Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
4122 results(144 / 165)
The edible city: envisioning the Continuous Productive Urban Landscape (CPUL)
2011Katrin Bohn, André Viljoen · University of Brighton Repository (University of Brighton) · United Kingdom
A 2011 paper from the UK discusses the Continuous Productive Urban Landscape (CPUL), a strategic concept for introducing interlinked productive landscapes into cities. It focuses on the environmental benefits of integrating urban agriculture as one of CPUL's major spatial and functional components, tracing, with reference to international exhibitions and publications, how urban agriculture has moved from a fringe interest toward the center of contemporary urban and architectural discourse. It concludes that while urban agriculture is attracting more attention, further cross-disciplinary work is needed to build the theory underpinning productive landscape design and the policy rationale to support it.
CommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceQuantitative and comprehensive evaluation of ecological security of urban agriculture in Shanghai
2011Zhu Dong-guo · Geographical Research · China (Shanghai)
Using mathematical and econometric methods, an ecological security evaluation index system for urban agriculture in Shanghai was constructed for quantitative and comprehensive assessment. From 1993 to 1998, the agricultural resources security index was stable while the agricultural environment security index fluctuated, the agricultural socio-economic development index declined slightly, and the comprehensive agricultural ecological security index rose and fell in turn; from 1999 to 2008, after a small decrease from 1999-2004, the resources security index grew at an annual rate of 10.43%, while the environment security index, socio-economic development index, and comprehensive index grew at annual rates of 6.97%, 24.65%, and 6.88% respectively. By 2008, per-capita cultivated land in suburban districts, fertilizer application intensity per sown area, the ratio of agricultural comparative advantage, per-capita grain in rural areas, and the frequency of acid rain had become major limiting factors with obstacle degrees below 10.00%, with threats mainly originating from the agricultural resources and environment subsystem while the socio-economic development subsystem's negative influence diminished year by year.
PolicyBiodiversity“三农”转型发展的助推器——四川绵阳涪城区联社服务“三农”掠影
2011杨海云, 勾通 · 中国农村金融 · China
This 2011 article profiles a rural credit cooperative in Fucheng District, Mianyang, Sichuan Province, China, located at the urban-rural fringe in an area experiencing rapid urban-rural integration. Amid the Chinese Communist Party central government's Document No. 1 policy focus on rural issues, and as three rural issues (agriculture, rural areas and farmers) and agricultural industrialization advanced, central and regulatory bodies adjusted requirements and policies for financial institutions supporting these areas. The Fucheng District Rural Credit Cooperative, following the principle of supporting local economic development and aligning with local agricultural industrialization projects and structural adjustment plans, seized these policy opportunities and served as a leading force in agricultural support, achieving three shifts — including a shift from supporting rural village agriculture toward supporting urban, suburban and export-oriented agriculture.
EconomicsPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceCo-constructing the sustainable city: how indicators help us “grow” more than just food in community gardens
2011Ruth Beilin, Ashlea Hunter · Local Environment · Australia
In Australia, a 2011 study developed a set of social and ecological indicators aligned with local government policy areas and accountability frameworks through a participatory process involving local government officers, community garden (CG) members and industry experts. Since Agenda 21, local governments have sought ways to engage urban citizens in building more sustainable cities, and community garden activities are frequently described as contributing to socially and environmentally sustainable local communities, yet a suitable set of indicators for valuing these benefits had not previously been established. The indicators were designed so individuals could use and learn from them, contributing to policy decisions and being meaningful to urban planners and local gardeners. The study demonstrates the practical necessity of devising indicators that CG participants can realistically monitor and that hold political and ideological value for local governments and wider community stakeholders.
CommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceA GIS-based approach for integrating agriculture into urban and peri-urban planning
2011Gerald Forkuor, Pay Drechsel, Olufunke Cofie · CGSPace A Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) · Ghana
With land zoning for urban farming remaining a major obstacle to urban and peri-urban agriculture in most developing countries, a study used Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and multi-criteria analysis to demonstrate how city authorities can integrate farming into their planning. The study was conducted in five districts in and around Ghana's capital city, creating spatial layers representing six influencing factors. Results show that, of the five districts, Tema municipality has the highest percentage of land suitable for agriculture, while Akuapim South has the lowest.
PolicyCommunityPeri-urban agricultureSydney's agricultural lands
2011Borce Dimeski, Philip O’Neill, Sarah James · · Australia
This historical analysis examines the reliability of Sydney-region agricultural data by reviewing Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and non-ABS reports on the Sydney area, including the Gosford and Wyong local government areas, from 1992 to 2009. It finds that although the ABS is widely regarded as the most reliable source for Australia's agricultural data generally, this has not held true for Sydney, where non-ABS reports have repeatedly questioned undercounting of small-scale peri-urban farms, particularly underestimates of the value and number of farms in the fresh vegetable industry; this pushed for methodology changes in the 2005-06 agricultural census that led to substantial upward revisions in ABS estimates of the value, area and number of Sydney farms.
Peri-urban agriculturePolicyThe planning and control of non-constructive land use in rural-urban fringe—Case study in Xixin Changchun
2011Chenggu Li · Journal of Northeast Normal University · China
A study of Xixin, Changchun, China, examining the planning, protection and control of non-constructive land (land not designated for building) at the rural-urban fringe. After analyzing problems stemming from the rapid expansion of construction land at the fringe, it proposes land-use planning approaches - integrating land space, developing urban agriculture, building landscape corridors and ecological barriers, and reserving constructive land - along with three control methods: policy guidance, classification-based regulation, and constraints on the expansion of constructive land.
PolicyPeri-urban agricultureUrban–rural linkageCase Studies of Urban Agriculture
2011Sinan Koont · University Press of Florida eBooks · Cuba
This book chapter opens with a review of various perspectives on urban agriculture in Cuba, gathered by the author through many interviews. It then reports on the author's own urban-agriculture site visits: the Municipality of San Cristóbal (including the IPA Batalla de Rubi hydroponic unit and UBPC El Mango); the Municipality of Matanzas (including Organopónico Triangulo and an Organipónico at the Empresa Forestal); Santiago de Cuba (Organopónicos Luis M. Poz and Roberto Alegre Capriles); and the City of Havana (UBPC Organopónico Vivero Alamar, CCS Antero Regalades Falcón, CCSF Arides Estevez Sánchez, parcela de Falcón, and the patio La Hierba Buena, which holds national-reference status). The chapter is descriptive, presenting site accounts rather than quantitative findings.
CommunityEconomicsPolicy옥상조경 구성 요소들의 특성을 분석한 정량적 유형구분 기준에 관한 연구
2011길승호, 송병화, 양병이 · · South Korea
Based on a survey of 30 green roofs created between 2002 and 2004 by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, this study analyzed the properties needed to reclassify green roofs into three types via cluster analysis. The previous classification, based on structural safety diagnosis type and visual expert judgment on site, was found to require correction. Results showed that the concepts of "rooftop garden" and "green roof" differ from those in previous studies: intensive green roofs referred to as rooftop gardens were closer to integrated management, while green roofs were closer to low management. Reclassification of greening types was also carried out using categorical regression analysis, which extracted factors influencing greening type; the analysis's R-squared value was 95.2%. This result indicated that rooftop gardens are places demanded for high levels of human activity.
PolicyCommunityExpanding Technical Assistance for Urban Agriculture: Best Practices for Extension Services in California and Beyond
2011Kristin Reynolds · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States
In Alameda County, California, the University of California Small Farm Program collected data from 2006 to 2009 through on-site interviews with 52 urban farmers and gardeners, surveys of Extension staff, and participant observation. The study examined characteristics of urban agriculture in the county, operators' challenges and assistance needs, and Extension staff members' interest in expanding programming for urban agriculture.
PolicyFood educationCommunityThe incredible shrinking city
2011James Krohe · Planning · Global
This planning article argues that cities facing steady population decline, which often leads to blight, can treat the situation as an opportunity to create more desirable urban spaces through deliberate planning. It describes comprehensive land recategorization based on ecological criteria, land banks that buy up vacant or abandoned properties for later redevelopment, urban agriculture and green space, and improvements to walkability and transportation infrastructure as elements of strategic planning for shrinking cities.
PolicyCommunityUrban–rural linkageA Study on Quantitative Classification of Styles through Analysing Characteristics of Components in Green Roofs - Focused on the examples in Seoul -
2011Sung-Ho Gil, Byeong-Hwa Song, Byoung-E Yang · KIEAE Journal · South Korea (Seoul)
A study of 30 green roofs created by the Seoul Metropolitan Government between 2002 and 2004, using cluster analysis to reclassify them into three types. The prior classification, based on structural safety diagnosis and on-site visual judgment by experts, was found to need correction. The study redefines the concepts of rooftop garden (intensive green roof) and green roof differently from earlier studies, positioning rooftop gardens as closer to integrated management and green roofs as closer to low management. Categorical regression analysis was also used to extract the factors influencing greening type, with an R-squared of 95.2% for the regression's explanatory power. The results indicate that rooftop gardens are spaces expected to support high levels of human activity.
CommunityPolicyPromoting urban agriculture for sustainable poverty alleviation in Nigeria: Issues for appropriate extension policy
2011ON Nwaogwugwu, JU Ulebor, AC Agumagu, CL Aboh · Journal of Agriculture and Social Research (JASR) · Nigeria
This paper examines rural-urban migration's impact on agricultural and national development in Nigeria and argues that extension policy has focused primarily on rural agriculture, neglecting urban agriculture's role in poverty alleviation. It recommends that extension agencies organize urban-specific extension services to inform smallholder urban farmers about which food products are in demand in urban areas, without presenting original survey or experimental data.
PolicyCommunityEconomicsReproductive Health And The Industrialized Food System: A Point Of Intervention For
2011Tracey J. Woodruff, Patrice Sutton, David Wallinga, Joanne Perron, Michelle Gottlieb, Lucia Sayre · · United States
This review examines evidence that intensive use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, hormones, antibiotics, and fossil fuel in the US food production system, along with chemicals in food packaging, are potentially harmful to human reproductive and developmental health, and argues that policies including changes to the Farm Bill and the Toxic Substances Control Act, plus greater health-sector involvement in sourcing food from urban agriculture programs and farmers, are needed to prevent adverse reproductive effects. The abstract does not report a specific negative or null finding about urban agriculture itself — urban agriculture programs are named only as one proposed sourcing channel within the recommended policy response, not as a subject with measured outcomes.
HealthFood sovereignty & justicePolicy공동체정원과 사회통합기능이 있는 Green Community Rediscovery Center의 설계
2011이응직, 이형숙, 윤은주, 칼루 엑페게어, 고성철 · · South Korea
A South Korean study examined the functions and roles of a Green Community Rediscovery Center (GCRC) in terms of community integration, designed a GCRC incorporating various green roof types, and investigated applying a renewable energy system (e.g., PV) to building greenery. Four functional modules were proposed: an ecopark and community gardens with environmental education programs, a green housing model with education programs, a Discover Science Center, and a green business model with education programs. In design terms, three main functions were presented: community garden functions; establishment of a green business model, community composting system, and urban farming system; and the role of community gardens in social interaction within the GCRC. Air temperature on the green roof (using Sedum sarmentosum as cover) was about 3°C lower than on a non-green roof, indicating potential efficiency gains for PV systems. The study concludes that the proposed GCRC would raise neighborhood satisfaction and quality of life and contribute to social integration and community regeneration.
CommunityFood educationCompostPolicy“3G-Box”复合型生态建筑设计——以“都市农业纳入到建筑系综合楼”设计为例
2011陈波, 杨卫丽, 苏原 · 华中建筑 · China
A design essay (Huazhong Architecture, 2011) presents the "3G-Box" composite eco-architecture concept, using the design of a university architecture-department complex building that incorporates urban agriculture elements as its case example. The paper frames the design around low-carbon, energy-saving, ecological sustainability principles, aiming to create an inclusive, open, interactive, energy-efficient, green building that blends traditional and modern architectural imagery; it is a design proposal rather than a study reporting measured outcomes.
PolicyCommunityOn urban gardening reforestation in Taiyuan
2011Zhu Ke-xian · Shanxi Architecture · China
This paper analyzes the functions and development status of urban garden greening/reforestation in Taiyuan, China, sets out principles and allocation methods for urban afforestation parks, and discusses considerations and design directions for future greening in Taiyuan in terms of lawn planning, forest ecological reforestation, and legal-system development for greening.
CommunityPolicyFORESIGHT PROJECT ON GLOBAL FOOD AND FARMING FUTURES The role of urban agriculture in building resilient cities in developing countries
2011H. de Zeeuw, R. van Veenhuizen, Marielle Dubbeling · · Global
A Foresight Project on Global Food and Farming Futures paper reviews available evidence on the potential of urban agriculture to address urban challenges in developing countries and surveys how local and national authorities view urban agriculture, closing with the authors' perspective on its role in sustainable city development.
PolicyFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changeLas comunidades jardín: antiguas intuiciones para nuestras nuevas ciudades
2011Jordi Franquesa Sànchez · Revista iberoamericana de urbanismo · Spain
A survey of garden communities (urban interventions built around private-garden housing types with strategic use of open space and facilities) in the Catalan region of Spain, spanning the late 19th century to 1960 — the point at which the rise of private-vehicle access marked a substantial shift in community design ideas. The study finds that these garden communities show versatility in adapting to different cultural contexts while retaining their main identifying features, resulting in a wide range of design outcomes and constituting a precedent relevant to the growth of present-day cities.
CommunityPolicyEffect Analysis of Regional Ecological Service Value from Development of Urban Modern Agriculture
2011Xiaohe Gu, Jihua Wang, Lijian Han, Huang Wenjiang, Pan Yuchun · Nongye xiandaihua yanjiu · China (Beijing)
Using multi-temporal Landsat TM imagery to track land-use and land-cover change across a demonstration zone for urban modern agricultural development in Beijing, China, this study built a quantitative ecological-service valuation model based on vegetation cover. Ecological service value increased substantially as urban modern agriculture diversified land-use types and expanded forest, grassland, and water cover, and the results indicate that environmental improvement and increased agricultural production can both be achieved by preserving and better transforming farmland.
BiodiversityPolicyPlanning of Communities Gardens in Morden Cities
2011Fang Wei-xun · Heilongjiang nongye kexue · Global
A brief theoretical piece reviews garden planning as a creative process of translating gardens into design plans guided by economic conditions and principles of art, examining the regularity, function and disadvantages of garden planning to provide a theoretical basis for community garden planning.
PolicyCommunityGrowing Greener Cities
2010FAO · Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) · Global
FAO's programme on urban and peri-urban agriculture, presenting a framework to support city food production for food security, jobs, environment and nutrition.
PolicyCommunityHealthEconomics利用実態から捉えた団地屋外空間の活用による団地再生に関する研究
2010· ランドスケープ研究（日本造園学会誌）73巻5号 pp.469- · Japan
A field study of how danchi outdoor (open) spaces are actually used, examining directions for regeneration through stock utilization; it found demand was highest for children's play, followed by walking and resting, pointing to the need for regeneration plans that promote diverse outdoor uses, including gardens.
CommunityPolicyHealthThe Second Report on the State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
2010Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) · FAO, Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture · Global
FAO's comprehensive global assessment of trends in conserving and using plant genetic resources, documenting genetic erosion, genebank accessions, and policy needs for safeguarding crop diversity for food security.
Heirloom & landracePolicyBiodiversityGenetic erosion in crops: concept, research results and challenges
2010van de Wouw M., Kik C., van Hintum T., van Treuren R., Visser B. · Plant Genetic Resources 8(1):1-15 · Global
Reviews the concept of genetic erosion in crops at the crop, variety and allele levels, analyzing the loss of diversity through replacement of landraces by modern cultivars and the research challenges involved.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityPolicy