Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
9077 results(287 / 364)
Building Culture: Ernst May and the New Frankfurt am Main Initiative, 1926–1931
2013Henderson S. R. · Peter Lang (Studies in Modern European History, vol. 64) · Germany
A comprehensive history of Ernst May's New Frankfurt initiative within the Weimar context, covering housing settlements, construction and material innovations, the parks-and-garden-colony program, the Frankfurt Kitchen, and reforms in schools and medical facilities.
PolicyCommunityWelfareFood educationGarden Culture of the Twentieth Century (Gartenkultur des 20. Jahrhunderts)
2013Migge L., Haney D. H. · Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection (Ex Horto series); Harvard University Press · Germany
An annotated English translation (edited and introduced by David H. Haney) of Migge's foundational 1913 treatise, presenting the primary source for his social and productive garden theory, from urban parks to housing settlements with allotment gardens.
Organic cycleCommunityFood educationLeberecht Migge et la colonie agricole évolutive « selon les principes biologiques »
2013Jaquand C. · In Situ. Revue des patrimoines, no. 21 · Germany
Examines Migge's landscape designs for urban extensions in Berlin, Frankfurt and Dessau and his organic city-garden relationship based on recycling water and urban waste, including the evolving self-sufficient settlement system of his 1932 book.
Organic cycleEconomicsWelfareUrban agriculture, social capital, and food security in the Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya
2013Gallaher C. M., Kerr J. M., Njenga M., Karanja N. K., WinklerPrins A. M. G. A. · Agriculture and Human Values 30(3):389-404 · Kenya
Studying sack gardening in Nairobi's Kibera slums, this paper shows vegetable production enhances household food security and, especially for households farming in groups, builds social capital among the urban poor.
CommunityWelfareAssociation between community garden participation and fruit and vegetable consumption in rural Missouri
2013Barnidge E. K., Hipp P. R., Estlund A., Duggan K., Barnhart K. J., Brownson R. C. · International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 10:128 · United States
Survey study in rural Missouri. Community garden participants were significantly more likely than non-participants to eat fruit 2+ times and vegetables 3+ times daily after adjustment (OR=2.76).
HealthCommunityQuantitative assessment of the Japanese 'local production for local consumption' movement: a case study of growth of vegetables in the Osaka city region
2013Hara Y., Tsuchiya K., Matsuda H., Yamamoto Y., Sampei Y. · Sustainability Science (Springer) 8, 515–527 · Japan (Osaka)
A multi-scale GIS analysis of the 'local production for local consumption' movement in the Osaka city region, estimating a ~70% vegetable production/consumption ratio within 80 km (rising to 75% by restoring abandoned farmland), quantifying peri-urban agriculture's contribution to regional food security.
Backyard and Community Gardening in the Urban Philippines: A Case Study from Urdaneta City, Pangasinan
2013Matejowsky T. · Locale: The Australasian-Pacific Journal of Regional Food Studies · Philippines (Urdaneta City, Pangasinan)
This ethnographic case study examines Urdaneta City's backyard and community gardening program launched in 2009 to address food insecurity and household self-sufficiency in a provincial Philippine city. It analyzes the interplay between municipal government objectives and citizens' subsistence and economic needs.
CommunityHealthWelfareFood educationSustainable urban agriculture and the adoption of composts in Cameroon
2013Sotamenou J., Parrot L. · International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability · Cameroon (Yaoundé, Bafoussam)
A survey of 242 urban farmers in Yaoundé and Bafoussam found that 36% adopted compost (alone or mixed with inorganic fertilizers), with compost uptake driven by fertilizer expenditure, vegetable production scale, land ownership, and farm distance. The study provides policy insights for sustainable soil management in Cameroonian urban agriculture.
CompostOrganic cycleEconomicsCommunity‘We don’t have no neighbourhood’: Advanced marginality and urban agriculture in Detroit
2013Paul Joseph Draus, Juliette Roddy, Anthony McDuffie · Urban Studies · United States (Detroit)
Based on 20 qualitative interviews with people working or living in a heavily depopulated section of Detroit slated for an urban agriculture project, this paper examines residents' views of the project, which proposes using vacant land and marginalized residents to produce marketable products. Most respondents had little hope for neighborhood improvement and few expectations that urban agriculture would change daily life, viewing some efforts with suspicion. Drawing on concepts of advanced marginality and neighborhood effects, the authors argue idealistic urban agriculture efforts must do more to engage residents and address legacies of displacement.
CommunityEconomicsCrop physiological response across the Chicago metropolitan region: Developing recommendations for urban and peri-urban farmers in the North Central US
2013Ross K. Wagstaff, Sam E. Wortman · Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems · United States (Chicago)
This study measures atmospheric pollutants, microclimatic factors, and the physiological response and yield of vegetable crops across an urban-to-rural transect of six sites in the greater Chicago region, aiming to determine their relative influence on urban food production. Preliminary 2013 data suggest substantial variability in environmental factors and crop yield across the transect, and the work aims to establish practical crop and cultivar recommendations for urban and peri-urban farmers in the North Central US.
EconomicsSpatial Variation of Soil Lead in an Urban Community Garden: Implications for Risk‐Based Sampling
2013Lauren Bugdalski, Lawrence D. Lemke, Shawn P. McElmurry · Risk Analysis · United States (Detroit, MI)
This study examined small-scale spatial variability of soil lead within a 15 × 30 m urban community garden plot on two adjacent residential lots in Detroit, Michigan, analyzing 80 samples for total, fine-fraction, and bioaccessible lead. Concentrations varied at 1–10 m scales with a hot spot exceeding 400 ppm, and Monte Carlo simulations showed that increasing sample numbers reduces the chance of missing hot spots while compositing reduces overestimation of the mean. The authors suggest US EPA sampling objectives and guidelines should be reconsidered for reclaimed city lots where soil lead is nonuniform.
HealthCommunityPolicyThe Assessment of the Use of Eco-Friendly Nets to Ensure Sustainable Cabbage Seedling Production in Africa
2013· Agronomy · Africa (tropics)
Assesses low-cost eco-friendly net (EFN) covers as an affordable technology for sustainable cabbage seedling (nursery) production by small-scale growers. Net covering raised temperature and humidity, improved seedling growth, and reduced insect pest damage.
DIYEconomicsDomestic scale vermicomposting for solid waste management
2013· International Journal of Recycling of Organic Waste in Agriculture · Global
Investigates domestic-scale vermicomposting as a low-cost, low-maintenance option for managing household solid organic waste by converting kitchen waste into worm castings.
DIYCompostOrganic cycleWhite Spaces in Black and Latino Places: Urban Agriculture and Food Sovereignty
2013Hoover B. · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · USA
Argues that urban agriculture, largely championed by a middle-class white populace, creates 'white spaces' within Black and Latino places, overlooking the practice's historical roots in those communities and producing exclusion.
CommunityPolicyMunicipal Food Strategies and Integrated Approaches to Urban Agriculture: Exploring Three Cases from the Global North
2013Mansfield Brent, Mendes Wendy · International Planning Studies · Global North
Examines three Global North municipal food strategies aiming to integrate urban agriculture into single policy frameworks. Highlights tensions and limits in translating integrated food-strategy ambitions into implementation, revealing gaps between comprehensive policy design and on-the-ground delivery.
Policy都市部における体験農園経営の立地と利用者需要－東京都内を対象とした実証分析－
2013八木洋憲 · 農村計画学会誌 · Japan (Tokyo)
A 2013 empirical analysis of how location shapes demand for 'experience farms' (taiken nouen, farmer-led pay-to-participate allotments) in Tokyo, Japan, combining a user survey with small-area census statistics (Journal of Rural Planning Association 32, Special Issue, pp. 323–328). Most users lived within 2 km of the plot, and roughly 0.5% of residents within 250 m became users. Nearby competing experience farms reduced demand at more distant sites, whereas adjacent conventional allotment gardens showed no competitive relationship. For an operator this means the catchment is narrow and neighbouring facilities of the same type divide the same demand, so siting largely determines whether the operation works. The paper does not analyse fees or profit and loss.
EconomicsCommunityEffects of Evapotranspiration on Mitigation of Urban Temperature by Vegetation and Urban Agriculture
2013Guoyu Qiu, Hong-yong LI, Qingtao Zhang, Wan Chen, Xiao-jian LIANG, Xiang-ze LI · Journal of Integrative Agriculture · Global
A literature review examined the effects of evapotranspiration (ET) from vegetation and urban agriculture on urban temperatures. The review indicated that vegetation and urban agricultural ET can reduce urban temperatures by 0.5 to 4.0°C. Green roofs and water bodies also effectively reduce urban temperatures, with cooling effects on ambient temperature ranging from 0.24-4.0°C and on roof surface temperature from 0.8-60.0°C. Water bodies can be 2-6°C cooler than surrounding built environments, and a 16 m² water body can cool 2,826 m³ of nearby space by 1°C.
Climate changePeri-urban agriculture, social inclusion of migrant population and Right to the City
2013Yves Cabannes, Isabel María Raposo · City · Europe
This paper conducted a comparative analysis of peri-urban agriculture in Lisbon and London to assess its contribution to migrant social inclusion and urban biodiversity. The study found that social inclusion patterns are city-specific; for example, Cape Verdean urban farming communities in Lisbon strengthen community bonds but do not necessarily lead to better integration into wider Portuguese society. Migrant urban farmers contribute to broadening biodiversity, primarily in Lisbon and to a lesser extent in London.
Limited or null effectPeri-urban agricultureCommunityBiodiversityWelfareDeterminants of vacant lot conversion into community gardens: evidence from Philadelphia
2013In Kwon Park, Patricia Ciorici · International Journal of Urban Sciences · United States (Philadelphia)
This study in Philadelphia, United States, identified determinants of vacant lot conversion into community gardens using a logit model. Data on lot attributes were collected from the Philadelphia Neighbourhood Information System and a city-wide survey. The results indicate that neighborhood characteristics like poverty level, educational attainment, zoning, and owner occupancy, along with parcel characteristics such as ownership and topography, significantly impact the conversion.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsThe Moral Economy Is a Double‐edged Sword: Explaining Farmers’ Earnings and Self‐exploitation in Community‐Supported Agriculture
2013Ryan E. Galt · Economic Geography · United States (California)
A study of 54 Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms in California's Central Valley used qualitative and quantitative data to explain farmers' earnings. An ordinary least squares regression analysis revealed that farmers' age, number of employees, and CSA type strongly influence earnings. The study found that the moral economy of CSA often results in self-exploitation due to farmers' strong sense of obligation to members, despite allowing for economic rents.
Economic viabilityCSA & TeikeiEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceThe Value of Urban Vacant Land to Support Arthropod Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
2013Mary M. Gardiner, Caitlin E. Burkman, Scott P. Prajzner · Environmental Entomology · United States
This article discusses the ecological value of urban vacant land in the United States, particularly its role in supporting arthropod biodiversity and ecosystem services. It notes that vacant lands can offer opportunities to preserve declining species and restore ecosystem functions. The article emphasizes the need for quantifying the current ecological value of vacant land and assessing how changes in its ecosystem management affect biodiversity and ecosystem processes, with a specific focus on arthropods.
BiodiversityPollinatorsOrganic cycleUrban–rural linkageObserving Guerrillas in the Wild: Reinterpreting Practices of Urban Guerrilla Gardening
2013David Adams, Michael Hardman · Urban Studies · United Kingdom
This paper uses ethnographic data from 'F Troop', a guerrilla gardening group in an English midland city, to re-examine urban guerrilla gardening practices. It argues that these practices may not be as "resistant" or "celebratory" as often suggested in existing literature. The study highlights that the social backgrounds and motivations of participants, along with their relationships with other users of the space, are important but largely unacknowledged aspects of guerrilla gardening.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageEvaluation of Vegetable Production on Extensive Green Roofs
2013Leigh Whittinghill, D. Bradley Rowe, Bert M. Cregg · Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems · Global
This study evaluated vegetable and herb production across three growing systems—a green roof, raised green roof platforms, and in-ground—over three seasons (2009–2011). Tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, peppers, basil, and chives were cultivated. All plants except pepper survived and produced biomass in all systems, yielding crops for analysis in 2009 and 2010. Yields and basil biomass were higher in-ground in 2009, while roof and platform systems showed similar results. The study suggests that vegetable and herb production is possible and productive in extensive green roof systems with proper management.
DIYClimate changeOrganic cycleUrban Gardening: Managing the Risks of Contaminated Soil
2013Rebecca Kessler · Environmental Health Perspectives · Global
As interest in urban agriculture grows, researchers are working to manage the risks of contaminated urban soils. The focus is on maximizing the benefits of urban gardening while minimizing the potential hazards associated with soil contamination.
Contamination & food safetyHealthEnvironmental Challenges Threatening the Growth of Urban Agriculture in the United States
2013Sam E. Wortman, Sarah Taylor Lovell · Journal of Environmental Quality · United States
This review paper characterized the limited state of scientific knowledge regarding abiotic environmental factors threatening the growth of urban agriculture in the United States. It identified challenges influencing urban cropping systems, including soil contamination and remediation, atmospheric pollutants and altered climatic conditions, and water management, sources, and safety. The development of a science-based approach in these areas is noted as essential for the economic and environmental sustainability of urban agriculture.
Contamination & food safetyClimate changeEconomicsCommunityFood education