Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
3622 results(18 / 145)
From communal urban gardens to profitable businesses: green rationalization in Swedish local sustainability policy
2025Ylva Wallinder, Maria Langa · Environmental Sociology · Sweden
A study investigated the consequences of institutional policy change on urban gardening practices in Swedish municipalities over the last decade. Local sustainability policies have led to an increasingly business-centered model, which clashes even with entrepreneurial gardens. This shift caused associational gardening to give way to an extended focus on entrepreneurship and food production, representing a "green rationalization" of gardening practices in urban sustainability policies that hinders their sustainability potential.
Governance failurePolicyEconomicsCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceMicrogreens for nutritional resilience: A comprehensive review
2025Bhoirab Gogoi, Shourov Dutta, Trishnalee Saikia, Rituparna Saikia, Sanjoy Borthakur, Manoranjan Neog · International Journal of Research in Agronomy · Global
A comprehensive review synthesized literature on the taxonomic diversity, cultivation practices, nutritional and phytochemical composition, health benefits, and postharvest management of microgreens. Microgreens possess significantly higher concentrations of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants than their mature counterparts. For instance, radish microgreens contained 147 mg of vitamin C per 100g fresh weight, red amaranth microgreens offered up to 50 mg of iron, and sunflower microgreens provided around 65 mg of calcium.
HealthUrban–rural linkageCultivating wellbeing: healing effects of an urban māra kai (community garden) in community housing in Aotearoa New Zealand
2025Lori Leigh, Edward Randal, Amber Logan, Karen Witten, Crystal Victoria Olin, Elinor Chisholm, Philippa Howden‐Chapman · Local Environment · New Zealand
An Indigenous-led community garden (māra kai) in an urban social housing environment in New Zealand was examined. Guided by an Indigenous model of wellbeing and using go-along interviews, the study found that this community initiative uplifted the autonomy, confidence, and wellbeing of community housing residents. This was achieved by fostering healthy relationships with themselves, their immediate community, and the wider community across the city.
CommunityHealthWelfareVisualising and Valuing Urban Agriculture for Land Use Planning: A Critical GIS Analysis of Sydney and Neighbouring Regions
2025Joshua Zeunert, Scott Hawken, Josh Gowers · Land · Australia (Sydney)
A critical GIS analysis was conducted for Sydney and neighboring regions in NSW, Australia, to understand and advocate for Sydney's food production capacity. The study challenged the notion that Sydney's metropolitan landscape has low inherent biophysical quality for agriculture. Despite current metropolitan planning policy that marginalizes agricultural productivity, datasets revealed western Sydney is biophysically well suited for agriculture. Sydney's overall agricultural capacity was found to be comparable to five of six other coastal regions of NSW and superior to at least two, challenging current planning orthodoxy and policy.
Governance failurePolicyUrban–rural linkageEconomicsSustainable Practices in Urban Health
2025Richa Joshi, Jagneet Kour, Raino Bhatia · · Global
This chapter will investigate sustainable practices, including green infrastructure like urban forests and community gardens, to improve urban environments and address intertwined challenges. It will examine how green infrastructure enhances air and water quality, creates recreational spaces, and fosters community well-being. The chapter will also explore integrating environmental policies with public health initiatives through sustainable urban planning to create resilient communities with equitable access to green spaces, enhanced public transportation, and clean energy.
HealthCommunityPolicyClimate changeEnhancing Post-Disaster Food Security Through Urban Agriculture in the Context of Climate Change
2025Yanxin Liu, Victoria Chanse, Fabricio Chicca · Land · New Zealand (Wellington)
This study evaluated the role of urban agriculture (UA) in enhancing post-disaster food security in Wellington, New Zealand, a region highly prone to earthquakes. It calculated vegetable self-sufficiency by mapping potential productive land, estimating vegetable yields, and assessing post-disaster food demands across multiple scenarios. Potential productive land accounted for 0.3% to 1.5% of the total area, primarily distributed in the eastern part of the city. Results indicate that Wellington's vegetable self-sufficient rates through UA range from 3% to 75%, with higher rates for displaced and vulnerable populations. Realizing this potential will require stronger policy support and integration with urban planning and disaster preparedness.
Food sovereignty & justiceClimate changeCommunityEconomicsEffect of urban agriculture on the quality of urban life: A review
2025Babatunde S. Adedotun, Martin Binde Gasu, Ismail A. Oyerinde, Dele Sunday Ogundahunsi, Oluwatoyin David ADEDOTUN · The Journal of Agriculture and Development · Global
This research conducted an extensive literature review on the correlation between urban agriculture and the quality of life of urban residents, synthesizing 20 peer-reviewed scholarly papers published between 2010 and 2022 from databases like Scopus. Urban agriculture was shown to offer economic benefits, community engagement, health improvements, environmental benefits, and cultural connections, but also presented negative externalities such as resource exploitation, contamination, and ecosystem disruption.
EconomicsCommunityHealthClimate changeThe influence of payments and time payments: Preconditions to implement nature-based solutions in Austrian cities
2025Ulrike Pröbstl‐Haider, Magdalena Feilhammer, Alice Wanner · Cities · Austria
This paper analyzed opportunities and barriers for implementing nature-based solutions (NBS) in Austrian cities. A survey of 1055 urban residents investigated conditions under which NBS reduce particulate matter, NO2, and air temperature. Results highlighted the relevance of design types like green corridors and community gardens, and the importance of direct and time payments, indicating that a €45 payment with a 10-minute walking distance to home was acceptable if high environmental benefits were achieved.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsClimate changeThe Contribution of Urban Agriculture to the Sustainable Development of Cities
2025Katarina Đurić, Mirjana Lukač Bulatović, Mihaela Kavran, Rajna Duletić, Nikola Puvača · Journal of Agronomy Technology and Engineering Management (JATEM) · Global
This paper argues that urban agriculture can serve as a significant tool for achieving sustainable urban development during intensive urban growth. Applying methods of analysis, synthesis, and descriptive research, it systematizes the economic, environmental, and social benefits provided by urban agriculture, including community gardens. The paper also highlights the most significant challenges currently faced by urban agriculture.
CommunityEconomicsClimate changeProximity despite distance? A community-supported agriculture initiative across rural mountain and urban areas in Switzerland
2025Sarah Steinegger, Nora Katharina Faltmann · Journal of Political Ecology · Switzerland
This qualitative research examined the challenges consumers and farmers face in establishing proximity within a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) initiative in Switzerland that links rural mountain and urban areas. The study found that consumers and farmers are facing challenges in establishing proximity. Nevertheless, shared experiences of farming activities and social events, along with participants' willingness to improve CSA operations and strengthen ties for mutual understanding and joint efforts, contribute to the ongoing process of establishing proximity.
Governance failureCSA & TeikeiCommunityUrban–rural linkageDe la gestion des déchets à l’agriculture urbaine : circularités et tensions des filières de matières organiques à Nkayi (République du Congo)
2025Noémie Régeard · L’Espace Politique · Congo
This article explores the circularity of organic matter streams in Nkayi, an intermediate city in Congo, through interviews and observations. The qualitative inquiry reveals the coexistence of institutional household waste streams, supported by a development project, and informal organic matter streams, identified through intra- and peri-urban agricultural practices. These streams are subject to various socio-territorial, political, and economic tensions.
Governance failureOrganic cycleCompostPolicyEconomicsCommunityThe development of RBL-STEM learning materials to improve students' environmental literacy in solving urban farming problems using locating metric coloring and STGNN
2025Khusnul Hotimatus Agustina, Dafik Dafik, Arika Indah Kristiana · World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews · Global
This research and development study focused on creating RBL-STEM learning materials to improve students' environmental literacy in solving urban farming problems. The developed learning tools, including assignment designs, worksheets, and tests, met a 93.8% validity requirement. A trial with 35 students showed the RBL-STEM resources were effective (95.22%) and practical (95.82%), leading to increased environmental literacy levels based on pretest and posttest results. The study identified high, medium, and low proficiency levels and validated findings through statistical and image analysis, N-Vivo, and word cloud.
Food educationCommunityClimate changeSustainable Urban Agriculture New Frontier
2025Asifa Asifa, Muhammad Azizan · Urban Policy and Research · Global
Rapidly growing urbanization presents complex socio-economic and environmental challenges, necessitating a sustainability approach that encompasses social well-being (the brown agenda) and ecological protection.
Climate changeEconomicsCommunityOPTIMIZATION OF LIMITED HOME YARD SPACE AND UTILIZATIONOF HOUSEHOLD ORGANIC WASTE INTO ECOENZYME TO REDUCE CHEMICAL DEPENDENCY IN THE HOUSEHOLD ENVIRONMENT
2025Novi Mailidarni Novi, Othman Sulaiman, Juliawati, Ahmad Jauhari, Tasliati Djafar, Syarifuddin Syarifuddin · WISDOM Jurnal Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat Wisdom · Global
This community service program addresses limited yard space and chemical dependency in urban households by empowering residents, particularly women and youth, to practice sustainable urban farming and convert organic waste into ecoenzyme. The program provides education and training on ecoenzyme production and its use as fertilizer, pesticide, and cleaning solution, aiming to reduce chemical usage, minimize waste, and foster environmental awareness.
DIYCompostOrganic cycleFood educationCommunityRural Education, Agroecology, and Environmental Know-How
2025Lucas Bricca · · Chile
This chapter details the environmental education articles of the 2022 constitutional text in relation to a community garden initiative in the Province of Los Andes, central Chile. It explores how the text's educational framework aimed to institutionalize local knowledge networks by supporting diverse learning environments, participatory education, and linking education to holistic social outcomes, examining their relevance for agroecology.
Food educationCommunityPolicyInvestigación sobre especias culinarias aptas para producción sostenible y diversificada en huertos urbanos domésticos
2025Evelyn Lizeth Ilbay-Guaña · Impact Research Journal · Global
This qualitative documentary study analyzed suitable culinary spice species for sustainable and diversified cultivation in home urban gardens, assessing their impact on food autonomy and self-care for informal primary caregivers in urban contexts. The review of scientific literature found that spice production in urban gardens contributes to food security and biodiversity, with successful experiences in high-value species like saffron. However, gaps persist in systematically integrating spices under sustainability criteria and in applied research on less conventional species. The study concludes that promoting sustainable urban spice gardens is a strategic tool for improving urban quality of life and recommends strengthening technical training and interdisciplinary research.
DIYFood sovereignty & justiceBiodiversityFood educationA comprehensive review of urban agriculture in a changing climate: Technological innovations and policy frameworks
2025Peng Gao, Shuochen Xiao, Fara Diva Mustapa · Climate Risk Management · Global
This comprehensive review synthesized research on urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) globally, specifically within the context of its advantages, challenges, and climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts, including technological innovations and policy frameworks. The review demonstrated UPA’s ability to advance social interactions, improve urban microclimates, mitigate the urban heat island phenomenon, and provide essential ecosystem services. However, UPA is limited by scarce land resources and soil contamination, along with water management challenges and regulatory frameworks.
Contamination & food safetyClimate changePolicyFood sovereignty & justiceDigital agricultureFAZENDAS VERTICAIS NA SEMIPERIFERIA DO CAPITALISMO
2025Claudia Rochael Oliveira · Terra Livre · Global
This article argues that while vertical farms (VFs) are often presented as indispensable for sustainable cities, their purported sustainability is difficult to achieve without structural changes to reduce social inequalities. Critiques of urban agriculture, including VFs, point to their contribution to gentrification, racialization of space, and vulnerability to real estate capital, indicating a critical finding regarding equity. The article advocates for VFs to be appropriated by social movements to foster critical stances against conventional agriculture and catalyze urban utopias.
Equity & displacementFood sovereignty & justicePolicyCommunityEconomicsUse of climate smart agriculture technologies in West Africa peri-urban Sahel in Niger
2025Tinawaen Tambol, Emmanuel Kanchebe Derbile, Moussa Soulé · Scientific Reports · Niger
This study investigated peri-urban farming systems in West African Sahel cities. A mixed-method research design, including field and household surveys of 142 peri-urban smallholder farmers, was employed. Results showed that biopesticides/crop and pest management were the most used Climate-Smart Agriculture Technologies (CSAT) in dry-season farming (p = .002). Other technologies included fertilizer micro-dose, organic manure and compost application, flood-tolerant improved varieties, and green energy-based irrigation.
Peri-urban agricultureClimate changeDigital agricultureCompostUrbanAgri: a transfer learning-based plant stress identification framework for sustainable smart urban growth
2025Upinder Kaur, M. Kaur, Aparna Kumari, Deepika Shukla, Rajan Datt, Mehar Chand · Frontiers in Sustainable Cities · Global
This paper proposes a deep learning model, UrbanAgri, integrating ResNet101 and the Sparrow Search Optimization (SSO) algorithm, to identify plant stress in urban agriculture environments. Trained on a heterogeneous dataset of urban crop images, the model achieved an F1-score of 98.9 and ROC-AUC of 0.989, outperforming traditional approaches. This framework aims to reduce crop waste and promote sustainable urban agriculture by accurately detecting biotic and abiotic stress factors.
Digital agricultureClimate changeField diagnosis of farmers’ adaptation challenges to climate change in the agricultural urban landscapes
2025Henry Mensah · City and Environment Interactions · Ghana (Kumasi)
This study investigated adaptation practices and challenges among 85 urban farmers across three locations in Kumasi, Ghana. Farmers employed strategies like planting local crop varieties, expanding farms, and relocating. However, these strategies are hindered by institutional and technological limitations, financial constraints, lack of climate information, and delays in extension support, indicating significant governance challenges.
Governance failureClimate changePolicyEconomicsUrban–rural linkageUtvikling og institusjonalisering av offentlig politikk og planlegging for urbant landbruk
2025Inger‐Lise Saglie · · Norway
This chapter presents the development of public policies and the main actors in urban agriculture in three Norwegian cities: Oslo, Bergen, and Trondheim. While showing common traits in institutionalization, differences exist in the role of voluntary groups, bottom-up versus top-down processes, networking, relationship to peri-urban agriculture, and implementation in plans. Oslo's approach is politically driven with traditional participatory methods, developing urban agriculture as a social activity and professional food production. In Bergen, the voluntary sector actively co-creates policy and runs a competence center. Trondheim's policy is co-produced annually with growers based on their experiences, with a strong connection to professional agriculture, and has consciously chosen not to develop specific strategies for urban agriculture.
PolicyCommunityPeri-urban agricultureEnhancing the Well-Being of Older Adults and Young Adults with Developmental Disabilities Through an Intergenerational Community Garden: Participatory Action Research
2025Diane Keen · Global Qualitative Nursing Research · Global
This participatory action research explored ways to enhance the well-being of four young adults with developmental disabilities and five older adults through intergenerational interaction in a community garden. Using semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and field notes, the study identified five themes of well-being: engagement, positive relationships, accomplishment, meaning and purpose, and positive emotion. The research found that enlisting the wisdom of older adults enhanced the well-being of both young adults with developmental disabilities and the older adults themselves.
CommunityHealthWelfareElderlyAssessing land suitability and potential for extending the area for urban agriculture in Norway using GIS-MCDA
2025Ulrike Bayr, Svein Olav Krøgli, Sebastian Eiter · Urban forestry & urban greening · Norway (Bergen)
This study ranked urban and peri-urban farmland areas in Norway based on their suitability for urban agriculture (UA) and identified opportunities for extending UA to currently unused farmland. Through collaboration with urban farmers, four key themes and eleven criteria were identified and weighted for on-farm and off-farm sales scenarios. A GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) using TOPSIS was performed on 1x1 km grid cells. In the City of Bergen, 15.3% (on-farm) and 14% (off-farm) of the total farmland was both unused and highly suitable for UA, compared to 2.8% (on-farm) and 2.4% (off-farm) in Oslo.
PolicyPeri-urban agricultureCommunitySoil extraction facilitates climate change adaptation and alters urban ecosystem services
2025B. Constance, Adrienne Grêt‐Regamey, Andoniaina Valérie Andriamanga, Dominic A. Martin, Nicolas Salliou · Ecosystems and People · Madagascar (Antananarivo)
This study investigated the motivations and consequences of soil extraction for brick-making in Antananarivo, Madagascar, through 263 interviews with farmers and brick-makers. Findings indicate soil extraction serves as a climate change adaptation strategy, leading to a decline in flood regulation capacity but also a shift to more resilient cultivation practices like raised gardens. Climate change, with shorter rainy seasons, intensifies soil extraction.
Climate changePeri-urban agricultureUrban–rural linkageBiodiversity