Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
472 results(18 / 19)
The purpose of urban food production in developed countries
2012Silvio Caputo · Kent Academic Repository (University of Kent) · United Kingdom
This paper argues for a new role for urban agriculture in developed countries, focusing on environmental, social, and economic benefits. While urban agriculture can contribute to a low-carbon society and food access, it is not currently part of UK government strategies for food security. For urban agriculture to achieve its potential, it needs to become economically viable, requiring research into highly productive methods and business models utilizing local urban resources.
Economic viabilityPolicyEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changeGrowing alone, growing together, growing apart?: Reflections on the social organisation of voluntary urban food production in Britain
2012Richard Wiltshire, Louise Geoghegan · Research Portal (King's College London) · United Kingdom
This chapter explores the social organization of voluntary urban food production in Britain, identifying two dominant modes: collective activities and individual allotment gardens. It notes that the organization of unpaid labor is an under-researched aspect and a key restraint on urban agriculture's expansion. The study found that relations between these two modes can be antagonistic, particularly when land is scarce.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsThe Comparison of Allotment Garden in Europe and Community Garden in the United States
2011Jin Qian · Xiandai chengshi yanjiu · Europe; United States
This paper compares allotment gardens in Europe and community gardens in the United States. It notes that stable European allotment gardens rely on policy frameworks, national laws, and cooperation among local government, public, private, and non-profit organizations. In contrast, American community gardens often depend on loosely organized non-profits to acquire land and foster community autonomy without official support.
CommunityPolicyProximité entre ville et agriculture au Nord et au Sud de la Méditerranée
2011Saloua Toumi, Roland Vidal · Projets de paysage · Europe, Africa
Urban agriculture is expanding in various metropolitan areas, but its agro-economic and socio-spatial logic differs by context. Tunisia's urban agriculture is threatened by increasing urban expansion and is not yet integrated into territorial projects. Issues related to land value appreciation are dominant, and its landscape and environmental benefits could be compromised in the relatively short term if it does not find its place in urban development plans.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyUrban–rural linkageHistoria de los huertos urbanos. De los huertos para pobres a los programas de agricultura urbana ecológica
2011Nerea Morán Alonso, Agustín Hernández Aja · · Europe
This historical review traces the functions and characteristics of urban agriculture (UA) in Western cities. It notes that UA flourished during economic and energy crises for self-sufficiency, serving subsistence, hygiene, and social control in the 19th century and patriotic functions during 20th-century world wars. Since the 1970s, UA projects have focused on local development, social integration, and environmental education, led by community and ecological organizations.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsFood educationWelfarePublic 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.
PolicyCommunityThe 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 educationThe law and allotments
2010Richard L. Wiltshire · Research Portal (King's College London) · United Kingdom
This chapter provides authoritative guidance to present and future allotment holders on statute and case law and support mechanisms related to the acquisition, use, defense, and termination of allotment gardens and allotment tenancies. It draws on "Growing in the Community" to contextualize specific, prescriptive allotment legislation within the broader context of good management practices.
PolicyCommunityRömerstadt: the modern garden city
2010Susan Henderson · Planning Perspectives · Germany (Frankfurt)
The Römerstadt settlement in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, was a key achievement of the "New Frankfurt" urban expansion program (1926-1932), re-housing 60,000 people in 15,000 units. It integrated technical advances like central heating and cable radio, alongside social reforms such as a model school and a landscape plan with allotment gardens and parks. This article surveys Römerstadt's design and history, presenting it as the most complete realization of the program's ideals.
PolicyCommunityUrban–rural linkageTemporal and spatial changes in the distribution of heaths within the city of Toruń according to analysis of cartographic and remote-sensing materials, and field exploration
2010Mieczysław Kunz, Andrzej Nienartowicz · Ecological Questions · Poland
This study in Toruń, Poland, analyzed changes in the distribution and surface area of heaths over nearly 120 years at two former military sites, "JAR" and "Glinki." The analysis utilized historical topographic maps, aerial photos, a high-resolution Ikonos satellite image, and direct field exploration with GPS devices. It was found that the JAR site currently has 22 heather patches covering 11.7328 ha, and the Glinki district also has 22 heather patches covering 3.5701 ha, identifying them as the largest heath sites within Toruń's administrative boundaries. The analysis also outlined small fragments where heaths could be preserved after future housing estate construction at JAR and discussed future land use changes at Glinki due to a scheduled housing estate.
CommunityUrban–rural linkagePolicyEl "Manifiesto Verde" de Leberecht Migge
2009de Cárdenas Maestre I. · Cuaderno de Notas, no. 12, 119-134 · Germany
A Spanish-language study of Migge's 1919 'Green Manifesto', examining his utopian call for self-sufficiency and self-governance through small, interconnected rural-urban groups he termed Stadtland or Landstadt.
CommunityEconomicsPolicyParchi Agrari Periurbani: una nuova proposta di paesaggio
2009Maria Gabriella Errico · · Europe
This study analyzed theories and concepts intertwining human activity with economic, social, scientific, and political aspects, driven by interest in solutions for maintaining agricultural landscapes in peri-urban areas. It investigated the landscape characteristics of territories between city and countryside that retain cultural historical signs. By synthesizing key challenges of peri-urban areas, the research aimed to identify design strategies for active conservation and transformation through agricultural park projects. The study proceeded to recognize the characteristics and critical issues of the peri-urban agricultural landscape.
Peri-urban agriculturePolicyCommunityOlympics watch
2009· Engineering & Technology · United Kingdom (London)
This article describes the historical landscape of the 2012 London Olympic Park site, a 321-hectare brownfield in the Lea Valley. Archaeological findings by the Museum of London indicate human presence from the Mesolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman periods, with evidence of dwellings, skeletons, and a Roman coin. The site hosted textile printing in the 17th century, followed by petrol factories, bone, varnish, soap, and tallow works, distilleries, engineering, and chemical plants, and was used for landfill from the late 19th century. It also had strong electronic associations, with the development of the first diode valve in 1904 and the establishment of Britain's first radio valve factory in 1916 and first television tube factory in 1936.
CommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageComment travailler avec et pour les agriculteurs en contexte péri-urbain ?
2009C. Colliot, J.M. Bertrand · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · France
This paper discusses how peri-urban agriculture is influenced by urban sprawl, noting that common tools like SCoT and PLU are insufficient for rural extension services in this context. Based on examples from the Provence-Alpes Côtes d’Azur region and a CASDAR project, it proposes a future network to renew competencies of rural advisors. The objective is to foster fruitful relationships with city extension services.
Peri-urban agriculturePolicyUrban–rural linkage르 그랑 파리 프로젝트의 시사점
2009홍석기 · 정책리포트 · France (Paris)
The "Le Grand Paris Project" proposes a major reform of Paris to transform it into a sustainable and globally competitive city for the 21st century. Proposed plans, to be implemented from 2020 to 2030, include physical spatial expansion beyond current boundaries, establishment of new governance for geographical and sociocultural integration, and a shift from a single-core radial to a multi-core linear urban structure. The project also suggests urban agriculture, agro-cities, and green car activation to improve the urban environment in line with the Kyoto Protocol.
PolicyClimate changeUrban–rural linkageThe Cluster of Urban Agriculture: Case of Bartın-Turkey
2009AÇIKSÖZ Sebahat · Tarım Bilimleri Dergisi · Turkey (Bartın)
This study investigated whether urban agriculture activities in Bartın, Turkey, could be organized as a cluster according to Cluster Growth Theory, and examined its cluster characteristics as part of the TR-26 Bartın Regional Development Project. While urban agriculture in Bartın was identified as having cluster characteristics and growth potential, the study found that a fundamental problem for its future development is weak coordination and cooperation among stakeholders. It proposes a model for urban agriculture activities for a "Bartın Urban Initiative" at the city level.
Governance failureEconomicsCommunityPolicyUncertainty and Territorial Innovations in Peri-urban Agricultural Spaces
2009Lucette Laurens · Journal for Geography · France
This inquiry examines peri-urban agricultural spaces in Languedoc-Roussillon and the Montpellier agglomeration, France, which are characterized by a decline in agricultural activities and abandonment. These spaces are confronted with new, uncertain, and innovative dynamics, appearing as multifunctional spaces that need to be re-invented. The study highlights the paradox of these areas caught between appropriation for different uses and agricultural decline.
Economic viabilityPeri-urban agriculturePolicyUrban–rural linkageLeberecht Migge's "Green Manifesto": Envisioning a Revolution of Gardens
2007Haney D. H. · Landscape Journal, 26(2), 201-218 · Germany
Analyzes Migge's 1919 'Green Manifesto', one of the most overtly political tracts by a landscape architect, proposing that intensive vegetable gardens for everyone could solve Germany's social and economic problems through a technologically modern synthesis of garden and dwelling.
Organic cycleCommunityPolicyArchaeological Desk-Based Assessment of Hanover Works, Scotland Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
2007Mark Stenton · Archaeology Data Service · United Kingdom (Sheffield)
This desk-based archaeological assessment of Hanover Works in Sheffield, UK, conducted in July 2007, involved a site visit and documentary research. The area was likely agricultural in the medieval period, becoming small plots by the early 17th century, and developed industrially from the early 19th century. The assessment suggests that 19th-century subsurface archaeological features may remain beneath present-day structures, though their condition is undetermined.
CommunityPolicyVitamin G: effects of green space on health, well-being, and social safety
2006Peter Groenewegen, A.E. van den Berg, S. de Vries, Robert Verheij · BMC Public Health · Netherlands
This article discusses the design of a research program in the Netherlands on the effects of green space in the living environment on health, well-being, and social safety. The program consists of three observational studies at different scales: macro (national data), intermediate (urban green space effects), and micro (allotment gardens). It combines existing land use and health interview survey data with new data collected via questionnaires and interviews, to be analyzed using multilevel analysis and GIS techniques.
HealthCommunityPolicyPlanting Peace: The Greater London Council and the Community Gardens of Central London
2006Paul Gough · International Journal of Heritage Studies · United Kingdom (London)
This paper examines in detail two community gardens in central London. These gardens owe their origins to radical local agendas set within the political climate of the Cold War of the 1980s and grand visions for world peace. Twenty years after their creation, the author explores their current condition and examines their value as sites of political value and heritage.
CommunityPolicyLe aree agricole nei parchi periurbani italiani: verso nuovi modelli?/The agricultural areas in the peri-urban Italian parks: toward new models?
2006Paola Branduini · Virtual Community of Pathological Anatomy (University of Castilla La Mancha) · Italy
Projects for the valorization of agriculture in Italian metropolitan areas have primarily originated from initiatives within peri-urban parks. The second national Conference on Protected Areas in 2002 confirmed the idea that peri-urban agricultural areas can bridge rural and urban cultures through new management models. Italy presents several plans already realized or in progress that are significant for their concept of peri-urban agriculture, ongoing actions, and the role played by stakeholders.
Peri-urban agriculturePolicyCommunityLes documents d’urbanisme, un outil pour la régulation des conflits d’usage de l’espace agricole périurbain ?
2006Samuel Martín, Nathalie Bertrand, Nicole Rousier · Géographie Économie Société · France (Rhône-Alpes)
This paper examines spatial planning documents in two Rhône-Alpes city regions, France, as a tool for regulating land use conflicts in peri-urban agricultural areas under urbanization pressure. The analysis highlights rising tensions between local actors and suggests that agriculture is instrumentalized by spatial planning policies at the inter-communal level. At the communal level, local plans manage neighborhood and land ownership conflicts.
Governance failurePolicyPeri-urban agricultureUrban–rural linkageCorporate social responsibility: a case study of the UK's leading food retailers
2005Jones P., Comfort D., Hillier D., Eastwood I. · British Food Journal · United Kingdom
Analyzes CSR reporting by the UK's leading food retailers, finding support for local food producers, healthy eating, charitable donations, and local community initiatives as principal CSR themes promoted in stores.
CommunityEconomicsPolicyContinuous Productive Urban Landscapes: urban agriculture as an essential infrastructure
2005André Viljoen, Katrin Bohn · University of Brighton Repository (University of Brighton) · United Kingdom (London)
This paper, from a U.K. perspective, discusses urban agriculture using London as an example. While the benefits of urban agriculture for food security and income have often focused on the Global South, its integration into a multifunctional land use strategy could significantly reduce a city's ecological footprint, raising questions about its wider implementation.
Urban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsClimate changePolicy