Research & reports

· Land · China

Analyzes cropland loss under leap-frogging, edge-spreading, and interior-filling urban expansion in China (1990–2020), finding a 6.3% cropland reduction with edge-spreading contributing most.

· Nature Food · China

A geospatial analysis of renewable-fuelled plant factories across China's city-level regions. It finds they can secure large-scale vegetable supply but require a low-carbon energy transition to deliver environmental benefits.

· Environmental Policy and Governance · China

Analyzes how citizen participation in China's community gardens is governed within state-licensed frameworks, conceptualized as an 'authoritarian commons.' Examines the relationship between participatory greening and governance.

· Urban Planning · Germany (Berlin)

Critically reflects on the transformative potential and democratic character of the Berlin Food Policy Council (Ernährungsrat).

Leimkühler · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · Germany (Dortmund)

Examines the food network of the city of Dortmund and how it can support the transformation of urban food systems.

Ferreira, Mélice Dias, Lopes · International Journal of Urban and Regional Research · Global

International analysis of urban agriculture policy in contexts of austerity. Examines tensions between citizen movements and governance, food sovereignty and self-determination.

· Routledge Online · Sub-Saharan Africa

Analyzes impact of rapid urban sprawl on smallholder farmers and agricultural land in sub-Saharan Africa. Documents threats from agricultural-to-residential/commercial conversion, need for urban planning integration, and food security crisis.

· ScienceDirect · Sub-Saharan Africa

Uses agent-based modeling to analyze future scenarios of urban land-food systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Examines potential for urban agriculture growth and effectiveness of policy interventions.

· ScienceDirect · Sub-Saharan Africa

Examines legislative reform and urban planning integration needed to secure sustainable urban agriculture in sub-Saharan African cities. Notes only 3.62% of countries have implemented national urban policies with focus on urban farming integration.

FAO & Government of Brazil · FAO Official News · Latin America

FAO and Government of Brazil launched a regional project in May 2025 to strengthen urban agrifood systems across Latin America and the Caribbean. Seven countries participate (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Peru). Aims to build integrated food systems connecting urban and rural areas, strengthening small-farmer capacity.

· Scientific Reports · Nonthaburi, Thailand

Uses stratified random sampling of markets, restaurants, institutions, and residential areas to analyse urban food waste generation and sustainable management strategies in Nonthaburi Municipality, Thailand.

Trenkner M., Kiesel A., Bauerle A., Lewandowski I. · Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining · Stuttgart, Germany

Analyses the technical potential of urban biorefinery concepts for recycling plant nutrients from waste streams and wastewater in a German metropolitan region to close the urban-rural nutrient loop.

Metson G., Sieczko A., Small G. · npj Urban Sustainability · United States and Sweden

Field measurements in Minneapolis-St. Paul and Linkoping, Sweden showed that fertilized urban agriculture plots leached nitrogen and phosphorus, with legacy soil-management effects amplifying phosphorus losses, indicating urban growing can contribute to water-body eutrophication.

Imam M., Glaros A. · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Global

A carbon assessment of building-integrated agriculture (vertical farms, rooftop greenhouses, soil-based urban farms) concluded that BIA does not consistently deliver climate benefits over conventional agriculture and can be less resource-efficient, with soil-based urban farms carrying the highest embodied carbon per kilogram.

Aborujilah 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.

Lovat 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.

Gargaro M., Harris Z. · Food and Energy Security · United Kingdom

Even on renewable electricity, vertically farmed lettuce emitted about 0.93 kg CO2e/kg versus about 0.57 for UK field farms, with higher impacts in all but one category (water) and roughly twice the land footprint.

Lecole P., Preget R., Thoyer S. · Ecological Economics · France

Premised on the economic fragility of small market gardens and their need for public support, the study compares France's coupled aid program with a small-farmers subsidy scheme, reflecting that the sector struggles to be self-sustaining without policy support.

Kanosvamhira T. · Journal of Urban Affairs · Cape Town, South Africa

While external support from nonprofits and government agencies matters for garden survival, poorly managed support can undermine local ownership and autonomy. The case study shows how governance failures threaten the sustainability of community gardens.

· 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.

Bloomfield R., Miedema K., Lee D., Ellis R., Nasr J. · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · Canada (London, Ontario)

Evaluates London, Ontario's 2017 stand-alone Urban Agriculture Strategy—Canada's first. Finds that nearly eight years on, many of the strategy's goals remain unrealised, attributing the implementation gap to shortfalls in leadership, staff capacity, technical guidance, and communication.

Deborah Dutta, Amrita Hazra · SAGE Journals · India

Explores socio-ecological dimensions of urban gardening practices in India. Examines how citizen-driven agriculture nurtures social spaces, ecological value, and innovative imagination in urban contexts.

Urban 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

· MDPI · Spain / Worldwide

Worldwide survey and case studies in Spain (Valladolid and Segovia) analyzing citizens' perceptions of urban agriculture and its contribution to food security. Collected over 250 responses from nearly all continents.

Leanne Idzerda, Calin Lazarescu, Tricia Corrin, Eric Vallières, Alix Couture, Sara Khan, Lynn McIntyre, Valerie Tarasuk, Alejandra Jaramillo Garcia · Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada · Canada

A systematic review (PROSPERO CRD42021254450) searching four databases to 19 February 2025, with duplicate independent screening, risk-of-bias assessment and certainty grading, on food-based interventions that could reduce household food insecurity (HFI) in Canada. Exposure to food voucher programmes may reduce HFI, but exposure to food box, community gardening, school food, hunting and fishing, and food charity programmes may have little to no effect on HFI. The authors conclude that because HFI is primarily an economic problem, food-based responses are unlikely to have a major impact on overall HFI and a more comprehensive public policy approach is required. This is direct counter-evidence to framing community gardens as a food-insecurity intervention.