Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
1022 results(27 / 41)
Motivation and background of participants and providers of self-harvest gardens in Germany
2018Martin Gauder, Heinrich Hagel, Nadine Gollmann, Joachim Stängle, Reiner Doluschitz, Wilhelm Claupein · Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems · Germany
A 2015 survey of 173 participants and 34 providers of self-harvest gardens in Germany aimed to characterize individuals engaged in this form of urban agriculture. Participants generally exhibited middle to high incomes, sustainable lifestyles, high education levels, and strong nutritional awareness, with a disproportionate engagement of females. Providers were primarily farmers with an affinity for organic agriculture, often benefiting from synergistic effects with farm shops. Challenges identified for some gardens included bad harvests, theft, and vandalism.
CommunityEconomicsHealthProtection of a place?
2018Birgit Peuker · · Germany
This chapter discusses whether community supported agriculture (CSA) constitutes a real alternative to the conventional food system. From the perspective of social movement research, CSA is viewed not as a niche that will replace the agri-food system in the future, but rather as a space for learning and expressing sustainability. The analysis is based on experiences with CSA in Germany and includes comparisons with developments in other European countries.
CSA & TeikeiFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityEconomicsThe creation of a sustainable urban “green oasis” A qualitative study of the discursive making of an ecological social enterprise
2018S. Parsisson · · Netherlands (Rotterdam)
This study investigated how urban farmers at Rotterdamse Munt, an urban herb garden in Rotterdam, Netherlands, discursively negotiate their status as a 'social enterprise' using ethnographic fieldwork and a semiotic approach. The research found that Rotterdamse Munt has not fully transformed into a sustainable ecological social enterprise. Instead, urban farmers constantly negotiated between altruistic and commercial approaches, failing to fully achieve both, which obliged them to combine two contrasting identities through dual visual identity, services, and products to reach two different populations.
CommunityEconomicsPolicyEnvironmental Impacts of Urban Hydroponics in Europe: A Case Study in Lyon
2018Daina Romeo, Eldbjørg Blikra Vea, Marianne Thomsen · Procedia CIRP · France (Lyon)
This paper analyzed the environmental impacts of ReFarmers' pilot farm, a high-yield vertical hydroponic croft in the urban area of Lyon, France, from a life cycle perspective. Results indicated that the hydroponic farm performed better than cultivations in heated greenhouses and similarly to conventional open field farms. Furthermore, the electricity input source was a determinant factor; if carbon neutral (e.g., wind energy), vertical hydroponic production could outperform the two conventional agriculture types.
Climate changeEconomicsUrban–rural linkageL’agriculture urbaine comme opportunité de construction politique
2018Marie Gisclard, Richard Raymond · Institut français d’études anatoliennes eBooks · Turkey (Diyarbakır)
This article examines the Hevsel Gardens in Diyarbakır, Turkey, which face sustainability challenges due to the city's growth and an asymmetric relationship where the city dominates the gardens. It highlights the unbalanced relationships between the gardens and the city, stemming from a lack of quality and quantity in water resources. The coexistence and competition of three socio-political projects, including centralized political networks and farmer-specific adaptations, call for a re-examination of this relationship and an alternative to the concentration of powers in the metropolis.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceUrban Gardening as a Multifunctional Tool to Increase Social Sustainability in the City
2018Alisa Koroļova, S. Treija · Architecture and Urban Planning · Europe
This article provides evidence of the multi-functionality of urban gardening in addressing various societal issues. Case studies from Malmo, Birmingham, and Riga demonstrate how urban gardening contributes to social integration, inhabitants' well-being, and urban regeneration.
CommunityHealthFood educationPolicyEconomie solidali creatrici di comunità ecologiche
2018P Cacciari · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Italy
This article argues that diverse economic forms exist beyond the market economy, including natural, gift, domestic, informal, and solidarity economies. Solidarity economy, based on ethical principles like sustainability, mutuality, cooperation, and democracy, is presented as a transformative, post-capitalist alternative applicable to all sectors of production, distribution, and exchange. Case studies include buildings as common goods in Naples and Arvaia, a community-supported agriculture initiative in Bologna.
EconomicsCommunityCSA & TeikeiFood sovereignty & justiceドイツにおける異文化庭園の運営とその社会的背景 (Managing intercultural gardens and its social background in Germany)
2017Watanabe Y., Amemiya M., Shimpo N. · 都市計画報告集 (Reports of the City Planning Institute of Japan), No.16 · Germany
Surveys the management and social background of Germany's 'intercultural gardens' (Interkulturelle Gärten), which aim to integrate immigrants and refugees into local society, and considers their applicability in Japan. Finds that the gardens originated as a grassroots activity by locals and spread across Germany through a supporting organisation.
CommunityPolicyBusiness models in urban farming: A comparative analysis of case studies from Spain, Italy and Germany
2017Pölling B., Prados M.-J., Torquati B. M., Giacchè G., Recasens X., Paffarini C., Alfranca O., Lorleberg W. · Moravian Geographical Reports 25(3):166-180 · Europe
Comparative analysis of urban farming enterprises in Spain, Italy and Germany, concluding that differentiation, diversification, and low-cost specialization are essential business strategies for long-term profitability in cities.
EconomicsCommunityCommunity gardening in poor neighborhoods in France: A way to re-think food practices?
2017Martin P., Consalès J.-N., Scheromm P., Marchand P., Ghestem F., Darmon N. · Appetite · France (Marseille)
Study in a deprived Marseille neighborhood found that socioeconomically disadvantaged women with access to a community garden were more likely to adopt a healthy diet than matched controls without such access.
CommunityHealthWelfareFood educationEcosystem services of allotment and community gardens: A Leipzig, Germany case study
2017Cabral I., Keim J., Engelmann R., Kraemer R., Siebert J., Bonn A. · Urban Forestry & Urban Greening · Germany (Leipzig)
Assessed ecosystem services such as climate and water regulation and habitat provision across 30 allotment plots and adjacent community gardens in Leipzig, finding highest plant species richness in medium-intensity managed plots.
BiodiversityCommunityExploring Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting Potential for Food Production in Urban Areas
2017· Agriculture · Rome, Italy
Models rooftop rainwater harvesting to irrigate 2,631 fruit and vegetable gardens in Rome, estimating 19-33% of gardens could be water self-sufficient depending on irrigation efficiency.
DIYCommunityCare farms as a space of wellbeing for people with a learning disability in the United Kingdom
2017Rotheram S., McGarrol S., Watkins F. · Health & Place · United Kingdom
Qualitative interviews with 18 clients with a learning disability who attend UK care farms examined how these spaces contribute to their health and wellbeing, identifying care farms as a positive 'space of wellbeing'.
WelfareHealthThe motivations and experiences of community garden participants in Edinburgh, Scotland
2017· Regional Studies, Regional Science · United Kingdom (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Investigates the motivations and lived experiences of community garden participants in Edinburgh, Scotland.
CommunityHealthWelfareQuality of care and quality of life of people with dementia living at green care farms: a cross-sectional study
2017· BMC Geriatrics · Netherlands
A cross-sectional study in the southern Netherlands comparing quality of care and quality of life for 115 residents with dementia across green care farms, regular small-scale living facilities, and traditional nursing homes.
ElderlyWelfareHealthSmall can be beautiful for organic market gardens: an exploration of the economic viability of French microfarms using MERLIN
2017· Agricultural Systems · France
Simulating 18 French organic microfarm scenarios with the stochastic model MERLIN, the study concludes that while microfarms can be economically viable in some cases, the risk of failing to reach viability is not negligible.
EconomicsUrban agriculture on the move in Paris: The routes of temporary gardening in the neoliberal city
2017Kaduna-Eve Demailly, Ségolène Darly · ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies · France (Paris)
Shows how Paris's temporary 'licence to occupy' model for urban gardens produces extreme precarity: gardens are placed on vacant lots slated for building and must physically relocate ('nomadic' gardening) when the temporary permit is revoked, revealing interim-use policy as structurally unstable.
PolicyCommunityWhen Allotment Gardens Become Urban Green Spaces like Others, Providing Cultural Ecosystem Services
2017Amélie Robert, Jean Louis Yengué · Environment and Ecology Research · France
This case study investigated the Bergeonnerie allotments in Tours, France, through in situ observations, user surveys, and interviews with municipal stakeholders. It found that these allotments provide not only provisioning services like food but also cultural ecosystem services, serving as a source of well-being for gardeners and a place for walking, sociability, and education for other people. Municipal stakeholders confirmed these broader benefits, indicating allotments offer more than just vegetable cultivation.
CommunityFood educationHealthBiodiversityExploring urban agriculture as a component of multifunctional green infrastructure: Application of figure-ground plans as a spatial analysis tool
2017Attila Tóth, Axel Timpe · Moravian Geographical Reports · Europe
This paper presents and discusses the application of figure-ground plans combined with complex land-use maps as a tool for spatial analysis of urban agriculture in European cities and their multifunctional green infrastructure, using 'Urban Atlas' data. Urban fabric, agriculture, and non-agricultural open spaces were analyzed and compared in selected cities and metropolitan areas, including Dublin, Ruhr Metropolis, Geneva, and Sofia. The results reveal the scale and land-use diversity of metropolitan regions and different spatial patterns of urban agriculture at both regional and central urban levels.
Urban–rural linkagePolicyBiodiversityPeri-urban agriculture in Barcelona: outlining landscape dynamics vis à vis socio-environmental functions
2017Pere Serra, David Saurı́, Luca Salvati · Landscape Research · Spain (Barcelona)
A quantitative approach was proposed to analyze peri-urban agriculture (PUA) dynamics in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, profiling farm types and related landscape structures. Results indicated that PUA is based on five typologies with varying territorial values, reflecting diverse economic relevance, socio-environmental weight, and landscape prominence. A conservation strategy is proposed to preserve the residual PUA landscape by promoting a polycentric functional network of farming with natural vegetation.
Peri-urban agricultureUrban–rural linkagePolicyEconomicsPeri-urban agriculture: an analysis of farm typologies in Italy
2017HENKE Roberto, VANNI Francesco · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Italy
This 2017 article analyzed the role of peri-urban agriculture in Italy through a comparative study of seven metropolitan areas, using micro-data from the sixth Italian agriculture census. It identified six typologies of market-oriented farms. The study found that a significant share of farms in Italian urban poles are passively absorbed by urban expansion, indicating a challenge to their economic viability. However, the most reactive farms are diversifying and supplying social and economic services.
Economic viabilityPeri-urban agricultureEconomicsUrban–rural linkageEveryday urbanism and the everyday state: Negotiating habitat in allotment gardens in Berlin
2017Hanna Hilbrandt · Urban Studies · Germany (Berlin)
This paper investigates the powers at play in informal housing practices and their regulation within Berlin's allotment gardens, where residency is prohibited. It argues that gardeners' ability to remain in these sites depends on their mediation of regulatory practices through relationships with state actors or institutional frameworks. This process highlights the co-construction of order and the establishment of boundaries for inclusion and exclusion.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsBeyond the market—New practices of supply in times of crisis: The example community‐supported agriculture
2017Birgit Blättel‐Mink, Moritz Boddenberg, Lenard Gunkel, Sarah Schmitz, Franziska Vaessen · International Journal of Consumer Studies · Germany
This study analyzed Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) in Germany, applying the concept of social innovation. It conducted a standardized survey, semi-structured interviews, and discourse analysis, identifying the crisis discourses to which CSA reacts and the motivations of its members. While CSA exhibits innovative facets such as solidarity, de-commodification, and prosuming, it is not a homogeneous phenomenon, differentiating into sociopolitical, spiritual-communal, and pragmatic-economic types that vary in their expression of social innovation and attitudes towards crises.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceThe geography of urban agriculture: New trends and challenges
2017Barbora Duží, Bohumil Frantál, Marian Simón Rojo · Moravian Geographical Reports · Europe
This article provides a theoretical and conceptual introduction to urban agriculture in Europe, reviewing its diverging issues from a geographical perspective. It discusses urban agriculture within the context of urban and rural transformations, urban regeneration, agricultural restructuring, and land-use conflicts. The paper summarizes current research and presents main trends and concepts, emphasizing the challenges they pose to geographers.
Urban–rural linkagePolicyCommunityClimate changeContributions of Social Currencies to Alternative Short Food Supply Chains
2017Ana María Rivero Santos · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · Spain (Asturias)
This research aims to identify the contributions of social currencies to creating short food supply chains. A case study of RASTRU's consumption groups and community supported agriculture (CSA) in Asturias, northwest Spain, and its social currency "Copin," was presented. Through surveys and participant observation, it was evidenced how social currencies generate proximity and trust-based relations between consumers and producers, based on inclusion and fair access to food for people.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justice