Research & reports

Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu · · Global

This abstract discusses how urban expansion and the separation of urban and agricultural areas increase energy demand for transporting food and goods. It notes that despite technological advances, a gap exists between energy demand and supply, even in advanced countries. The abstract concludes that reducing energy demand is a more realistic approach for sustainable development than solely relying on technological progress.

Anne Gravsholt Busck, Christian Fertner, Lone Søderkvist Kristensen, Søren Bech Pilgaard Kristensen, Mike Brian Johannsen Kyndesen, Susanne Ogstrup, Jørgen Primdahl, Søren Præstholm, Ann-Sofie Richardt, Jens Peter Vesterager, Lars Winther · Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) · Denmark

This longitudinal study investigated urbanization processes in peri-urban agricultural areas of the Greater Copenhagen region, Denmark, surveying 160-200 farm properties across eight study areas in 1984, 1994, 2004, and 2014 using face-to-face interviews. It found that while some agricultural land became urban, the overall agricultural land use remained largely stable, though concentrated on fewer, larger farms. Economic activities diversified, with more property owners engaging in other gainful activities, and farming in these areas faces constant challenges from increasing external activities.

Meredith Gartin · Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks · Global

Over half of humanity resides in cities, and most cities cannot produce enough food to sustain their residents. Some cities are exploring urban agriculture to create more resilient food systems, aiming for food security despite external forces. However, some argue that the global food system is too interconnected with local systems, making no system entirely invulnerable. This chapter focuses on three case studies exploring interlocking food deserts to illustrate how global and local processes converge on health issues like obesity in urban settings.

Reinoud Vermoesen · Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis · Belgium (Antwerp)

This study examined urban farming in early modern Antwerp, focusing on individual households and the gardeners’ guild. While 18th-century records mentioned few farmers within the city walls, this research suggests a more widespread phenomenon. Gardeners’ guild members primarily had a retail function rather than food production, and a variety of households not belonging to the guild were also active in agriculture.

David Ingemar Hedin · · Global

This thesis analyzed business models in commercial urban farming in developed countries, identifying three main classes: small production, large production, and secondary purpose. Small production typically uses farmer's markets and restaurants, large production focuses on leafy greens for retail and restaurants, and secondary purpose operations benefit other business activities. The analysis found that the small production cluster is unstable, with firms likely to expand outside the city, grow into large production, or introduce secondary value propositions.

Wang Hai-ya · · Global

Under the background of urban agriculture, family farms have broad development prospects and are categorized into three development modes: professional production type, multi-functional integrated type, and ecological protection type. This study proposed countermeasures for key issues such as land, capital, talent, products, and social services, including formulating family farm development plans, accelerating land approval, promoting land circulation, encouraging company registration, strengthening government funding support, and introducing social capital.

Viorica B Lan, Ioana Ugui · · Romania (Bucharest)

This study aims to present the results of a research synthesis developed from 2007 to 2014 at USAMV Bucharest, concerning the sustainability of fruit growing ecosystems and increasing the diversity of tree and shrub species adapted to urban agriculture. It highlights the importance of encouraging more trees and diversifying species in urban areas, as feeding the growing urban population with healthy food is a national strategic issue amidst increasing urbanization.

Guy M. Robinson, Zhiling Liu · AIMS environmental science · Australia

This paper examines the contradictions between greening and "ungreening" in Adelaide, South Australia, focusing on the city's Park Lands and urban sprawl. It argues that urban sprawl, including recent development on prime farmland, has been antithetical to biodiversity maintenance and greening principles, reducing sustainability capacity. The paper identifies problems such as conflict between biodiversity and protecting residents in bushfire risk areas, stemming from a relaxed attitude towards low-density expansion.

Jenny Sjöblom · · Sweden

This study describes the origin and development of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in Sweden, identifying and interviewing organizations and entrepreneurs. While CSA is nascent but growing, with prerequisites for expansion in both rural and urban areas, the study notes implications regarding its accessibility to the broader population that require further exploration.

Cristiano Rossignoli, Francesco Paolo Di Iacovo, Roberta Moruzzo, Paola Scarpellini · CINECA IRIS Institutial research information system (University of Pisa) · Gaza Strip

In the Gaza Strip, protracted conflict and economic crisis have led to high food insecurity, with rapid urban population growth and land scarcity accelerating urban agriculture. This study investigated the dairy cattle sector through international cooperation projects, examining breeding methods, main strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and constraints. It also analyzed the livelihoods, resilience, and sustainability of dairy cattle keepers.

Annette B. Fromm · Journal of American Folklore · Global

"Taking Public: Redefining Foodways in a Changing World" is a volume compiling interdisciplinary approaches to five specific topics in worldwide food studies. Authors from diverse fields such as anthropology, sociology, geography, nutrition, and gender studies contribute, addressing themes like production, consumption, performance, food in the diaspora, and activism and foodways. The content spans various subjects including organic farming, veganism, agribusiness, fast food, urban gardens, and dumpster diving, with global examples from Cuba to Southeast Asia, the UK, and African American and Jewish homes in the American South.

Abou Bâ · VertigO · Global

This reviewed work offers an unusual vision of agricultural production, contrasting with the homogeneity often seen in industrialized countries' agricultural landscapes. The book represents a significant effort by its various authors and is presented as an indispensable tool for researchers interested in urban agriculture.

Udo Weilacher · · Global

Gardening, particularly in the context of 'urban gardening', is regaining focus in landscape architecture debates about city sustainability. This trend raises questions about whether it is a lasting direction or a temporary fad related to romantic notions of withdrawing from rationally designed cities. To understand why gardening's importance in landscape architecture diminished, a historical review of landscape architecture over the past century is necessary.

Xiomara Asunción, Moreno Lorenzo, Reynier Rodríguez Rico, Eduardo San, Marful Orbis · · Cuba (Cienfuegos)

This study aimed to characterize urban agriculture in Cienfuegos city, Cuba, and identify strategic axes for the further implementation of its land use and urban plan. Through SWOT analysis and variable identification and spatial analysis using GIS, the positive and negative impacts of urban agriculture on the urban, environmental, economic, and social spheres were determined, leading to the enunciation of strategic priorities for urban planning. This article reports on this experience.

Marzieh Rezaei Qaleh, Hossein Medi, Mahdi Sheybani · Cumhuriyet Science Journal · Iran (Qazvin City)

This study investigated the role of urban agriculture in sustaining the urban environment, using Qazvin City, Iran, as a case study. Qazvin City, historically surrounded by traditional gardens that created a favorable urban environment, is now experiencing the destruction of these garden environments due to development processes, posing a risk of breaking the chain of environmental sustainability. The research, based on content analysis through observation and document study, proposed solutions considering environmental concerns, including preserving old irrigation methods, restoring native plant species, and focusing on existing water resources.

Ursula Lang · ENLIGHTEN (Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam) · Global

This article argues that existing alternatives to factory foods often rely on nostalgic models of rural purity, limiting the incorporation of new urban farming methods. Cultural associations with rural purity and urban pollution have led to an oversight of cities' potential to provide fresh, seasonal, and local foods by focusing on standard, horizontal spatial relationships.

Mohd Yazid Mohd Yunos, Neda Jafari, Utaberta Nangkula, Nor Atiah Ismail, Sumarni Ismail, Nastaran Jafari · · Malaysia

This study examined high-rise building residents' preferences for rooftop gardens to promote urban agriculture in condominiums in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Malaysia. A quantitative survey questionnaire revealed that most participants showed a positive correlation with having a rooftop garden in their living area. Rooftop gardens were found to reduce environmental problems and contribute to microclimate improvement.

André Viljoen, Johannes Schlesinger, Katrin Bohn, Alex Drescher · University of Brighton Repository (University of Brighton) · Global

A refereed book chapter commissioned by the international RUAF Foundation and the international Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems, supported by the FAO and the CGIAR research consortium, appears in a book conceived as a decennial "state of the art" publication on international developments in urban agriculture. It presents an overview of developments and drivers affecting intra- and peri-urban agriculture, drawing on the authors' research on integrating agriculture into urban and city-region land use planning and urban space design. Citing examples from the Global North and South and themes from an international Arts and Humanities Research Network led by Viljoen and Bohn, it offers an international perspective on spatial and policy impacts in this rapidly transforming practice.

惠子 重冨, Keiko Shigetomi · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Global

This paper examines the transformation of the integrated harmony system in the indigenous Andean worldview of the Central Andes — combining "harmony with nature" and "harmony among communities," historically centered on llama caravans — as it erodes under modernization, urbanization, industrialization and mass consumerism. As the market economy gains importance, indigenous peasants are converted into agricultural producers, and mutual relations among rural communities give way to an increasingly invisible relationship between producers and consumers; yet the paper also identifies an emerging tendency toward solidarity between producers and consumers that values both ecological and social sustainability while using the market. It cites Ecological Agriculture promoted by the Asociación de Organizaciones de Productores Ecológicos de Bolivia (AOPEB) and Urban Agriculture promoted by the FAO as examples of this new trend toward harmonic integration.

Anne Thebo, Pay Drechsel, Éric F. Lambin · Environmental Research Letters · Global

This study used spatial overlay analysis of global cropland and urban extent data to estimate the global area of urban and peri-urban irrigated and rainfed croplands. Urban irrigated croplands were estimated at approximately 24 Mha (11.0% of all irrigated croplands) with a cropping intensity of 1.48. Urban rainfed croplands were estimated at about 44 Mha (4.7% of all rainfed croplands) with a cropping intensity of 1.03. Additionally, 60% of all irrigated croplands and 35% of all rainfed croplands were found within 20 km of urban extents.

Zogo Ndomo, Yannick Emmanuel · Bulletin of animal health and production in Africa · Global

Urban agriculture in developing countries is a vital asset in the livelihood strategies of urban households, having expanded rapidly over the last two decades and contributing to income generation for unqualified workforces. However, the illegal status of urban agriculture has created a governance vacuum, necessitating policy formulation and institutionalized management to secure land for the urban poor and improve food security and the environment. Political leaders have a role in regulating this sector.

Rafaela Soto Ortíz, Michael Peña Smith, Idia Concepción, Islay García Hernández · Revista Científica Agroecosistemas · Cuba (Cienfuegos)

In Cienfuegos province, Cuba, limiting factors and seed production quality were identified through a non-experimental, longitudinal study from 2001 to 2012. The investigation revealed a decreasing trend in seed production levels and genetic erosion at the Company of Several Seeds in Cienfuegos, with basic seed categories declining and producers lacking necessary knowledge. Productive infrastructure, resource availability, climate change impacts, and insufficient knowledge were identified as key limiting factors.

Valérie Dewaelheyns, Frederik Lerouge, Elke Rogge, Liesbet Vranken, Dewaelheyns, Valerie, Lerouge, Frederik, Rogge, Elke, Vranken, Liesbet · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Belgium (Flanders)

This study developed a theoretical model to capture, quantify, and interrelate the most relevant variables and constraints of potential food production in domestic gardens. The model development was fostered by quantitative and qualitative data collection for the Flanders case study, providing insights into current and potential food production in Flemish domestic gardens. While not finalized, the model allows exploration of spatial and temporal constraints of individual domestic gardens for food production, contributing to a better understanding of the adaptive capacity of small-scale multifunctional spaces.

Benjamin Goldstein, Morten Birkved, Michael Zwicky Hauschild, John Fernández · · Global

The supply chain supporting urban food consumption currently stresses the environment at planetary, regional, and local scales. Urban agriculture (UA) is claimed to mitigate environmental burdens from urban food needs, but the veracity of these claims remains inconclusive. This study addressed the lack of meaningful systematics by developing a system that categorizes UA into five broad types, optimized for comparing environmental performance.

Katja Rothe · Scholarworks (University of Massachusetts Amherst) · Global

This article examines permaculture design, developed by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, not only as an application of systems theory but also as a form of figurative, ecological reasoning. Permaculture challenges the division between theory and practice, or rationality and sensibility, inextricably linking these modes of knowledge in explorations of patterns. Specifically, it describes permaculture design thought through three aspects: visual thinking in patterns, the role of radical imagination and speculation, and systems theory thought drawing from the Gaia hypothesis.