Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
2091 results(28 / 84)
Meanwhile Use for London
2022Greater London Authority, Arup · Greater London Authority (GLA) · Global
A GLA report institutionalising 'meanwhile use' of vacant land/units awaiting development, presenting support via competitions, guidance, land provision and time-limited change-of-use permissions for interim community uses including gardens.
PolicyCommunityEconomicsThe 'Covid-Trigger': New Light on Urban Agriculture and Systemic Approach to Urbanism to Co-Create a Sustainable Lisbon
2022· Systemic Practice and Action Research · Portugal (Lisbon)
A study examining, through a systemic urbanism lens, how COVID-19 brought new attention to urban agriculture in Lisbon, exploring how participatory urban farming can be co-created and embedded in sustainable city-making.
CommunityPolicyIn the garden: capacities that contribute to community groups establishing community gardens
2022Doyle G. · International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development · Ireland (Dublin)
Based on case studies in Dublin, this paper identifies the key capacities—diverse expertise, supportive organisations, and access to land and resources—that enable community groups to successfully establish and sustain community gardens in Ireland. Published in the International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development (Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 15–32).
CommunityPolicyFood educationUrban, periurban and horticultural landscapes – Conflict and sustainable planning in La Plata district, Argentina
2022Baldini C., Marasas M.E., Tittonell P., Drozd A.A. · Land Use Policy · Argentina (La Plata)
Using multicriteria analysis in La Plata's periurban horticultural belt, the study maps land-use aptitude and identifies conflict zones between urban expansion and agricultural production, calling for integrated sustainable planning.
PolicyCommunityEconomicsFood democracy and sustainability in France and Chile: Community gardens promote ecological citizenship
2022Biskupovic C., Maurines B., Carmona R., Canteros E. · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Chile
This qualitative comparative study of community and shared gardens in France and Chile found that small-scale collective gardening fosters human–nonhuman relationships and the transmission of caring practices, thereby promoting ecological citizenship and more sustainable forms of community living.
CommunityFood educationBiodiversityHome Food Gardening: Benefits and Barriers During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Santiago, Chile
2022Cerda C., Guenat S., Egerer M., Fischer L.K. · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Chile (Santiago)
This study examined home food gardening in Santiago during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding increased interest in gardening during the ~200-day lockdown and identifying mental health and food security as key benefits, while lack of space and horticultural knowledge were the main barriers.
CommunityHealthWelfareFood educationHomegardens as Sustainable Urban Agroforestry Systems to Promote Household Well-Being in Kandy, Sri Lanka
2022Jayakody S.K., Basu M. · Blue-Green Infrastructure Across Asian Countries (Springer Singapore), pp. 223–249 · Sri Lanka (Kandy)
This book chapter examines how traditional homegardens in the Kandy District function as integrated urban agroforestry systems supporting biodiversity conservation, physical exercise, and mental health, while noting that increasing urbanization threatens their long-term sustainability.
BiodiversityHealthCommunityWelfareA sustainable pathway towards prioritization of multifunctional benefits in urban agriculture contributing to shrinking cities in developing countries — An empirical case of Sri Lanka
2022Wadumestrige Dona C.T.G., Mohan G., Fukushi K. · Current Research in Environmental Sustainability · Sri Lanka (Colombo)
A perception survey of 402 small-scale farmers in Colombo District found positive attitudes toward the social, economic, and environmental benefits of urban agriculture, with environmental benefits rated highest, supporting home and community gardens as viable open-space management strategies for shrinking cities.
PolicyEconomicsCommunityHealthChallenges of urban garden initiatives for food security in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2022Ishak N., Abdullah R., Mohd Rosli N.S., Abdul Majid H., Abdul Halim N.S., Ariffin F. · Quaestiones Geographicae, Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 57–72 · Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur)
A survey of 106 urban farmers across 17 community gardens in Kuala Lumpur identified weather variability, land access, and financial constraints as the primary obstacles to urban food production, highlighting the need for targeted policy support.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsEnsuring Urban Food Security in Malaysia during the COVID-19 Pandemic—Is Urban Farming the Answer? A Review
2022Murdad R., Muhiddin M., Osman W.H., Tajidin N.E., Haida Z., Awang A., Jalloh M.B. · Sustainability (MDPI), Vol. 14, No. 7, Article 4155 · Malaysia
This review examines how COVID-19 disrupted Malaysia's fresh food supply chain and argues that urban farming approaches—including community gardens, vertical farming, and hydroponics—can meaningfully strengthen urban food security for Malaysian households.
CommunityPolicyHealthEconomicsPlanning the urban foodscape: policy and regulation of urban agriculture in Aotearoa New Zealand
2022Hanna C., Wallace P. · Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 313–335 · New Zealand
Examining the four largest New Zealand cities, this paper reveals a significant policy vacuum for urban agriculture, with restrictive zoning, inadequate recognition of Māori food practices, and a failure to accommodate emerging urban food-growing forms, calling for targeted municipal policy reform.
PolicyCommunityA simplified non-greenhouse hydroponic system for small-scale soilless urban vegetable farming
2022Gumisiriza M.S., Ndakidemi P.A., Mbega E.R. · MethodsX, 9:101882 · Tanzania
A methods paper presenting a simplified, non-greenhouse hydroponic system built from low-cost, readily available materials using the Kratky method, with detailed step-by-step instructions. Requiring no specialised equipment or power, it offers a reproducible, self-buildable approach to soilless vegetable growing in confined urban spaces, supporting DIY and maker-style citizen food production.
DIYEconomicsCommunityDecentralized composting as a waste management tool connect with the new global trends: a systematic review
2022· International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology · Global
Systematic review positioning decentralized composting as a waste management tool in the context of new global trends.
DIYCompostCommunityPathways to low-cost aquaponic systems for sustainable livelihoods and economic development in poor communities: defining critical success factors
2022· Aquaculture International · Global
The paper argues that low-cost aquaponics can support food security and socio-economic development in poor communities, and defines the critical success factors needed to realize such systems.
DIYCommunityEconomicsSeeds of change? Social practices of urban community seed sharing initiatives for just transitions to sustainability
2022· Local Environment · Global
Analyzes urban community seed-sharing and seed-swap initiatives as social practices and how they contribute to just transitions to sustainability.
CommunityHeirloom & landraceBiodiversityDecentralized Composting of Food Waste: A Perspective on Scientific Knowledge
2022Sanchez A. · Frontiers in Chemical Engineering · Global (review)
A perspective article synthesising scientific knowledge on decentralized (home and community) composting of food waste, discussing its role relative to centralized systems in urban organic waste management.
CompostCommunityHow well do we know green gentrification? A systematic review of the methods
2022Jessica Quinton, Lorien Nesbitt, Daniel Sax · Progress in Human Geography · Global
A systematic review of the methods used in green gentrification research — the claim that adding vegetation such as parks, street trees and gardens raises property values and displaces existing residents. It finds that studies are heavily concentrated on U.S. cases, that early qualitative work has been giving way to quantitative analysis, that almost no attention has been paid to which characteristics of greening (scale, type, location) matter, that demand-side mechanisms remain poorly understood, and that displacement itself — the central concern of the literature — has not been well documented.
PolicyCommunityUrban Agriculture as an Alternative Source of Food and Water Security in Today’s Sustainable Cities
2022Aleksandra Nowysz, Łukasz Mazur, Magdalena Daria Vaverková, Eugeniusz Koda, Jan Winkler · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · Global
This study explored urban agriculture (UA) as an alternative source of food and water security, employing a mixed-method approach including literature survey, case studies, and comparative analysis. It compared 25 existing projects in the global north, including allotment gardens, community gardens, and urban farms, categorizing UA into architectural-urban, ecological, social, and economic aspects. The analysis concluded that UA fulfills economic, social, and environmental functions, aligning with the concept of sustainable development.
Food sovereignty & justiceClimate changeBiodiversityCommunityBuilding community (gardens) on university campuses: masterplanning green-infrastructure for a post-COVID moment
2022Rachael Walshe, Lisa Law · Landscape Research · Australia
This study explored how university masterplans in Australian universities express the benefits of campus community gardens as green community spaces and how they might better aid universities in achieving strategic missions, using a multiple case-study methodology. By comparing dominant themes in community garden literature with the visions of campus masterplans, the research aimed to understand how community gardens might be better positioned as tools for place and community building. The results provided a finer-grained understanding of green infrastructure in campus master planning for a post-COVID-19 moment.
CommunityPolicyHealthMoveable Gardens: Itineraries and Sanctuaries of Memory ed. by Virginia D. Nazarea and Terese V. Gagnon
2022Pierrette Hondagneu‐Sotelo · Journal of Latin American geography · Global
This edited book explores how various displacements lead people to re-engage with plant life, creating meaning and sustaining biodiversity. It examines how gardening, seed saving, and cooking restore social and cultural continuity, connecting past and present. The volume, rooted in anthropology, discusses plant-human engagements in movement ("itineraries") and emplaced efforts of belonging ("sanctuaries").
CommunityHeirloom & landraceBiodiversityFood sovereignty & justiceOn eating’s pleasure of women of low-income socioeconomic status in Petare, Caracas, Venezuela
2022Marianella Herrera‐Cuenca · Anales Venezolanos de Nutrición · Venezuela (Caracas)
This study investigated preferred foods and dishes, willingness to grow ingredients, and ideal cooking choices among 18 pregnant and lactating women and community workers in low-income settings in Eastern Caracas, Venezuela, in June 2022. Focus group interviews revealed that traditional Venezuelan complex dishes were absent, replaced by basic or internationally referenced foods accessible to the community. The findings suggest a potential compromise to the culinary memories of future generations.
CommunityWelfareHealthThe extinction of experience and (re-)cultivating wellbeing and sustainability through garden-based learning
2022Donald Gray · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Global
A 2022 paper examined the role of school gardens in addressing children and young people's decreasing experiences with natural environments, increasing mental health concerns, and growing worries about global environmental problems. Drawing on three initiatives from an original pilot school garden program, the paper presents evidence that garden-based learning can positively contribute to improved health and wellbeing, learning, and environmental awareness.
Food educationHealthBiodiversityCommunityFarming on Top: Rooftop Agriculture for Healthy Cities
2022Elisa Appolloni, Giorgio Gianquinto · Frontiers for Young Minds · Global
Rooftop agriculture, a form of urban agriculture where food is grown on buildings, is presented as a solution to urban food insecurity and environmental protection. This practice offers benefits such as reducing urban heat, decreasing urban poverty, fostering socialization, and benefiting buildings. Rooftop agriculture is gaining global popularity due to these advantages.
Food sovereignty & justiceClimate changeHealthCommunityThe Specter of Enclosure in School Gardens
2022Graham Slater, Robert G. Unzueta, Clayton Pierce · · Global
This chapter argues that much scholarly literature on school gardens is based on problematic assumptions or ignores histories of violence and dispossession. Without an ecocritical approach, school gardens risk replicating systems of domination, extraction, exploitation, and human supremacy. The authors propose integrating theoretical reflection into emancipatory action within a historical materialist framework to address colonization, land dispossession, labor exploitation, and anthropocentrism.
Equity & displacementFood educationCommunityPolicyFrom small-scale agriculture to urban agriculture: women, subsistence economy, and the question of the commons
2022Elisabeth Meyer-Renschhausen · Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe · Global
This article provides a historical overview of small-scale, subsistence farming, primarily by women, spanning two centuries from the early 19th century to the 21st century. It traces the evolution from the loss of commons in Prussia to urban farming in contemporary cities across Europe, America, and Africa. The discussion includes subsistence farming in towns, garden cities, post-war initiatives, and the significant role of unacknowledged family production in Eastern Europe.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyUrban–rural linkage