Research & reports

Marit Rosol · International Journal of Urban and Regional Research · Germany (Berlin)

Argues that the state's new acceptance of citizen-run gardens as green-space governance is an expression of neoliberalization: participation is mobilized to shift fiscal responsibility onto residents. Shows contradictory, self-undermining outcomes of this participatory policy instrument.

Ebenezer Howard · Cambridge University Press eBooks · United Kingdom (London)

This paper presents two quotes: one from G. J. Shaw-Lefevre (1891) criticizing London's chaotic, unplanned urban growth and lack of unified design, and another from The Echo (1890) advocating for attaching half-an-acre of land to public elementary schools for school gardens to teach horticulture and food physiology. Shaw-Lefevre noted that the city developed without considering convenience or aesthetics.

Richard L. Wiltshire · Research Portal (King's College London) · United Kingdom

This chapter provides authoritative guidance to present and future allotment holders on statute and case law and support mechanisms related to the acquisition, use, defense, and termination of allotment gardens and allotment tenancies. It draws on "Growing in the Community" to contextualize specific, prescriptive allotment legislation within the broader context of good management practices.

Susan Henderson · Planning Perspectives · Germany (Frankfurt)

The Römerstadt settlement in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, was a key achievement of the "New Frankfurt" urban expansion program (1926-1932), re-housing 60,000 people in 15,000 units. It integrated technical advances like central heating and cable radio, alongside social reforms such as a model school and a landscape plan with allotment gardens and parks. This article surveys Römerstadt's design and history, presenting it as the most complete realization of the program's ideals.

Mieczysław Kunz, Andrzej Nienartowicz · Ecological Questions · Poland

This study in Toruń, Poland, analyzed changes in the distribution and surface area of heaths over nearly 120 years at two former military sites, "JAR" and "Glinki." The analysis utilized historical topographic maps, aerial photos, a high-resolution Ikonos satellite image, and direct field exploration with GPS devices. It was found that the JAR site currently has 22 heather patches covering 11.7328 ha, and the Glinki district also has 22 heather patches covering 3.5701 ha, identifying them as the largest heath sites within Toruń's administrative boundaries. The analysis also outlined small fragments where heaths could be preserved after future housing estate construction at JAR and discussed future land use changes at Glinki due to a scheduled housing estate.

Nicola Silvestri, E. Bonari · CINECA IRIS Institutial research information system (University of Pisa) · Italy

Focusing on the area around Lake Massaciuccoli in Tuscany, Italy, this paper discusses the relationship between the management of peri-urban agricultural land — the transition zone between city and countryside — and the lake's eutrophication problem. It argues that proper management of the extensive agricultural areas within this heavily anthropized territory could contribute significantly to resolving the lake's eutrophication through management and structural interventions, while noting that partially reorganizing existing agricultural models carries both cost and difficulty.

Qian Xiong Jin · Chinese Landscape Architecture · United Kingdom

An overview of the history and future of the allotment garden in the United Kingdom. It originated in the subsistence needs of people who had lost their land during urbanization, grew steadily under legislative promotion, and peaked during the two World Wars and the Great Depression driven by national mobilization, before declining during the postwar period of economic recovery. Since the 1990s it has shifted character from allotment garden to leisure garden, and in the context of a pluralistic contemporary society it has become recognized as an important cultural heritage due to its unique social significance and long history, gradually recovering within the framework of sustainable development strategy and the 21st Century Agenda.

Ross Wilson · The International Journal of Regional and Local Studies · United Kingdom

The year 2008 marked the centenary of the UK's 1908 Small Holdings and Allotments Act, which significantly shaped the landscape of urban and rural Britain by placing a new obligation on local authorities to provide allotment gardens where residents wanted them. This article focuses on the creation of corporation-owned and -operated allotment gardens in York in the early twentieth century, examining how the era's debates over poor housing, unemployment and the condition of the working classes were reflected through the allotment movement. Allotment gardens represented an important resource for residents of the city's deprived areas, while local politicians and councillors viewed the sites as significant tools for social reform.

de Cárdenas Maestre I. · Cuaderno de Notas, no. 12, 119-134 · Germany

A Spanish-language study of Migge's 1919 'Green Manifesto', examining his utopian call for self-sufficiency and self-governance through small, interconnected rural-urban groups he termed Stadtland or Landstadt.

Maria Gabriella Errico · · Europe

This study analyzed theories and concepts intertwining human activity with economic, social, scientific, and political aspects, driven by interest in solutions for maintaining agricultural landscapes in peri-urban areas. It investigated the landscape characteristics of territories between city and countryside that retain cultural historical signs. By synthesizing key challenges of peri-urban areas, the research aimed to identify design strategies for active conservation and transformation through agricultural park projects. The study proceeded to recognize the characteristics and critical issues of the peri-urban agricultural landscape.

· Engineering & Technology · United Kingdom (London)

This article describes the historical landscape of the 2012 London Olympic Park site, a 321-hectare brownfield in the Lea Valley. Archaeological findings by the Museum of London indicate human presence from the Mesolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman periods, with evidence of dwellings, skeletons, and a Roman coin. The site hosted textile printing in the 17th century, followed by petrol factories, bone, varnish, soap, and tallow works, distilleries, engineering, and chemical plants, and was used for landfill from the late 19th century. It also had strong electronic associations, with the development of the first diode valve in 1904 and the establishment of Britain's first radio valve factory in 1916 and first television tube factory in 1936.

C. Colliot, J.M. Bertrand · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · France

This paper discusses how peri-urban agriculture is influenced by urban sprawl, noting that common tools like SCoT and PLU are insufficient for rural extension services in this context. Based on examples from the Provence-Alpes Côtes d’Azur region and a CASDAR project, it proposes a future network to renew competencies of rural advisors. The objective is to foster fruitful relationships with city extension services.

홍석기 · 정책리포트 · France (Paris)

The "Le Grand Paris Project" proposes a major reform of Paris to transform it into a sustainable and globally competitive city for the 21st century. Proposed plans, to be implemented from 2020 to 2030, include physical spatial expansion beyond current boundaries, establishment of new governance for geographical and sociocultural integration, and a shift from a single-core radial to a multi-core linear urban structure. The project also suggests urban agriculture, agro-cities, and green car activation to improve the urban environment in line with the Kyoto Protocol.

AÇIKSÖZ Sebahat · Tarım Bilimleri Dergisi · Turkey (Bartın)

This study investigated whether urban agriculture activities in Bartın, Turkey, could be organized as a cluster according to Cluster Growth Theory, and examined its cluster characteristics as part of the TR-26 Bartın Regional Development Project. While urban agriculture in Bartın was identified as having cluster characteristics and growth potential, the study found that a fundamental problem for its future development is weak coordination and cooperation among stakeholders. It proposes a model for urban agriculture activities for a "Bartın Urban Initiative" at the city level.

Lucette Laurens · Journal for Geography · France

This inquiry examines peri-urban agricultural spaces in Languedoc-Roussillon and the Montpellier agglomeration, France, which are characterized by a decline in agricultural activities and abandonment. These spaces are confronted with new, uncertain, and innovative dynamics, appearing as multifunctional spaces that need to be re-invented. The study highlights the paradox of these areas caught between appropriation for different uses and agricultural decline.

E. Peduto, D. Satdinova · · United Kingdom

The available abstract is fragmentary and cuts off mid-sentence, but it states that some areas of London have already advanced considerably under the "Capital Growth" initiative launched in November 2008. That initiative is described as aiming to turn 2,012 pieces of land into green spaces for growing food, though the abstract breaks off before providing further study details or findings.

European Commission · European Commission — Directorate-General for Environment · Europe

This European Commission page on the Waste Framework Directive states the directive entered into force on 12 December 2008. It notes the EU generates around 2.5 billion tonnes of waste per year (roughly 5 tonnes per person annually). An amended version, effective 16 October 2025, includes food-waste reduction targets.

Haney D. H. · Landscape Journal, 26(2), 201-218 · Germany

Analyzes Migge's 1919 'Green Manifesto', one of the most overtly political tracts by a landscape architect, proposing that intensive vegetable gardens for everyone could solve Germany's social and economic problems through a technologically modern synthesis of garden and dwelling.

Mark Stenton · Archaeology Data Service · United Kingdom (Sheffield)

This desk-based archaeological assessment of Hanover Works in Sheffield, UK, conducted in July 2007, involved a site visit and documentary research. The area was likely agricultural in the medieval period, becoming small plots by the early 17th century, and developed industrially from the early 19th century. The assessment suggests that 19th-century subsurface archaeological features may remain beneath present-day structures, though their condition is undetermined.

Peter Groenewegen, A.E. van den Berg, S. de Vries, Robert Verheij · BMC Public Health · Netherlands

This article discusses the design of a research program in the Netherlands on the effects of green space in the living environment on health, well-being, and social safety. The program consists of three observational studies at different scales: macro (national data), intermediate (urban green space effects), and micro (allotment gardens). It combines existing land use and health interview survey data with new data collected via questionnaires and interviews, to be analyzed using multilevel analysis and GIS techniques.

Paul Gough · International Journal of Heritage Studies · United Kingdom (London)

This paper examines in detail two community gardens in central London. These gardens owe their origins to radical local agendas set within the political climate of the Cold War of the 1980s and grand visions for world peace. Twenty years after their creation, the author explores their current condition and examines their value as sites of political value and heritage.

Paola Branduini · Virtual Community of Pathological Anatomy (University of Castilla La Mancha) · Italy

Projects for the valorization of agriculture in Italian metropolitan areas have primarily originated from initiatives within peri-urban parks. The second national Conference on Protected Areas in 2002 confirmed the idea that peri-urban agricultural areas can bridge rural and urban cultures through new management models. Italy presents several plans already realized or in progress that are significant for their concept of peri-urban agriculture, ongoing actions, and the role played by stakeholders.

Samuel Martín, Nathalie Bertrand, Nicole Rousier · Géographie Économie Société · France (Rhône-Alpes)

This paper examines spatial planning documents in two Rhône-Alpes city regions, France, as a tool for regulating land use conflicts in peri-urban agricultural areas under urbanization pressure. The analysis highlights rising tensions between local actors and suggests that agriculture is instrumentalized by spatial planning policies at the inter-communal level. At the communal level, local plans manage neighborhood and land ownership conflicts.

Jones P., Comfort D., Hillier D., Eastwood I. · British Food Journal · United Kingdom

Analyzes CSR reporting by the UK's leading food retailers, finding support for local food producers, healthy eating, charitable donations, and local community initiatives as principal CSR themes promoted in stores.

André Viljoen, Katrin Bohn · University of Brighton Repository (University of Brighton) · United Kingdom (London)

This paper, from a U.K. perspective, discusses urban agriculture using London as an example. While the benefits of urban agriculture for food security and income have often focused on the Global South, its integration into a multifunctional land use strategy could significantly reduce a city's ecological footprint, raising questions about its wider implementation.