Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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Critical findings
7626 results(134 / 306)
University Students’ Opinion on Urban Agriculture Course: A Case Study
2021Hüseyin Berk TÜRKER · Opus uluslararası toplum araştırmaları dergisi · Turkey
This study surveyed the opinions and attitudes toward urban agriculture of 40 third-year undergraduate students from various departments at Uşak University, Turkey—which had recently launched the country's first undergraduate-level urban agriculture course—using an online questionnaire with 19 multiple-choice, yes/no, and fill-in-the-blank questions, analyzed with descriptive statistics and chi-square tests. The results showed students' opinions of the course were positive, its content and materials were considered sufficient, the course was judged suitable for e-learning, and awareness of urban agriculture increased by the end of the course.
Food educationCommunityAdaptation of resilient regenerative agricultural practices by small-scale growers towards sustainable food production in north-central Arizona
2021Isaac Kwadwo Mpanga, Ursula K. Schuch, Jeff Schalau · Current Research in Environmental Sustainability · United States
A study in north-central Arizona, United States, investigated land use and farm practices among small-scale growers and their role in resilient, sustainable local food production. Amid rising pressure from population growth and extreme climate on agricultural land, Arizona's average farm size fell 57% while the number of farms rose 127% between 1997 and 2017, and family farms under 10 acres now make up 50% of the state's farmer population. The study found that 52% of the surveyed small farms were family operations, with regenerative and sustainable practices predominating — cover cropping (27%), compost use (26%), crop rotation (23%), animal or green manure (22%), no-till (21%), and reduced tillage (18%) — while conventional practices such as intensive tillage (5%) and synthetic fertilizers (13%) were less common. For pest, weed, and disease control, 95% of growers used biological, cultural, or mechanical methods versus 5% using conventional synthetic chemicals, and for irrigation, 78% used water-saving methods (drip, subsurface, sprinkler) while 11% used open flood irrigation.
CommunityClimate changeEconomicsOrganic cycleHorta escolar – prática de educação ambiental e de alimentação saudável para crianças em uma escola da zona rural no município de São Miguel dos Campos/AL
2021Laryssa Roberta Alves Farias, Sanádia Gama dos Santos · Revista Interseção · Brazil
A qualitative case study examines a school garden project at a rural school in Arapiraca, Alagoas, Brazil, carried out as part of the Mais Educação program (2018-2019), aimed at promoting good nutrition and environmental education practices by using unused spaces on school grounds for an organic garden. The results describe the development of pedagogical and environmental activities centered on growing vegetables for school meals, with a focus on good nutrition, health, and improving students' quality of life.
Food educationCommunityHealthTracing Lisbon Metropolitan Area’s Foodscape Transformation: From local initiatives to future planning policies
2021Carolina Neto Henriques, Teresa Costa Pinto, Pedro Costa, Teresa Marat-Mendes · Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) · Europe
A study of initiatives transforming the food system at both municipal and civil-society level in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA), Portugal, aimed to characterize these initiatives, examine how they are proposing new food planning agendas, and draw lessons for future planning policy. Its method compared a scenario from a 2014 questionnaire of planning officials with the discourses of 80 public- and civil-society-sector initiatives surveyed in 2019, using an analytical framework grounded in the FAO and RUAF (Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security) recommendations.
PolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceNeither Poor nor Cool: Practising Food Self-Provisioning in Allotment Gardens in the Netherlands and Czechia
2020Sovová L., Veen E.J. · Sustainability (MDPI), 12(12):5134 · Europe
A comparative study of food self-provisioning in allotment gardens in the Netherlands and Czechia, drawing on social practice theory. It argues self-provisioning is neither merely a poverty response nor a trend, holding significant potential for food provisioning that can be supported within alternative food networks and urban sustainability frameworks.
Food lossOrganic cycleCommunityEconomicsA "plan bee" for cities: Pollinator diversity and plant-pollinator interactions in urban green spaces
2020Daniels B., Jedamski J., Ottermanns R., Ross-Nickoll M. · PLOS ONE, 15(7):e0235492 · Europe
A study of pollinator diversity and plant-pollinator interactions in urban green spaces in Germany. Urban community gardens hosted significantly higher pollinator abundance than other park types, comparable to rural reference sites, showing that near-natural design and management, floral diversity, and even small green patches can make cities pollinator habitat.
BiodiversityCommunityPolicy野村不動産が都内で農地貸し出しへ 家庭菜園向けに
2020日本経済新聞 · 日本経済新聞（Nikkei） · Japan
A Nikkei report on Nomura Real Estate partnering with JA Setagaya-Meguro to launch, in November 2020, a monthly subscription 'urban experience farm' for home gardening on over 2,000 sqm of productive green land in Setagaya. With about 200 plots of 3.6 sqm where residents and citizens take part from planting to harvest, it highlights how supported rental farming links the preservation of shrinking urban farmland with citizen participation in agriculture.
CommunityFood educationPolicyOrganic cycleEdible Green Infrastructure for Urban Regeneration and Food Security: Case Studies from the Campania Region
2020Alessio Russo, Giuseppe T. Cirella · Agriculture, 10(8), 358 · Global
An empirical study analyzing ten edible green infrastructure (EGI) urban-regeneration case studies in Italy's Campania region through the lens of community development, involvement and education. It documents how citizen-engaged urban gardens contribute to public health (stress reduction, physical activity) and the regeneration of derelict land, with sustainability strengthened by far-sighted urban planning across all five provinces.
CommunityHealthFood educationWelfareEconomicsThe role of community seed banks in achieving farmers' rights
2020Vernooy R., Sthapit B., Bessette G. · Development in Practice · Global
Drawing on case studies from Bangladesh, Cote d'Ivoire, India, and Zimbabwe, examines how community seed banks operationalize farmers' rights through conservation, access, and seed sovereignty at the local level.
Heirloom & landraceCommunityPolicyBiodiversityAssessment of Genetic Diversity Based on Phenotypic Traits and Microsatellite Markers in Brassica napus L. Landrace in the Kanto Region, Japan (Norabona)
2020Tsuge Kazuki, Chen Ruikun, Yoshioka Yosuke, Motoki Satoru · The Horticulture Journal, 89(1): 12-21 · Japan
Using phenotypic traits and 24 SSR markers, this study assessed the genetic and phenotypic diversity of 'norabona', a traditional Brassica napus leaf-and-stem vegetable of the Kanto region, documenting diversity within this Japanese landrace.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityCommunity緑地協定による自主管理型開発公園の空間的特徴と所有者の維持管理意識 ‐神戸市のマンション開発事例を対象としたケーススタディ‐
2020福本 優, 大平 和弘, 藤本 真里, 赤澤 宏樹 · 都市計画論文集 55巻3号 pp.777-782 · Japan
A case study of self-managed development parks under green-space agreements in private developer condominium projects in Kobe, analyzing spatial typologies and owner maintenance attitudes and showing the need for design guidance toward open green management including community gardens.
CommunityPolicyBiodiversity郊外部住宅地の再生に向けて―上郷ネオポリスにおける取組―
2020小杉 理理子 · 日本不動産学会誌 34巻2号 p.108 · Japan
Introduces the Kamigo Neopolis machizukuri agreement between Yokohama City and Daiwa House Industry, reporting collaboration among residents, government, and the developer to regenerate a suburban detached-housing district through gathering spaces and community building.
CommunityPolicyHealth一般社団法人まちにわ ひばりが丘 2019年度 活動報告書
2020一般社団法人まちにわ ひばりが丘 · まちにわ ひばりが丘 公式活動報告書 · Japan
A milestone report marking transition from developer-led (Daiwa House, Sumitomo Fudosan, Cosmos Initia, etc.) to resident-led governance at former Hibarigaoka Danchi, documenting operation of Hibari Terrace 118 with its shared garden and the evolution of machizukuri.
CommunityPolicyEconomics合計1000㎡の空き家・空き地を、好奇心でつながるコミュニティ農園に。「みんなのうえん」の金田康孝さんに学ぶ、住みたい街のつくり方
2020greenz.jp · greenz.jp · Japan
An in-depth feature by the social-design media greenz.jp interviewing Minna no Uen founder Yasutaka Kaneda, detailing his shift from architecture to farming and how he turned about 1,000 sqm of vacant houses and lots into a curiosity-driven community garden.
CommunityEconomicsFeatures and Functions of Multifunctional Urban Agriculture in the Global North: A Review
2020Orsini F., Pennisi G., Michelon N., Minelli A., Bazzocchi G., Sanyé-Mengual E., Gianquinto G. · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 4, 562513 · Global
Reviews multifunctional urban agriculture in the Global North, systematizing six functions (food production, ecosystem services, social integration, education, health, economy) and showing the functional continuity between rural and urban farming.
BiodiversityCommunityAugmenting agroecological urbanism: the intersection of food sovereignty and food democracy
2020Resler M.L., Hagolani-Albov S.E. · Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems · Global
Constructs the concept of 'agroecological urbanism', discussing—at the intersection of food sovereignty and food democracy—the political and social transformative power of urban-rural food connection.
CommunityImproving lifestyles sustainability through community gardening: results and lessons learnt from the JArDinS quasi-experimental study
2020Tharrey M., Sachs A., Perignon M., Simon C., Mejean C., Litt J., Darmon N. · BMC Public Health · France (Montpellier)
A quasi-experimental study in Greater Montpellier comparing 66 new community garden participants with 66 matched controls found no significant shifts toward more sustainable lifestyles (diet, physical activity, well-being) after one year of garden participation.
CommunityHealthWelfarePeri-urban agriculture as quiet sustainability: Challenging the urban development discourse in Sogamoso, Colombia
2020Feola G., Suzunaga J., Soler J., Wilson A. · Journal of Rural Studies · Colombia (Sogamoso)
Drawing on a survey of 160 peri-urban farming households in Sogamoso, this study applies the concept of 'quiet sustainability' to challenge dominant urban development discourses that frame peri-urban agriculture as backward, demonstrating its role in strengthening social cohesion and environmental sustainability.
CommunityPolicyWelfareFood education'If I want safe food I have to grow it myself': Patterns and motivations of urban agriculture in a small city in Vietnam's northern borderlands
2020Pham T.T.H., Turner S. · Land Use Policy · Vietnam (Lào Cai)
Research in Lào Cai, a small border city in northern Vietnam, finds that access to 'safe and clean' vegetables—motivated by distrust of pesticide use—is the primary driver of urban food growing, rather than subsistence food needs.
HealthCommunityPolicyCOVID-19 Outbreak and Urban Green Space, Food Security, and Quality of Life: Case of Urban Home Gardens in Kandy, Sri Lanka
2020Dissanayake L., Dilini S. · Open Journal of Social Sciences · Sri Lanka (Kandy)
A questionnaire-based study in the Kandy municipal area found that urban home gardens significantly contributed to household food security and quality of life during COVID-19 lockdowns, with social well-being and mental health benefits highlighted across all satisfaction levels.
HealthCommunityFood educationWelfareImpact of Urban Agriculture on Household Income in Zambia: An Economic Analysis
2020Mupeta M., Kuntashula E., Kalinda T. · Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development · Zambia (Kitwe, Lusaka)
Using propensity score matching on survey data from Kitwe and Lusaka, this study finds that urban agriculture participation increases household income by 13.7–19.1%, demonstrating a significant positive economic impact.
EconomicsCommunityPolicyPositive aging benefits of home and community gardening activities: Older adults report enhanced self-esteem, productive endeavours, social engagement and exercise
2020Scott T.L., Masser B.M., Pachana N.A. · SAGE Open Medicine, 8:2050312120901732 · Australia
A study of older Australians examining links between home and community gardening and psychosocial and physical well-being. Older gardeners reported greater self-esteem, sense of productive endeavour, social engagement and exercise, associated with more positive attitudes to ageing. It shows allotments and gardening groups can protect older adults from isolation and support positive ageing.
ElderlyHealthWelfareCommunityCultivating Place: Urban Development and the Institutionalization of Seattle's P–Patch Community Gardens
2020Charlotte Glennie · City & Community · United States (Seattle)
This study examines how culture shapes urban political and economic processes by analyzing documents and interviewing advocates of Seattle's P-Patch community garden program, which has secured near-permanence for its publicly owned sites. It finds that advocates leveraged cultural capital and Seattle's legal-policy infrastructure to institutionalize the gardens within urban planning, but notes that as amenities signaling sustainability the gardens also contribute to gentrification, so equity requires deliberate consideration.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsGardening in Times of Urban Transitions: Emergence of Entrepreneurial Cultivation in Post–Katrina New Orleans
2020Yuki Kato · City & Community · United States (New Orleans)
This study examines the development of the urban cultivation scene in New Orleans over the decade following Hurricane Katrina, focusing on entrepreneurial projects. Contextualizing in-depth interviews with growers, it finds that dominant motives shifted from social missions to economic interests as the city moved from recovery to redevelopment, and argues that the distinction between socially and economically motivated cultivation cannot be easily drawn.
EconomicsCommunityPolicyResilience characteristics of the urban agriculture system in Lansing, Michigan: Importance of support actors in local food systems
2020Caitlin K. Kirby, Lissy Goralnik, Jennifer Hodbod, Zach Piso, Julie C. Libarkin · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States (Lansing)
A descriptive correlational survey (n=92) of the urban agriculture system in Lansing, Michigan, examining demographics, farm characteristics, motivations, barriers, and resilience indicators. Support actors (nonprofits, university extension, municipalities) were most strongly motivated by social and environmental justice, and motivations around community-building and justice correlated significantly with several resilience indicators.
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