organizational science arguments to case studies of community-supported agriculture reported elsewhere, finding a wide variety of FCN organizational forms.
CommunityPolicyCSA & TeikeiAusterity urbanism and the makeshift city
2013Fran Tonkiss · City · 欧州
Engages austerity urbanism through temporary designs and provisional uses of vacant urban space in European cities, questioning orthodox development timescales, planned uses and value capture. Provides a theoretical frame for interim vacant-lot gardening such as Sakanoen’s for-sale-site allotments.
CommunityPolicyEconomics재생사업지구 내 공가 및 공터 활용을 통한 유연적인 도시재생 방안 연구 :'일시적 활용' 및 '전술적 도시론'의 사례 고찰을 통해
2013Hyunjin An, 박현영 · 국토계획 · South Korea
Overseas cases of "temporary uses" and "tactical urbanism" — including community gardens, Site Pre-Vitalization, Pop-up Town Hall and Temporary Urbanism Initiatives in Washington, D.C. — are reviewed to draw implications for treating vacant real estate as productive rather than useless in Korean urban regeneration. Amid stalled regeneration projects during Korea's economic recession, such small-scale, bottom-up, trial-and-error temporary uses are argued to serve as a first step toward lasting change.
CommunityPolicyModeling for Measuring City Food Footprint with Applied Empirical Analysis
2013Zhenshan Yang · 自然资源学报 · China (Beijing)
A study modeling city food footprint using supply-and-demand data, applied to Beijing over time. Beijing's food footprint grew from 11,800 km2 in 1993 to 29,400 km2 in 2010, about 1.8 times the city's territorial area, while per-capita food footprint stayed roughly stable at 0.127 hectares. The paper concludes that continuing population growth and shrinking arable land will force Beijing's food footprint further outward, and argues the city needs a different development strategy that strengthens local food supply through urban and peri-urban agriculture.
PolicyFood miles & supply chainPeri-urban agricultureEducación para la sustentabilidad: escuelas agropecuarias de alternancia y organizaciones sociales del área periurbana sur del Gran Buenos Aires
2013Ramón Isidro Cieza, Claudia Cecilia Flores, Lía Nora Tamagno, María Margarita Bonicatto, Natalia Agustina Gargoloff, María Luz Blandi, María J. Lermanó · Americanae (AECID Library) · Argentina (Buenos Aires)
The potential of urban and peri-urban agriculture (AUP) is increasingly recognized in cities across Latin America and the Caribbean, according to this 2013 piece on Argentina, because large quantities of food are produced in urban peripheries.
CommunityFood educationPeri-urban agriculturePolicy我国都市农业问题研究的学术影响力分析——基于1991-2012年CNKI论文数据的分析
2013秦疏影 · Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Sunyatseni · China
A bibliometric analysis of Chinese research literature on urban agriculture indexed in the CNKI database from 1991 to 2012 examined five dimensions: the distribution of publications by year, by researcher, by research institution, by academic influence, and by discipline. The analysis found that dominant resources for urban agriculture research were concentrated in Beijing and the developed eastern coastal provinces and cities, that research institutions were mainly universities, and that research hotspots were concentrated in agricultural economics. The study recommends increasing resource allocation and research effort in western China to promote urban agriculture research there.
PolicyA Case Study of Construction of Special Database on Urban Agriculture in Library of Beijing University of Agriculture
2013Qianning, Liu · 亚洲农业研究：英文版 · China (Beijing)
With the development of urban agriculture and digital libraries, theoretical research and development of specialized databases on urban agriculture is described as an inevitable trend. Based on an analysis of the advantages of the urban agriculture special database built by the library of Beijing University of Agriculture, the study examines the current status and problems of that database and proposes a development path for it.
PolicyInfluencing Analysis of Farmer's Willingness in Urban-Rural Harmony Achievement
2013Cao We · Economic Geography · China
This study first divided Pukou District, Nanjing City, China into four land-use functional zones — an optimized/integrated zone, a key development zone, an urban agricultural zone, and an ecological tourism zone — based on each town's resource and environmental endowments and development intensity and potential. Using survey data from 201 households in the study area and a BP artificial neural network model, it then analyzed how farmers' willingness influenced urban-rural harmony development across zone types. Satisfaction with relocation and with social insurance were the main influencing factors in the optimized/integrated zone; willingness toward large-scale land operation, worry about retirement life, and satisfaction with relocation were the main factors in the key development zone; and worry about retirement life, willingness toward large-scale land operation, and satisfaction with relocation were the main factors in both the urban agricultural zone and the ecological tourism zone. The study concludes that urban-rural harmony development should be pursued through differentiated approaches tailored to regional characteristics and to differences in farmers' willingness.
Urban–rural linkagePolicyCommunityLa Vega de Granada: De un espacio agrario en crisis a un complejo paisaje cultural
2013Raúl Puente Asuero · Revista de estudios regionales · Spain
Based on 30 interviews conducted between May and November 2011 with farmers, farming associations, irrigation associations, the University of Granada, business associations, local councils, political parties and citizen platforms such as Salvemos la Vega, this study examined La Vega de Granada, the agrarian landscape along the River Genil in central Granada province, Spain. It shows that this once-unified agrarian landscape has, in recent decades, become a fragmented and discontinuous aggregation, and reports that in the absence of administrative coordination, social movements have taken the lead in protecting and revalorizing its agrarian heritage.
Urban–rural linkagePolicy