Research & reports

Natalia Matesanz Ventura · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · United States (New York City)

A case study of more than 50 gardens dotting the Loisaida neighborhood in southeast Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1960s, city agents — neighbors, artists, and architects such as Matta-Clark and Fuller — have built the green spaces and public facilities the neighborhood lacked, activating community and self-managed spaces through affective, dissenting processes. Using architectural forms whose generative parameters depart from traditional design and existing hegemonies, these actors have appropriated the city and reprogrammed public space by creating common space. Stands, domes, and casitas (tiny houses), with their vernacular and kitsch forms, constitute a network centered on the historical lot of La Plaza Cultural. The community gardens form a DIY network of delocalized but interconnected spaces with their own codes, positioned against the real estate market, media encroachment, globalization, and the private appropriation of public resources.

Kate Gardner Burt, Hersh B. Luesse, Jennifer Rakoff, Andréa Cardoso Ventura, Marissa Burgermaster · American Journal of Public Health · United States

An online survey of 99 school gardeners from 15 U.S. states, conducted in June 2017, examined barriers of time, funding, staffing, and space to integrating and sustaining school gardens, using a 29-item survey analyzed with descriptive statistics and inductive content analysis. Barriers were ranked from greatest to least as time, staff, funding, curriculum, and space; the most frequently cited time-related challenges were insufficient time for classes to use the garden (66% of respondents) and insufficient time for staff training (62%). Respondents also reported low engagement within the school community, and while an overall lack of funding was the most common funding-related barrier, gardeners were largely unaware of how to obtain additional funding.

Virginie Lavallée-Picard · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Canada

This paper describes the background, policy and program changes, implementation, and early outcomes of "Growing in the City," a municipally led comprehensive strategy launched in 2016 by the City of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, to expand food production within the city. It focuses on initiatives enabling small-scale commercial urban food production and public-realm community programs—including community gardens, boulevard gardening, an inventory of city-owned land with community gardening potential, and a pilot program to plant food trees on city land—and discusses the success factors, challenges, and areas for improvement in achieving the initiative's goals.

Nevin Cohen, Janet Poppendieck, Nicholas Freudenberg · Journal of Food Law & Policy · United States

This essay outlines priorities for food advocates following the election of President Donald Trump: preserving SNAP, preventing industry deregulation, and sustaining regional food systems. It analyzes the potential conservative-backed counter-proposals to each of these priorities.

Goldstein B. · Environmental Science & Technology · Northeast United States

An analysis for the northeastern US concluded that local and urban farming provides only small environmental benefits to urban sustainability (carbon, land, water), partly because it cannot displace livestock, which dominate agricultural emissions and land use.

Safransky S. · Antipode · Detroit, USA

Examines Detroit's land reordering (including greening and urban farming) under fiscal austerity, arguing that repurposing 'vacant' land reignites racialized dispossession and undermines the sovereignty and land claims of existing low-income Black communities.

Sbicca J., Myers J. S. · Environmental Sociology · USA

Using two food justice organizations in the Bay Area and New York, the article situates urban food activism within 'racial neoliberalism,' showing that food/urban-agriculture movements are inseparable from racial and economic inequities and structures such as mass incarceration.

Paddeu Flaminia · Town Planning Review · USA (Detroit)

Examines Detroit's 2012 zoning ordinance legalising urban agriculture, arguing it functioned as a contested 'planning for decline'. Shows the reform was shaped by political trade-offs and left land-tenure and equity questions unresolved, limiting real benefit to residents.

· Journal of Urban Affairs · USA (Detroit)

Analyzes the political controversy over disposing municipal vacant land for urban agriculture in Detroit (incl. the Hantz large-scale scheme), showing how the land-disposition policy stoked fears of speculative land grabs and 'giving up' on the city rather than delivering community benefit.

Fanny Carlet, Joseph Schilling, Megan Heckert · Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems · United States

This article investigates the current state of research and practice regarding urban agriculture as a strategy for regenerating shrinking U.S. cities. It examines how repurposing vacant land for food production can address urban blight and food insecurity. The study highlights key findings and provides observations for public officials and practitioners on leveraging this research to enhance urban agriculture for vacant land treatment.

Kenna McMurray, Kelsey Hall, Roslynn Brain · Digital Commons - USU (Utah State University) · United States

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) growers in the United States may experience legal concerns and liabilities. This fact sheet aims to guide growers through steps to minimize these liabilities and manage possible risks associated with CSA operations. The presence of such concerns highlights a governance challenge for CSA growers.

Lucy Diekmann, Rob Bennaton, Jessica Schweiger, Cole Smith · Journal of Human Sciences and Extension · United States (California)

This article illustrates how Extension in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, develops urban agriculture programming and engages in food-system-related partnerships. The Extension practice in this metropolitan region aligns with research findings on local food system involvement, focusing on educational opportunities and collaborative work with community and government partners. This case study provides insights for Extension personnel designing urban food system programs.

Michelle Glowa · · United States (San Francisco)

In the San Francisco region, highly competitive land markets increasingly force landowners to use properties for purposes other than gardening, despite the popularity of urban agriculture. This situation compels gardeners to develop strategies to gain and maintain land access, linking gardening to broader land politics and urban design. The chapter explores how gardeners influence space production and property institutions.

Kellen Zale · Maine law review · United States

This presentation connects Senator Muskie's legacy in urban development and Model Cities to contemporary urban development legislation. It highlights that while urban development legislation can originate from any government level, local governments are crafting innovative responses to urban challenges. Examples include Detroit's blight reduction, Seattle's living wage ordinance, San Francisco's urban agriculture zoning, and New Orleans' mixed-use public housing redevelopment.

Christopher Robinson, Scott Cloutier, Hallie Eakin · Sustainability · United States (Phoenix)

This study assessed the business case for multifunctional edible landscaping enterprises in the Phoenix metro area. Semi-structured interviews with four landscaping entrepreneurs and a GIS landscape analysis of seven cities revealed that multifunctional edible landscaping offers a greater range of value propositions and revenue streams, with over 180,000 acres of suitable landscapes identified. Scenario analysis estimated potential value creation from $3.9 to $66 billion, with positive return on investment (ROI) achievable in 11 out of 12 scenarios within one to five years.

Karina Pallagst, René Fleschurz, Franziska Trapp · Landscape Research · United States (Flint, Michigan)

This paper examines greening and green infrastructure development in shrinking US cities, focusing on rightsizing and urban agriculture. It highlights recent greening efforts in Flint, Michigan, as an example. Shrinking cities in the US, characterized by economic decline and population loss, often have vacant land and blighted buildings, which some cities are now re-evaluating as assets for sustainable and livable urban environments.

C. E. Deardorff, Julia Friedman, Charlotte Walton · Bucknell Digital Commons (Bucknell University) · United States

This entry comprises a project report and a Community Garden Guide for Mount Carmel, United States. The report outlines community garden benefits, analyzes potential advantages for Mount Carmel, and reviews stakeholders, goals, and a community interest survey. The guide compiles essential information and tools for establishing new community garden projects, covering social and economic benefits alongside technical skills.

Igor Villares de Carvalho, Paola Branduini · Revista Urbano · Brazil (Recife)

Addressing the issue of abandoned and unclear urban agricultural heritage in many South American cities, this study focused on the Várzea neighborhood in Recife, Brazil, applying principles from the European Landscape Convention and findings from COST Action Urban - Agriculture Europe (2011-16). It noted that the tangible and intangible rural heritage of Várzea, a region settled by Europeans in the 16th century for sugarcane cultivation and remaining rural until the 20th century, is disconnected from the current population and conservation practices. To mitigate this problem, the article proposes guidelines for the regeneration of this heritage and the improvement of cases related to the area's rural background.

Kelsey Hall, Roslynn Brain · Digital Commons - USU (Utah State University) · United States (Utah)

This curriculum consists of seven modules aimed at fostering Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in Utah. It covers the fundamentals of CSA, marketing and outreach, management, pricing, crop planning, legal concerns for CSA operations, and additional resources.

· Policy Press eBooks · United States (Detroit)

Dan Carmody, President of Detroit's Eastern Market Corporation, discussed the market's history and its importance for food access in Detroit. He addressed the role of urban agriculture and the new wave of gentrification, which has the potential to significantly impact the Market.

Ana Maria Girotti Sperandio, Adriana Aparecida Carneiro Rosa, Betânia Gonçalves de Carvalho, Pereira, Bruna Ridolfi · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil

This field research in Santa Barbara d’Oeste, São Paulo state, Brazil, aimed to identify healthy city values and principles by studying the Community Garden of Maria Augusta Canto Camargo Bilia Municipal School. It explored political strategies for health, education, and social justice through the garden-school community interrelationship, identifying strategies proposed by caregivers, managers, and residents regarding experience exchange and student participation in urban community garden products. The study concluded that actions improving empowerment, autonomy, and governance are essential for constructing healthy city indicators.

Christopher Strunk, Margaret Richardson · Social & Cultural Geography · United States (Midwest)

This paper explores how refugee gardeners and local officials in a small Midwestern U.S. city use and experience urban gardens, identifying three aspects: the material garden, the imagined garden, and the community’s garden. It argues that refugee agricultural practices challenge traditional understandings of nature and urban planning, promoting inclusive understandings of agriculture, cities, and sustainability.

Owen Beatty · ScholarsArchive at Johnson & Wales University (Johnson & Wales University) · United States

This study analyzed food insecurity in the United States, focusing on populations below the poverty threshold. It found that large-scale agricultural production has led to "food deserts" isolated from affordable, quality food. Urban agriculture, by localizing production, was identified as a viable resource and potential solution for individuals experiencing hunger and those in food deserts.

Ana Maria Girotti Sperandio, Adriana Aparecida Carneiro Rosa, Betânia Gonçalves de Carvalho · Cadernos de Pós Graduação em Arquitetura e Urbanismo · Brazil (São Paulo)

This article identifies healthy city values and principles and discusses the results of field research conducted in the Community Garden of Maria Augusta Canto Camargo Bilia Municipal School in Santa Barbara d’Oeste, São Paulo, Brazil. The study explored political strategies for health, education, and social justice through the interrelationship between the garden and the school community. It utilized “Observational Dialogue” and a WHOQOL-100 readjustment questionnaire, concluding that actions improving empowerment, autonomy, and governance are essential for constructing healthy city indicators.

Jonathan Lowell, Sara Law · CABI eBooks · United States (Texas), Cuba

A comparative study of urban agriculture projects in Austin, Texas, and Havana, Cuba, revealed that sustainability discourses primarily focus on food production methods, with little attention paid to persistent food insecurity issues that urban agriculture has yet to address, or to the cultural politics of food, where race, class, and gender shape access to food choices. While agricultural practices and their perceived value were similar in both cities, the study found comparable outcomes in how food exposed spatial and social divisions.