Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
1180 results(18 / 48)
Roadmap to resource efficient urban agriculture
2022Runrid Fox-Kämper, Specht Kathrin, Caputo Silvio, Hawes Jason K., Lélièvre Agnès, Cohen Nevin, Poniży Lidia · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Global
This roadmap identifies policy recommendations for a desirable future for urban agriculture in 2050, based on policy reviews, interviews, and workshops. It assesses how policy can be developed to create synergies between urban agriculture and cities' food, energy, and water nexus, drawing from existing policies in five city regions in France, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The recommendations are based on the most positive outcomes for urban agriculture, cities, and citizens.
PolicyClimate changeEconomicsTHE IMPORTANCE OF URBAN FARMING IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
2022Larisa Ivaşcu · Review of Management and Economic Engineering · Romania
This paper presents preliminary results on urban farming in Romania and Malaysia for the period June 2020 - September 2021, highlighting its role in sustainability, particularly during the pandemic. Malaysia exhibits well-defined urban farming behaviors, whereas Romania's concept is incipient. Increased involvement of individuals or employees in urban agriculture is associated with substantial benefits, including increased motivation, improved health, and improved sports.
Climate changeHealthCommunityPolicyUrban Farming as a Resilient Strategy During COVID-19 Pandemic
2022Komalawati Komalawati, Sarjana, Anggi Sahru Romdon, Fransiscus Roedy Hartono, Sri Murtiati, Forita Dyah Arianti, Wahyudi Hariyanto, Renie Oelviani · Journal of Resilient Economies (ISSN 2653-1917) · Global
This paper studied the benefits of urban farming as a resilient strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic, using primary data from interviews conducted in June-July 2021 and secondary sources. The analysis found that respondents had a strongly positive perception of urban farming. It concluded that urban farming could be a resilient strategy by reducing stress, increasing community income, and potentially enhancing immunity and health systems in urban areas.
CommunityHealthEconomicsPolicyHotspots and trends of agriculture sustainable development: Visualization analysis based on bibliometrics
2022Siwei Hu, MI Chang-hong, SHI Rongguang, YANG Yanying · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Global
This study analyzed the frontiers, hot topics, and trends of sustainable agriculture development using CiteSpace, based on 2,217 papers published in Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure from 2000 to 2019. Frontiers focused on "food system resilience and food security," "ecological intensification and sustainable intensification," "agricultural multi-functionality and urban agriculture," and "trade-offs and synergies of ecosystem services in agroecosystem." Hotspots included climate change impacts on agricultural systems and adaptive management, ecosystem services management in agro-ecosystems, and environmental impact assessment of agricultural activities and integrated sustainability assessment of agricultural systems.
Food sovereignty & justiceClimate changeUrban–rural linkagePolicyPreferred Neighborhood Projects Among Millennials: Yes, In My Backyard
2022Hui-Shan Sim, Weng Wai Choong, Siaw-Chui Wee, Sheau-Ting Low · International Journal of Built Environment and Sustainability · Global
An online survey of 407 millennials investigated their preferences for neighborhood project developments and willingness to pay for them. The study found that millennials prefer recreational parks, police booths, community gardens, transit stations, and feeder bus routes in their neighborhoods. They are most willing to pay for transit stations, followed by educational institutions, recreational parks, police booths, and integrated public transport terminals.
CommunityPolicyMulti-Disciplinary Access in Conceptual Design for Advertising of The Public Space
2022Ivana Chaloska · South East European Journal of Architecture and Design · Global
This master's thesis conducted qualitative empirical research for the multidisciplinary conceptualization of urban public space, focusing on ecological and social sustainability and socio-spatial relations. Through an inter-contextual analysis and a case study highlighting urban community gardens, the research supports a conceptual design of public space that can function as activism for rethinking existing structures or as a continuous process of socio-spatial relations.
CommunityPolicyBiodiversityDetecting wetland encroachment and urban agriculture land classification in Uganda using hyper-temporal remote sensing
2022Stella Kabiri, Molly Allen, Judith Tomma Okuonzia, Beatrice Akello, Rebecca Ssabaganzi, Drake N. Mubiru · Open Research Africa · Uganda
This study investigated the extent of wetland loss and encroachment by urban agriculture in Wakiso and Kampala, Uganda, over 30 years from 1986 to 2016. Using field surveys, Landsat, and MODIS NDVI data, the analysis found that 72,828 ha (73%) of Wakiso-Kampala wetlands were lost, while agricultural areas doubled. Of this, 16,488 ha (23%) were converted from wetlands, with all cultivated agriculture in Kampala occurring in wetlands and 73% in Wakiso.
Environmental trade-offsUrban–rural linkageClimate changePolicyScience Learning from the School Garden through Participatory Action Research in Nepal
2022Kamal Prasad Acharya, Chitra Budhathoki, Milan Acharya · The Qualitative Report · Nepal
Nepal's NORHED/Rupantaran project implemented participatory action research through school gardening to explore how basic level students (grades five to eight) and science teachers could foster agency in the school science curriculum. Qualitative research found that school gardening activities were helpful and productive for science teaching and learning. The findings offer new insights for policymakers to transform the school science curriculum and highlight the often-neglected collaborative knowledge production through school gardening in a contextual environment.
Food educationCommunityPolicyGreen Guerillas, Seed Bombs, and Granite Gardens
2022Setha Low · · Global
This chapter examines environmental sustainability and the greening of public spaces in Paris and New York City, tracing the history and impact of interventions like community gardens, urban agriculture, and sustainable parks. These initiatives contribute to ecological sustainability by fostering stronger communities, supporting social reproduction, and promoting environmental justice. The study highlights how human ecological planning and ecosystem services assessments provide scientific strategies for enhancing sustainability in public space design.
CommunityBiodiversityOrganic cyclePolicyDifferent Perspectives Surrounding Urban Agriculture
2022Susan Anne Mansel Fitzgerald · · Cuba
This chapter reviews various perspectives on urban agriculture in Havana, Cuba, focusing on farm types, food access, and cultural expressions. It highlights that research also addresses the hierarchies and power struggles surrounding urban agriculture sites and their integration into land-management systems. The study advocates for understanding the rhythms of everyday life to deepen insights into these sites.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justicePolicyCommunityEconomicsThe Place of Greening: Comparing Civic Engagement Scenes of Urban Natures across Danish Cities
2022Anders Blok, Amanda Krog Juvik, Anna Helene Kvist Møller, Jonas Skjold Raaschou-Pedersen, Jakob Laage‐Thomsen · City and Community · Denmark
This study mapped the group styles, spatial intergroup networks, and cultural-political value landscapes of 130 urban green communities across the four largest cities in Denmark using digital methods. The results showed that civic greening groups are neither neighborhood-based endeavors nor hubs of social movement mobilization, but rather geographies of co-engagement that span cities while also forging new senses and practices of place.
CommunityBiodiversityPolicyA work-in-progress politics of space
2022Shawn Bodden · City · Hungary (Budapest)
This essay reflected on the everyday political work of community projects to open up space for new possibilities of living with difference within hostile political environments, drawing on Doreen Massey's ideas of space. Through the case of the Auróra community center in Budapest, Hungary, and its members' community garden project, it examined the mundane and local techniques community groups use to construct better possible futures. The analysis suggested the importance of analyzing the situated and ongoing "terms of engagement" through which people open up, or close down, better possible spaces and ways of living with difference.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyA Typology for Green Infrastructure Planning to Enhance Multifunctionality Incorporating Peri-Urban Agricultural Land
2022Werner Rolf · · Global
This work introduces a typology for spatial planning to integrate peri-urban farmland into Green Infrastructure, aiming to develop multifunctional open space networks. The typology, based on an inter- and transdisciplinary approach and evidence synthesis, suggests that peri-urban farmland has potential to address urban challenges like biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation.
Peri-urban agriculturePolicyBiodiversityClimate changeMapping Gendered Ecologies: Engaging with and beyond Ecowomanism and Ecofeminism ed. by K. Melchor Quick Hall and Gwyn Kirk
2022Priya R. Chandrasekaran · NWSA Journal · Global
This review discusses "Mapping Gendered Ecologies: Engaging with and beyond Ecowomanism and Ecofeminism," a fifteen-chapter anthology edited by K. Melchor Quick Hall and Gwyn Kirk. The collection explores the power of ecofeminism and ecowomanism, revealing obscured relationships and ideas, and outlining pathways for socio-ecological healing and sustainability. It is recommended for scholars and collaborators in various fields, including environmental studies, women and gender studies, and urban studies.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityPolicyValuing the Benefits and Enhancing Access: Community and Allotment Gardens in Urban Melbourne, Australia
2022Aisling Bailey, Jonathan Kingsley · Land · Australia (Melbourne)
This qualitative study explored perceptions of benefits and challenges in six urban community and allotment gardens in Melbourne, Australia, through semi-structured interviews with 23 participants. Findings identified perceived benefits and demographic patterns, but also highlighted challenges to participation due to insecurity around ongoing land access. The gardens were perceived to contribute to social and environmental wellbeing.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyHealthEconomicsAgricultura urbana en barbecho. Concepciones en la planificación urbana chilena
2022Ana Zazo Moratalla, Alejandro Orellana-McBride, Claudia Cerda-Inostroza · · Chile
A study investigated how Chilean urban planning has conceived productive agriculture within urban limits, analyzing the evolution of territorial planning instruments in five Chilean cases. While agriculture was once conceived as an urban use, changes in Chilean legislation have led to this activity being conceived as transitory and in fallow, inevitably transforming into other more profitable urban uses.
Governance failurePolicyUrban–rural linkageEconomicsGreen City or Urban Countryside?
2022Imen Bendjemila, Salah Chaouche · Prostor : znanstveni časopis za arhitekturu i urbanizam · Algeria
This study investigated urban growth and urbanization in N'Gaous, Algeria, over the last 60 years, using an analytical approach and Geographic Information Systems to assess the agronomic potential of soils. It found that N'Gaous experienced significant urban sprawl, with its land area expanding over ten times and population increasing more than six times, leading to serious issues for peri-urban orchards. The study quantified and monitored the agricultural potential consumed by construction, highlighting the negative impact of urban expansion on agricultural land.
Environmental trade-offsPeri-urban agricultureUrban–rural linkageEconomicsPolicyReview of urban agriculture as a strategy for building a water resilient city
2022Gizaw Ebissa, Hayal Desta · City and Environment Interactions · Global
This study extensively reviewed the literature on how urban agriculture (UA) can contribute to flooding risk management for building water-resilient cities. UA plays a key role in transforming linear water economies into circular ones, thereby reducing urban areas' dependence on rural areas for ecosystem services, including flood risk management. UA exhibits higher infiltration capacity, and urban flood-prone areas can be allocated to UA for flood management. The Sponge City Concept demonstrated the possibility of reducing 100-year storms to 25-year storms.
Climate changePolicyUrban–rural linkageHow Do Different Modes of Governance Support Ecosystem Services/Disservices in Small-Scale Urban Green Infrastructure? A Systematic Review
2022Sina Razzaghi Asl, Hamil Pearsall · Land · Global
This systematic review evaluated how different modes of governance support ecosystem services (ES) in small-scale urban green infrastructure (UGI). Governance was assessed in six types of UGI: small parks, community gardens, vacant lands, rain gardens, green roofs, and street trees, examining the characteristics of four governance approaches: adaptive, network, mosaic, and transformative. Each governance mode was found to be potentially effective for managing the ES of certain small-scale UGI. The study highlights knowledge gaps at the intersection between governance arrangements and ES in small-scale UGI.
PolicyCommunityBiodiversityClimate changeThe Pandemic Boom of Urban Agriculture: Challenging the Role of Resiliency in Transforming our Future Urban (Food) Systems
2022Angie Sassano, Christopher Mayes, Yin Paradies · Urban Policy and Research · Australia
In Australia, COVID-19 accelerated reliance on resiliency for post-pandemic urban recovery. This study examined the use of resilience in urban agriculture proposals for cities after COVID-19, drawing on critical literature. It argues that the current pandemic conditions for urban agriculture risk perpetuating urban colonial governmentality. The paper calls for a rethinking of urban agriculture for future cities by radically disrupting the foundational colonial logics of urban spatiality.
Equity & displacementPolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceUrbanization-environment conundrum: an invitation to sustainable development in Saudi Arabian cities
2022Abdulaziz I. Almulhim, Patrick Brandful Cobbinah · International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology · Saudi Arabia
This article reviews literature on urbanization and its implications for the urban environment in Global South cities, discussing eight implications of the urbanization-environmental conundrum with cases from Saudi Arabian cities. Findings indicate that the sustainable development agenda in Saudi Arabian cities is skewed towards socio-economic development with limited focus on environmental issues. This situation is threatening the sustainability of rapidly urbanizing cities.
Governance failurePolicyClimate changeUrban–rural linkageSpace Matters: Barriers and Enablers for Embedding Urban Circularity Practices in the Brussels Capital Region
2022Giulia Caterina Verga, Ahmed Z. Khan · Frontiers in Built Environment · Belgium (Brussels)
This study examined spatial factors fostering or hampering the embedding of urban circularity practices (UCPs) in the Brussels Capital Region (BCR) through a literature review and case-study research. It showed that access to spaces and land emerges as one of the most recurrent barriers to embedding UCPs. Beyond real estate prices, frictions in political agendas where the need for housing, productive spaces, urban agriculture land, and green-blue infrastructures compete for the same limited space also contribute to this issue.
Governance failurePolicyEconomicsUrban–rural linkageEducational Frameworks for Designing Regenerative Food Systems in the Arabian Gulf
2022Anna Grichting · · Qatar
This teaching experience, conducted over seven years at Qatar University, addressed the challenge of food production in desert regions within graduate and undergraduate architecture and urbanism courses. Students designed productive architectural and urban landscapes through vertical farming, community gardening, and urban farms, among other methods. Outcomes included an increase in the integration of food production systems into student projects and a vision for Qatar University as an "edible campus."
Food educationCommunityBiodiversityClimate changePolicyFarming Practices and Disease Prevalence among Urban Lowland Farmers in Cameroon, Central Africa
2022Annie Stéphanie Nana, Timo Falkenberg, Andrea Rechenburg, Annet Adong, Anne Ayo, Pierre Nbendah, Christian Borgemeister · Agriculture · Cameroon
This study investigated factors influencing farming practices and disease prevalence among 130 vegetable producers in the lowlands of Yaoundé, Cameroon, through a cross-sectional survey. Education level and farm size were positively associated with overall fertilizer use, while pesticide usage was positively associated with years cultivated but negatively with land ownership. Waterborne disease prevalence was linked to education level, and malaria prevalence to farmer gender. The location of cultivated areas significantly influenced reporting malaria and headaches, concluding that despite associated health risks, vegetable production is necessary for farmers’ livelihoods.
Contamination & food safetyHealthEconomicsPolicyEncadré 6.1. Les analyses de bassin alimentaire: entre évaluation de la dépendance et de la capacité d'autonomie alimentaire des territoires
2022Caroline Petit, Barbara Redlingshöfer · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · Global
This paper discusses food basin analysis, focusing on evaluating the food dependency and self-sufficiency capacity of territories. This boxed text is presented as part of Chapter 6, "Territorialized Food Systems: New Frameworks for Integrating Urban Agriculture."
Food sovereignty & justicePolicyUrban–rural linkage