Research & reports

Birte Mehrkens, Jan Ole Oßenbrink, Cord Petermann, Andreas Ulbrich · 52. DGG & BHGL Jahrestagung · Germany

This paper describes the "Urbaner Gartenbau" (urban horticulture) project (2017-2019) carried out in the Hamburg metropolitan region, Germany. It argues that fast-growing metropolitan regions such as Hamburg could benefit in future from horticultural production areas in an urban context, provided these areas are preserved under land-use pressure. The project combines two research approaches: a production-oriented approach aimed at developing innovative concepts through model projects to strengthen horticultural businesses, and a participatory approach centred on mediating between urban gardening actors in Hamburg and professional horticulture. At the project's outset, three categories of planned practice projects were identified: existing innovation projects from other metropolitan regions, promoters/multipliers, and innovation businesses.

Alexander P N van der Jagt, Luca R Szaraz, Tim Delshammar, Rozalija Cvejić, Artur Santos, Julie Goodness, Arjen Buijs · Environmental Research · Europe (5 EU countries)

A 2017 cross-case comparison, carried out through the EU GREEN SURGE project, of six communal urban gardening (CUG) initiatives — allotments and community gardens — in five EU member states, based on interviews with a range of actors, asking which governance arrangements let such gardens deliver social resilience. The authors frame the problem as a gap between aspiration and reality: municipalities in the Global North promote CUG as a nature-based solution, yet the mechanisms by which institutional actors can best support it are understudied. Success factors identified include clearly formulated objectives and regulations, municipal support, financial resources, social capital, and the presence of local food champions and facilitators doing community-building work. The authors conclude that municipalities need to move beyond a rigid focus on top-down control while citizens can increase impact by engaging politically as well as practically. Cases were deliberately selected for being locally unique or innovative, so they are not a representative sample of EU practice.

Social Finance · Social Finance UK · United Kingdom

A project page published on 15 February 2017 and updated 21 May 2026. In 2010 Social Finance structured the world's first Social Impact Bond, raising £5 million to cut reoffending among short-sentenced prisoners leaving Peterborough prison. It covered two cohorts of 1,000, 2,000 people in all, against a pre-intervention reoffending rate of 60 per cent among short-sentenced prisoners. The result was a 9 per cent reduction against a 7.5 per cent target, and investors were paid a return of 3 per cent a year; by 2025 the model had spread to 320 SIBs in 35 countries raising over $861 million.

Tracy Palandjian · Social Finance · United Kingdom

Published 1 August 2017 after the Peterborough Social Impact Bond cut reoffending among short-sentenced offenders by 9 per cent, beating its 7.5 per cent target. Seventeen investors took part and earned a return of just over 3 per cent a year. Seven years on from the 2010 launch, and six years into US market-building, the piece reports 17 American projects mobilising over $200 million across Massachusetts, South Carolina, New York, Oklahoma, California and Connecticut.

Pölling B., Mergenthaler M., Lorleberg W. · Land Use Policy · Germany (Ruhr)

Analyzes professional urban agriculture in Germany's Ruhr metropolis, identifying characteristic business models—'low-cost specialization', 'differentiation' and 'diversification'—and finding city-adjusted farms perform better economically.

Eva Olsson, Eva Kerselaers, Lone Søderkvist Kristensen, Jørgen Primdahl, Elke Rogge, Anders Wästfelt · Sustainability · Europe

A study focusing on peri-urban land in Gothenburg (Sweden), Copenhagen (Denmark), and Gent (Belgium) analyzed the relationship between peri-urban food production and urban resilience. It found that arable farming has declined in all three areas since 2000 due to urban expansion and recreational land use changes. While policies for farmland preservation exist, strategies for local food production are not expressed in current planning documents, and competing land uses and high dependence on global food systems reduce peri-urban food production and improvements in urban food security.

Sandra María Fonseca da Costa, Runrid Fox-Kämper, Russell Good, Ivana Sentić, S. Treija, Jasminka Rizovska Atanasovska, Hervé Bonnavaud · · Europe

This chapter provides an understanding of the position of allotment and community gardens within the urban fabric across Europe. It offers insights into their diverse locations, relationships to other green spaces, reciprocal impact on the urban landscape and people, and their role in green infrastructure, including functions, connectivity, and accessibility for residents.

Pierpaolo Mudu, Alessia Marini · Antipode · Italy

In Italy, the occupation of abandoned urban spaces for "orti urbani" (urban gardens) has increased within the squatting movement over the last 10 years. The city of Rome shows widespread activity in organizing self-managed spaces for growing fruits and vegetables. These initiatives support food autonomous configurations and represent a strategy to re-appropriate and commune urban space.

Giovanni Sanesi, Giuseppe Colangelo, Raffaele Lafortezza, Enrico Calvo, Clive Davies · Landscape Research · Italy (Milan)

This study assessed land use changes and policy impacts on urban green infrastructure (UGI) in the Metropolitan Area of Milan, Italy. Since the 1970s, policies have led to the creation of 10,000 hectares of new forests and green systems, such as Boscoincittà and Parco Nord Milano, to address green space loss. The research, part of the Emonfur project, aims to identify effective measures for increasing UGI quality and quantity.

John Crossan, Andrew Cumbers, Robert McMaster, Deirdre Shaw · Antipode · United Kingdom (Glasgow)

This paper examines community gardens in Glasgow, acknowledging their vulnerability to neoliberal cooptation where citizen work may alleviate state service provision. However, it argues that even with neoliberal practices, these gardens cultivate collective practices that suggest a progressively transformative polity. This form of citizen participation, termed "Do-It-Yourself" (DIY) Citizenship, encourages reconsideration of relationships and effective political practice.

Daniela Gasperi, Giuseppina Pennisi, Niccolò Rizzati, F. Magrefi, Giovanni Giorgio Bazzocchi, Umberto Mezzacapo, Monique Centrone Stefani, Esther Sanyé‐Mengual, Francesco Orsini, Giorgio Gianquinto · Sustainability · Italy (Bologna)

This paper analyzed current practices in the requalification of vacant areas as urban gardens in Bologna, Italy, using six case studies across four types of vacant areas. For most cases, urban horticulture improved the image and quality of the areas and provided social benefits like improved life quality, food access, and social interaction. Strong differences were found between top-down and bottom-up initiatives, with bottom-up approaches being preferable for citizen engagement.

Malin Gustafsson, Matilda Olsson · · Netherlands (Schiedam)

This thesis focuses on a design proposal for a multifunctional foodscape in a peri-urban area on the city edge of Schiedam, in the Metropolitan Region of Rotterdam-The Hague, Netherlands. The proposal includes food production, education, and recreation, aiming to transform peri-urban areas into multifunctional zones and exemplify their role as transition zones between urban and rural landscapes. An empirical pre-study was conducted, focusing on urban farming in Rotterdam, dairy farming in Midden-Delfland, and greenhouse horticulture in Westland.

E.J. Veen, Petra Derkzen, B.B. Bock, A.J. de Visser, J.S.C. Wiskerke · Sociologie · Netherlands

This case study of a community garden in the Netherlands, used by three different groups, found that communities formed in such gardens are complex and multiple, not singular. While the garden served as a meeting space for two groups, strengthening internal cohesion, both groups categorized people as 'us' and 'them' based on residence. This strengthened their social identities and led to struggles over garden ownership, demonstrating that shared presence does not necessarily bridge social distances.

Mari Martiskainen, Eva Heiskanen · INDIGO (University of Illinois at Chicago) · United Kingdom

This article examines grassroots innovations, such as community energy projects and community gardens, as forms of political engagement. It argues that while contemporary grassroots innovations may appear less explicitly political than their 1970s predecessors, they still represent political participation. Using UK community energy initiatives as an example, the paper asserts that these projects possess political dimensions extending beyond their immediate communities, fostering political engagement whether intentionally or not.

Ulrich Best · · Germany (Berlin)

Berlin Tempelhof Airport, closed on October 30, 2008, temporarily became a park. Debates about the use and accessibility of this space have continued, including opposition to a fence, successful guerrilla gardening, and discussions about future construction. This chapter investigates the politics and discourses surrounding the airport's closure in the media and neighborhood, linking them to the theme of memory and affect in urban studies.

Nazila Keshavarz, Simon Bell, Andis Zīlāns, Andrew Hursthouse, Annette Voigt, Ans Hobbelink, Antoine Zammit, Ari Jokinen, Bent Egberg Mikkelsen, Bruno Notteboom, Byron Ioannou, Chiara Certomà, Eva Schwab, Ivana Sentić, Johan Barstad, Krista Willman, Laura Calvet‐Mir, Ligita Baležentienė, Malou Weirich, Maria Partalidou, Martin Sondermann, M. Latkowska, Nerea Morán, Ole Pihl, Sara Uršić, Simone Tappert, Sophia Meeres, Susan Noori, Theodosia Anthopoulou, Tim Delshammar, Werner Heidemann, Zuzana Gogová · · Europe

This article outlined the diverse history of urban gardens, including allotments and community gardens, in Europe. History shows many similarities and differences in the reasons for their formation, with urban gardens gaining renewed recognition during the two world wars as a reliable way of producing food. Changes in urban demography, environmental and social movements, and people's attitudes in recent decades have also shaped the history of urban gardens.

Ladina Knapp, E.J. Veen, H. Renting, J.S.C. Wiskerke, J.C.J. Groot · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · Europe

This study assessed criteria for the successful establishment and continuity of 29 small-scale, bottom-up urban agriculture (UA) initiatives in the Netherlands and Switzerland, using a vulnerability analysis framework. Biophysical and socio-institutional criteria were analyzed through interviews with project leaders. Findings revealed that the vulnerability of UA systems strongly depends on local circumstances, with the main perturbations and causes of vulnerability originating from social-institutional and human conditions, such as the institutional sphere, local authority assistance, and project leaders' determination.

Enrico Marcore, Nicola Spurling · Lancaster EPrints (Lancaster University) · Italy, United Kingdom

This essay explores the relationship between space, planning, and everyday practices, focusing on the futures of domestic food growing spaces and practices in Italy and the UK. It examines the recent inclusion of community gardens in an eco-urban housing model in L'Aquila, Italy, and the historical trajectory of allotments in the UK. Through these examples, the essay considers how various "experiments" in policy, planning, and practice should be conceptualized.

Monika Larasati P E, M.Eng. Ir. Sudaryono · · Spain (Madrid)

This study describes the planning of the Manzanares River area in Madrid, Spain, focusing on its philosophy, concepts, and principles. It notes that the river, once overlooked due to the M-30 highway, is now part of efforts to restore urban ecological elements. The research used a deductive qualitative method with content analysis of relevant literature and texts.

Rafael Mata Olmo, Carolina Yacamán Ochoa · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Spain (Madrid)

This study, based on a case study in the Community of Madrid, addresses the treatment of agricultural landscapes in metropolitan contexts from a heritage perspective, emphasizing the role of this approach in territorial development and the revitalization of peri-urban agriculture. It synthesizes the concept of heritage and the agrarian park figure, then proposes a methodology for activating patrimonialization processes of peri-urban agricultural areas, supported by public participation and the activation of their identity elements.

Matthias Drilling, Renata Giedych, Lidia Poniży, Mary Benson, Mária Bihuňová, Duarte d’Araújo Mata, Sophia Meeres, Patrick Oehler, Roberta Štěpánková, Nicola Thomas, Malou Weirich · · Europe

This chapter explores how urban allotment gardens are or could be integrated into spatial development visions and concepts in Europe. Following 1989, allotment gardens gained attention as a land-use category in spatial and urban planning. The planning of allotment gardens in the contemporary European landscape faces a contradictory situation, with urban development planning largely responsible for future scenarios.

Sevinç Bahar Yenigül · MEGARON / Yıldız Technical University Faculty of Architecture E-Journal · Turkey

This abstract states that as rural areas become intertwined with urban areas, new concepts related to rurality, agriculture, and agricultural production are developing.

Chiara Certomà · Geografiska Annaler Series B Human Geography · Italy (Rome)

This article investigates the relationship between urban gardening and planning, based on field research on gardening initiatives in Rome, Italy. It suggests that urban gardening exhibits characteristics of "informal planning," intentionally advanced by local dwellers to plan urban space and organize public life in the absence of legal definition, guidance, and funds. Cases in Rome exemplify the emergence of informal planning and show how a new mode of interaction between citizens' agency and formal planning initiatives can lead to creative solutions for issues like decreased public space and its deterioration.

Laura Calvet‐Mir, Hug March, Helena Nordh, Jeanne Pourias, Barbora Čakovská · · Europe

This chapter analyzes individual motivations of gardeners in various types of allotment gardens, noting growing waiting lists for plots. In Barcelona, urban gardens declined due to urban expansion but new economic situations in southern European countries have created new motivations. Societal changes, such as the transition to a market economy in Nitra in the 1990s, have linked access to private property through allotment plots as a major motivation for gardeners.

Corrado Diamantini · City Territory and Architecture · Italy

This article discusses the role of peri-urban agriculture in maintaining the identity and sustainability of Alpine cities, which face challenges such as urban sprawl. It emphasizes that peri-urban territories in the Alps can be crucial for sustainable urban development. As evidence, a planning project for the Rotaliana Königsberg territory north of Trento, Italy, is presented, which aims to restore its agro-food vocation through the creation of a vast agricultural park encompassing much of the urbanized area.