Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
4122 results(145 / 165)
Building Integrated Agriculture: Utilising Rooftops for Sustainable Food Crop Cultivation in Singapore
2010Astee L. Y., Kishnani N. T. · Journal of Green Building · Singapore
Examines the commercial viability of building-integrated rooftop farming on Singapore's public housing estates, modeling that nationwide adoption could sharply raise domestic vegetable output while cutting imports and carbon emissions.
EconomicsPolicyWhy farm the city? Theorizing urban agriculture through a lens of metabolic rift
2010McClintock N. · Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 3(2):191-207 · United States
Theorizes urban agriculture through the metabolic rift framework, arguing it addresses ecological, social and individual rifts by rescaling production, reclaiming vacant land, and de-alienating urban dwellers from their food.
CommunityPolicyOrganic cycleDisparities and access to healthy food in the United States: A review of food deserts literature
2010Walker R. E., Keane C. R., Burke J. G. · Health & Place 16(5):876-884 · United States
Systematic review of 31 US food access and food desert studies using nine distinct measures, documenting disparities in access to healthy food across low-income and minority neighborhoods.
WelfareHealthPolicyUrban agriculture, poverty, and food security: Empirical evidence from a sample of developing countries
2010Zezza A., Tasciotti L. · Food Policy 35(4):265-273 · Global
Using household survey data from 15 developing countries, this seminal study analyzes urban agriculture's contribution to poverty reduction and food security among the urban poor, finding it is mostly own-consumption oriented and offers modest but real welfare benefits.
WelfareEconomicsPolicyMultistakeholder Policy Formulation and Action Planning for Urban Agriculture in Lima, Peru
2010Dubbeling M.C.E., Merzthal G., Soto N. · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · Peru (Lima)
Analyzes the multistakeholder policy formulation process for urban agriculture in Lima's Villa María del Triunfo district, demonstrating that inclusive stakeholder engagement produces more effective municipal policies addressing food security, land use, and economic development simultaneously.
PolicyCommunityWelfareThe Dynamics of Urban Agriculture in Hanoi, Vietnam
2010Lee B., Binns T., Dixon A.B. · Field Actions Science Reports (Special Issue 1: Urban Agriculture) · Vietnam (Hanoi)
Field-based research in Hanoi identifies a shift from staple crops to higher-value vegetables, flowers, and ornamentals among urban farmers, and warns that without explicit urban agriculture provisions in city master plans, the practice risks disappearing within two to three decades.
EconomicsPolicyBiodiversityPublic Participation in Post-Fordist Urban Green Space Governance: The Case of Community Gardens in Berlin
2010Marit Rosol · International Journal of Urban and Regional Research · Germany (Berlin)
Argues that the state's new acceptance of citizen-run gardens as green-space governance is an expression of neoliberalization: participation is mobilized to shift fiscal responsibility onto residents. Shows contradictory, self-undermining outcomes of this participatory policy instrument.
PolicyCommunityMultifunctional Urban Agriculture for Sustainable Land Use Planning in the United States
2010Sarah Taylor Lovell · Sustainability · United States
This paper reviews literature on urban agriculture for land use planning in the United States, where interest in urban food production is growing due to economic and food security concerns. It discusses urban agriculture's potential for integrating multiple functions in densely populated areas, from community farms to rooftop gardens. The paper also addresses barriers and constraints, and identifies research opportunities for urban planners and landscape designers to integrate food-systems thinking into city plans.
CommunityPolicyClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceSustainable urban agriculture: stocktake and opportunities
2010Leonie Pearson, Linda Pearson, Craig J. Pearson · International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability · Global
This paper reviews research on urban agriculture, focusing on its social, economic, and environmental sustainability dimensions. It proposes three elements and three scales for urban agriculture, highlighting legal, social, and economic constraints and opportunities. The analysis suggests future research priorities include identifying principles for resilient cities and trialling innovative institutional mechanisms.
PolicyEconomicsCommunityClimate changeCities feeding people: an update on urban agriculture in equatorial Africa
2010Diana Lee-Smith · Environment and Urbanization · Africa (Equatorial Africa)
This article reviews empirical data on urban agriculture in equatorial Africa, primarily East Africa and Cameroon, updating previous work. It quantifies the extent of urban agriculture, assesses its relationship to food security and poverty, and discusses its role in eco-cycles and policy-making efforts in three East African cities. The article concludes that urban agriculture is increasing, beneficial for health and poverty alleviation, but better-off households currently benefit more than poor households.
Food sovereignty & justiceWelfareOrganic cyclePolicyEconomicsUrban Agriculture and Other Green Uses: Remaking the Shrinking City
2010Catherine J. LaCroix · Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons (Case Western Reserve University) · United States (Cleveland)
This paper explores legal challenges faced by shrinking cities, using Cleveland, Ohio as an example. It specifically examines issues related to downzoning urban property for urban agriculture and other green uses, focusing on takings law, fairness, and the limitations of current legal structures for Brownfield revitalization when traditional redevelopment is improbable. The study identifies significant legal constraints and challenges in implementing such land use changes.
Governance failurePolicyUrban–rural linkageEconomicsTheGeography of US Peri-Urban Agricultural Adaptation
2010J. David Clark, Douglas B. Jackson‐Smith, Darla K. Munroe, Jeff S. Sharp, Shoshanah Inwood · Indian Journal of Experimental Biology · United States
This study characterized diverse trajectories of agricultural change in US peri-urban areas, where broader agri-food system changes are compounded by land use pressures. Utilizing farmer and landowner surveys from five distinct peri-urban farming regions across the United States, the research examined different theories of agricultural structural change. The results provide an empirical profile of the types and geography of US peri-urban agriculture and the most common adaptive strategies employed by farmers at the urban-rural interface.
Peri-urban agricultureEconomicsUrban–rural linkagePolicyUrban agriculture and ecological citizenship in Philadelphia
2010Katharine Antonia Travaline, Christian Hunold · Local Environment · United States (Philadelphia)
This study explored urban agriculture's contribution to ecological citizenship in Philadelphia, United States. The analysis was based on participant-observation and open-ended interviews with leaders and community participants from seven urban agricultural organizations. The findings indicate that urban agriculture promotes public participation and social learning about environmental decisions.
CommunityFood educationPolicyThe emergence of urban agriculture: Sydney, Australia
2010David Mason, Ian Knowd · International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability · Australia (Sydney)
This paper explores the history of urban agriculture (UA) in the Sydney region, which emerged as a grassroots response to global forces negatively impacting urban and farming communities. These forces include urban sprawl, supermarket dominance, the fast food industry, and globalization. Community-based promotion of local agriculture is leading governments and organizations to recognize UA as a strategic mechanism for urban communities to address food security and other challenges.
Food sovereignty & justiceClimate changePolicyUrban–rural linkagePower at the Roots: Gentrification, Community Gardens, and the Puerto Ricans of the Lower East Side
2010Miranda Martinez · · United States (Lower East Side)
This work explores the dynamics of gentrification, community gardens, and their impact on the Puerto Rican community in the Lower East Side. It examines class cultures in conflict, neighborhood transformation, and the symbolic significance of the area.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceThe Urban Tomato
2010M. Fantuz · · Cuba (Havana)
This study presents a systematic analysis of urban agriculture in Havana, Cuba. It proposes a lightweight infrastructure, shaped by the existing built environment, aiming to break the constrictions of rigid orthogonal city planning by offering a new layer of walkable and productive public space. The system materializes the socio-spatial characteristics of Havana and is potentially applicable to a large share of the city.
CommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageHavana’s changing urban agriculture landscape: A shift to the right?
2010Charles French, Mimi Larsen Becker, Bruce E. Lindsay · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Cuba (Havana)
This study examined urban agriculture in Havana, Cuba, using secondary data and interviews with 11 urban gardeners. It found that while agrarian reforms after 1991 led to the growth of private urban gardens and cooperatives, Cuba's integration with the global economy and adoption of free-market principles have since forced dramatic adjustments in the urban agriculture sector. This shift presents challenges to the sector's original role in food security.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsCommunitySelection of Leading Industry of Urban Agriculture in Taiyuan City
2010LI Heng-ying · Chinese Journal of Population Resources and Environment · China (Taiyuan)
This article analyzed the comparative advantages of agricultural sub-sectors in Taiyuan City, China, using the location quotient and revealed symmetric comparative advantage (RSCA) methods, based on the theory of comparative advantage. The results showed that Jiancaoping, Qingxu, and Xiaodian districts are superior in characterized agriculture; Yingze, Xinghualing, and Loufan counties in forestry; and Jinyuan, Yingze, and Loutan counties in fishery. Consequently, the industrial development of urban agriculture in Taiyuan can be categorized into four cycles: sightseeing and leisure, characterized, sci-tech demonstration, and cooperative agriculture.
EconomicsPolicyUrban–rural linkagePainting the Town Green: Realities, Challenges, and Possibilities in Mexico City’s Budding Urban Agriculture Movement
2010Molly Alexandra Croog · School for International Training Digital Collections (School for International Training) · Mexico
This paper explores the urban agriculture movement in Mexico City, investigating who practices it, how, and why. It examines the benefits of urban agriculture and its role in a future food system, discussing food security and sovereignty. Three projects—a traditional farm, a government-funded community project, and a household-level organization—are explored, with conclusions on their impact on economics, community, and environment.
Food sovereignty & justiceEconomicsCommunityPolicy住民の都市農業への評価に関する比較分析 : 中国の上海市とハルビン市を対象として
2010美華 朱, 莉莉 木南 · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · China (Shanghai, Harbin)
This study used an internet survey to clarify urban residents' expectations for urban agriculture functions and discuss its sustainability through a comparative analysis of resident assessments in Shanghai and Harbin, China. It notes that expectations for urban agriculture functions and the relative importance of economic efficiency, sociality, and environmental protection vary by location.
EconomicsCommunityPolicyBiodiversityAgronomic considerations for urban agriculture in southern cities
2010Nikita S. Eriksen‐Hamel, George Danso · International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability · Global
Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UA) significantly contributes to the total food requirements of cities, especially in southern cities of the developing world. This review describes agronomic issues unique to UA and identifies possible interventions to address them. Growth-limiting and growth-reducing factors in UA include water availability, nutrient supply, soil degradation, pests, and soil pollution. Addressing these constraints requires action at both field and municipal or regional levels.
Food sovereignty & justiceWelfareClimate changePolicyOrganic cycleAn analysis of markets in Rosario, Argentina.
2010Mariana Ponce, R. Terrile, Marielle Dubbeling, Femke Hoekstra, R. van Veenhuizen · Urban Agriculture Magazine · Argentina (Rosario)
This article describes the Urban Agriculture Programme in Rosario, Argentina, which has been in place since 2002. Implemented by the Municipality of Rosario's Secretary of Social Outreach in cooperation with NGO CEPAR and Pro-Huerta INTA, the program aims to create an economy that integrates people and generates inclusive spaces for production, commercialization, organization, participation, and political advocacy alongside urban farmers. The program is currently in the process of consolidation as public policy.
EconomicsCommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceReuse of wastewater in urban farming and urban planning implications in Katsina metropolis, Nigeria
2010Mohammed Murtala Ruma, Abdullahi Usman Sheikh · African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology · Nigeria (Katsina)
This paper investigated the status of wastewater reuse in urban farming in Katsina, Nigeria, by interviewing 120 households out of 250 registered with the Katsina Urban Planning Authority. It was found that wastewater reuse in urban farming is a full-time, sole income earner for many households and is indispensable for this semi-arid city. However, the urban planning process has not officially recognized or given attention to this important activity.
Governance failureEconomicsPolicyUrban–rural linkageThe Revenue of Garden City—General Observations on its Expenditure
2010Ebenezer Howard · Cambridge University Press eBooks · United Kingdom (London)
This paper presents two quotes: one from G. J. Shaw-Lefevre (1891) criticizing London's chaotic, unplanned urban growth and lack of unified design, and another from The Echo (1890) advocating for attaching half-an-acre of land to public elementary schools for school gardens to teach horticulture and food physiology. Shaw-Lefevre noted that the city developed without considering convenience or aesthetics.
PolicyFood educationZoning Considerations for Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture
2010John Ikerd · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States
According to the American Farmland Trust, approximately 1.2 million acres of U.S. farmland are converted to residential and other commercial uses annually. This farmland conversion is noted to be putting the long-run sustainability of U.S. food production at risk.
PolicyUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justice