Research & reports

Kyoungjin Lee, Junghan Sung · Journal of East Asian Landscape Studies · South Korea

In 2018, Yesan-gun implemented a "Village Community Garden Project" at Sapti Park, Yesan-eup, using a design charrette method. This study describes the design process, from planning to construction, demonstrating how residents' opinions were incorporated into the design drawings for the community garden. The project aimed to advance user-participation design methods and examine the role of storytelling in transforming community garden plans.

Melinda R.S. Moata, Oskar Kollo, Yofris Puay, Yos Rhuma, Charles Tlonaen, Zakharias Duka · PARTNER · Indonesia (Kupang)

This survey evaluated 10,078 hectares of unmanaged land in Lasiana, Kupang city, Indonesia, to assess its capability for urban agriculture. The study found that two land units were classified as Class III land capability due to limiting factors such as soil depth, erosion level, soil fertility, drainage, and stoniness. Recommendations for land management included increasing soil depth and applying urban forest or urban farming development with multifunctional land uses.

Jeffrey Hou · Urban Studies · Taiwan (Taipei)

This study examined the ongoing outcomes of Taipei's 'Garden City Initiative' amidst rising concerns for food security and climate adaptation. Based on interviews and participant observations during the initial period of advocacy, planning, and implementation between 2014 and 2017, it suggested that policy formation and implementation may require opportunistic actions involving a variety of actors. The case of Taipei indicates the need for strategic adaptation of the existing bureaucratic structure, while mobilizing its strengths and resources.

김정식, 한미영 · · South Korea

This study examined the suitability of urban agriculture expert training programs in South Korea, surveying students in Daejeon in 2018. Over 60% of students viewed experts as knowledge transmitters, with most motivated by qualification acquisition. While major city programs focused on basic cultivation, the study concluded that current curricula are insufficient for future urban agriculture trends. It recommended adding programs on urban community understanding, industrialization, cooperative agriculture, and farm management.

Jung-Min 최정민Choi, Yu-Na 김유나Kim, Dong-Chan 박동찬Park · 주거환경(한국주거환경학회논문집) · South Korea

This study explores the concept and direction for Korean community gardens, distinguishing them from urban agriculture based on semantic network analysis. Urban agriculture keywords relate to cultivation and economic effects, while community garden keywords involve residents, exchanges, and community formation. The paper proposes a definition and classification of Korean community garden types from broad (four types) and narrow (horticulture-centered 'Nuri garden' with four sub-types) perspectives. An expert survey indicated a preference for joint cultivation types within residential areas, walking distance, and open designs.

Rakhmawati Indriani · JMSP (Jurnal Manajemen dan Supervisi Pendidikan) · Indonesia (Malang)

This qualitative case study at SMAN 7 Malang, Indonesia, described the management of its School Garden program, including its background, planning, implementation, evaluation, and supporting factors, as part of the Adiwiyata program. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, observation, and documentation. The study found that the program's success was evident in the school's achievements post-Adiwiyata implementation, and its execution and management were strongly influenced by the support and participation of all school members.

Zhenzhong Si, Theresa Schumilas, Steffanie Scott · · China

This chapter proposes a typology of alternative food networks (AFNs) in China, including community-supported agriculture farms, ecological farmers' markets, buying clubs, and garden plot rentals, illustrating each with specific cases. It then examines the socio-economic and political conditions shaping China's AFNs, arguing that Chinese AFNs are consumer-driven and that there is a potential inconsistency in values between AFN organizers and their customers. This consumer-driven feature is argued to shape the AFNs' alternativeness by foregrounding food safety requirements as a core attribute while giving less prominence to ecological and social values.

문보희, 위사양, 오충현 · 한국환경생태학회 학술발표논문집 · South Korea

From June 1 to November 27, 2017, a field survey covered 697 middle and high schools in Seoul (382 middle schools, 315 high schools), examining buildings, rooftops and on-site land use. Urban agriculture was already under way at 473 schools (68%), covering 55,413 m² in total — ground-level plots (20,103 m², 36%), rooftop plots (16,783 m², 30%), box planters (14,954 m², 27%) and flower beds (2,573 m², 7%). An additional 544 sites totaling 711,636 m² were identified as usable for urban agriculture, present at 304 of 382 middle schools (383,199 m², 80%) and 240 of 315 high schools (328,437 m², 76%). By type, rooftop space accounted for the large majority of this usable area (685,026 m², 96%), with box planters (16,136 m², 2%) and ground plots (10,474 m², 2%) contributing little, and flower-bed introduction judged difficult. Of flat-roofed buildings, 67% remained unused for solar panels, green roofs, or rooftop gardens.

Hayuning Anggrahita, Guswandi Guswandi · Jurnal Wilayah dan Lingkungan · Indonesia (Jakarta)

In Jakarta, Indonesia, where urbanization is converting agricultural land and other green open space to built-up use and agriculture contributes only 0.1% of the city's economy, a study using descriptive quantitative analysis together with interviews and scientific photography set out to identify the multifunctionality of urban agriculture. The results show that Jakarta's agriculture is scattered due to urbanization pressure, and that it persists by transforming from a single staple-food-production function into multiple functions, environmental, cultural, property-rights protection and others, creating new urban values.

FX Andy Sutrisno, Bakti Setiawan · Jurnal Perencanaan Pembangunan The Indonesian Journal of Development Planning · Indonesia

This case study of Surakarta, Indonesia's sustainable agricultural land protection policy -- focusing on conservation within the urban environment -- used field observations, stakeholder interviews, and secondary data to analyze the local government's policy and how urban farmers and landowners perceive it. It found that the policy is not well understood by the farmers and landowners directly affected, that the local government itself views urban agricultural land mainly from an economic standpoint and is less supportive of conservation, and that farmers and landowners, while believing the policy is essential, reject it because designation requires relinquishing some land rights and the incentives offered are not economically sufficient to compensate them.

Sheila Savitri · Jurnal Perpustakaan Pertanian · Indonesia

A bibliometric study of the Buletin Pertanian Perkotaan (Urban Agriculture Bulletin), published by BPTP Jakarta (Indonesia's agricultural technology assessment center) over its first six years, 2011–2016, examining author profession distribution, subject distribution, article distribution, citation currency, citation source distribution, author collaboration levels, and author productivity, using bibliometric methods and the Subramanyam formula for collaboration level. Across 2011–2016 the bulletin published 56 articles by 46 authors, both from within and outside BPTP Jakarta; researchers were the most common author type (25 people: 19 from BPTP Jakarta, 6 external), and agricultural cultivation was the leading subject with 25 articles. Article output peaked in 2013–2015, at 10 articles per year each. Citation currency needs improvement: per LIPI's 2012 guideline requiring cited references to be five years old or newer, the majority of references in the bulletin's articles—701 of them—were over five years old. By subject, socio-economic agriculture articles drew 43% of their citations from sources under five years old, while post-harvest articles were dominated (43.8%) by citations over ten years old. Citations from scientific journals accounted for only 46.5% of citation sources, well below LIPI's required 80% threshold.

Hok Bun Ku, Yan Hairong · · China

China's food-security crisis, caused by unsustainable development, has diminished the country's farmland through large-scale land acquisitions, ecological restoration projects, agricultural structural adjustments, natural disasters, and pollution, among other factors. This chapter argues that local producers and consumers are not passively waiting for government policy changes but, organized by green social workers, are actively searching for alternatives to achieve self-sufficiency and food security through a new initiative called the "rural–urban alliance." Framed within the social economy perspective advocated by green social work as a way to rethink economic development and consider alternatives to capitalism, the rural–urban alliance and community-supported agriculture (CSA) are positioned as a potential new route for China's sustainable development that could change the pathway of economic development forms that cause inequality and undermine livelihoods. This is a proposed, forward-looking argument, however; the abstract does not report empirical evidence that CSA or the rural–urban alliance have actually mitigated the food-security crisis.

Hae Sun Paik, Young Hwan Lee · Journal of the Korean housing association · South Korea

A South Korean study, set against the November 2011 enactment of the Act on Development and Support of Urban Agriculture, examined whether urban agriculture could help offset the negative image of public rental housing complexes and ease residents' relative sense of loss. Because criteria and systems for establishing community gardens within housing complexes were judged insufficient, the study sought ways to improve the relevant system and regulations. It conducted field studies and manager interviews at 18 domestic housing complexes with community gardens, identifying construction type, garden type and location, and operating systems. The case studies found that community gardens have a positive effect on activating resident community life, and the study concludes that regulatory improvement is needed to formally include community gardens as a type of communal facility.

Vu M.H., Kawashima H. · Habitat International · Vietnam (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City)

A comparative study of suburban districts in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City finds mixed livelihood outcomes following agricultural land acquisition for urbanization, with early non-farm diversification aiding adaptation in Hanoi but elderly and low-education farmers facing unemployment and insecurity.

· Journal of Cleaner Production · China (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei)

A study assessing the water footprint of the Jing-Jin-Ji (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) urban agglomeration in China, highlighting pressure on water resources from agricultural and industrial production.

위사양, 문보희, 김선영, 오충현 · 한국환경생태학회 학술발표논문집 · South Korea

This study aimed to derive urban forest creation and management plans considering urban biodiversity enhancement for Goyang Ecological Park in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. The research analyzed the park's current status using SWOT analysis, reviewed domestic and international cases, and conducted a GAP analysis to derive strategic directions and management plans. Proposed measures include re-zoning internal spaces, enhancing connectivity between ecosystems, promoting biodiversity through artificial management, and indirectly enhancing biodiversity through environmental education.

Guo-sheng MA, Juan Chen · DEStech Transactions on Engineering and Technology Research · China (Suzhou)

This study analyzed the current problems and strategic objectives of modern urban agriculture in Suzhou, China. It proposed measures including optimizing the spatial form of "four million acres," building a modern agricultural industry system, cultivating modern agricultural management entities, and enhancing agricultural technology and ecological protection. The aim was to improve agricultural specialization, innovation, and leisure tourism.

Henny Sri Mulyani R, Asep Agus Handaka Suryana, Dadang Sugiana · EDUTECH · Indonesia (Bandung)

This qualitative descriptive study in Bandung City, Indonesia, investigated the communication model used by the Department of Agriculture and Food Security to disseminate the "Kampung Berkebun" urban farming program. The program involved two activities: disseminating information to subdistrict and village heads, and providing training to up to 50 residents per village. The communication model employed was found to be both mechanistic and interactional, drawing from David K Berlo (1960) and Schramm (1954) models.

권오성, Oh-Sung Kwon, 최동식, 김진효, 이순주 · 한국산림휴양학회지 · South Korea

This study aimed to quantitatively analyze the multifunctional aspects of urban agriculture and develop a corresponding functional chart. Through literature analysis, 17 evaluation indicators, including area, view, and temperature reduction, were selected, and five types of urban agriculture were categorized into three factors. Based on expert surveys, weights were assigned to each function and indicator, and an evaluation model using a summation matrix method was established. The developed functional chart was applied to actual sites, yielding value ratings of Grade I and Grade II for Cheoneulsan Public Urban Agriculture Farm and Joilgol Public Urban Agriculture Farm, respectively, indicating high value.

최희준, 이정아, 손희정, 조동길, 송영근 · · South Korea (Seoul)

This study analyzed the landscape ecological characteristics of green spaces in the high-density built-up area of Yeoksam-Dong, Seoul, and evaluated the potential for establishing green networks through urban garden introduction. The current condition of green spaces was identified across five categories: street trees, private gardens, public pocket gardens, rooftop gardens, and parks, followed by landscape index analysis and connectivity assessment. Results indicated that street trees, private gardens, and public pocket gardens show high potential for creating green networks in high-density urban areas.

Tutik Rachmawati, Priska Diah Pertiwi · Policy & Governance Review · Indonesia (Bandung)

This research aims to evaluate the best practices of the smart environment program in Bandung City, Indonesia, and analyze the positive transformations it brings. The analysis is based on three core activities (creation of thematic parks, restoration and revitalization of rivers, urban gardening/farming) and eight aspects of smart environment (provision of public open space, good waste management, slum areas management, river revitalization, eliminating "chopsticks syndrome" in building construction, alternative energy, reducing CO2 production, urban farming). A qualitative research method was used, and data was collected from 30 interviews.

Piyapong Boossabong · Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks · Thailand (Bangkok)

This chapter examines how the policy network on urban agriculture in Bangkok, Thailand, developed collaborative governance mechanisms to cope with food distribution disruption caused by floods. It argues that deliberation between policy network members and flood victims determines meaningful collective actions that enhanced victims' resilience and promoted fair distribution, political and cultural recognition, and parity of participation.

Yonghong Hu, Gilles Vincent, Xiao‐Ya Chen · Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden · China (Shanghai)

This case study examines the role of Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden in Shanghai's sustainable development over six years. The garden collaborates with local government on the "City Green Master Plan," supports urban horticulture and phytoremediation, and conserves 14 critically endangered plant species in East China. It also develops new plant varieties for functional food and educates the public on plant conservation.

Amara Roca Iglesias · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Asia

This research explores the possibility of introducing urban gardens into the former floodplains of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, integrating them into a planned river park. It investigates how urban agriculture could reduce the Kathmandu Valley's dependence on neighboring countries for food and enhance self-sufficiency. The study suggests changing current government policy to promote urban agriculture, shorten food supply chains, and foster social and citizen participation.

Putu Rudy Satiawan · Jurnal Penataan Ruang · Indonesia (Surabaya)

This paper discusses the relevance of urban agriculture development in Surabaya, Indonesia. It argues that urban agriculture can create positive synergy as an alternative for efficient and effective use of city resources, revitalizing idle and public lands. Citing Havana's experience where urban agriculture transformed a crisis into productivity, the paper aims to explore the possibility of Surabaya embracing urban farming as an economic and socio-cultural development alternative, emphasizing the commitment of citizens and government.