Research & reports

Limachi Pérez, Vicente · Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences (University of Skopje) · Bolivia (Cochabamba)

This study examined the influences of family, school, and sociodigital networks on environmental awareness among secondary school students in urban and rural Cochabamba, Bolivia. Data from three schools showed students' environmental concerns varied by region, and the internet was their primary information source. Despite isolated initiatives like school gardens, schools did not effectively integrate environmental education into the curriculum, limiting its formative impact.

Marvin Joseph F. Montefrio, Nathalie Dagmang · The Journal of Peasant Studies · Philippines (Metro Manila)

This article examines two cases of radical urban agriculture in Metro Manila, Philippines, where urban poor communities strive for food sovereignty and assert rights over contested urban lands. It highlights that the spatiality of material constraints in cities acts as a mediating factor, influencing the formation of rural-urban alliances and the sustainability of urban resistance efforts. The study reveals challenges in establishing and maintaining these alliances due to urban material limitations.

NERUCCI, GABRIELE · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Global

This presentation discusses the ecosystem services provided by plants in urban environments, specifically focusing on agricultural plants and their contribution to biodiversity. It also covers the current state of urban and peri-urban agriculture globally.

Anand A. Jose, S. Mahalakshmi, S Arjun · · Global

This paper explores the integration of precision farming methods in urban landscapes to address food insecurity and achieve zero hunger goals. Precision farming utilizes advanced technologies to optimize crop production, resource allocation, and environmental sustainability. The paper scrutinizes the concept of precision farming, its applicability in urban contexts, diverse techniques suitable for urban agriculture, and showcases successful case studies.

Leonardo Zaffi, Michele D’Ostuni · TECHNE - Journal of Technology for Architecture and Environment · Global

This paper reconsiders the relationship between urbanized areas and food production, noting that cities are sustained by food from remote locations with unsustainable environmental impacts. Advances in soil-free cultivation technologies offer opportunities to integrate productive vegetation into urban and residential spaces. This approach calls for innovative design paradigms that integrate the built environment with cultivated spaces to promote sustainable regeneration.

Popov, Velian · reposiTUm (TU Wien) · Bulgaria (Plovdiv)

This study examines the disappearing phenomenon of informal urban gardening, known as Rancho, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, focusing on its socio-historical factors. Despite its authentic, decades-long existence, Rancho is neglected and considered outdated, with a lack of legal regulation and its informal character endangering its future. The study proposes a gradual transformation of these areas into community urban gardens with new infrastructures to raise awareness and encourage authorities to reintegrate Rancho into the urban context.

Elias Nuwagaba, Murindwa Rutanga · East African Scholars Journal of Education Humanities and Literature · Uganda (Mbarara City)

This study explored how state-initiated, unplanned urbanization in Mbarara City, Western Uganda, affects the sustainability of urban farming and urban livelihoods. The research found that rapid, haphazard urban expansion, lacking strategic planning, has led to significant challenges. These include the emergence of slums, illegal land occupations, destruction of wetlands and riverbanks causing water pollution, and inadequate waste management, all negatively impacting public health and urban farming sustainability.

zahra nobar, Akbar Rahimi, Alessio Russo · Land · Global

This study assessed the efficacy of nature-based solutions in revegetating abandoned urban agricultural lands to enhance outdoor thermal comfort, using ENVI-met 4.4.6 and Ray-Man 3.1 simulation models. Simulation results showed that species like Quercus spp. (broadleaf) and Cupressus arizonica (evergreen) substantially reduced the Mean Radiant Temperature (Tmrt) index by up to 26.76 °C, primarily due to their shading effects and large canopies. Combining these vegetation types with crops emerged as the most effective strategy to mitigate heat stress and optimize land-use.

Paul Β. Thompson · · Global

This chapter outlines four archetypal characterizations for future food systems over the next half-century, influenced by climate change and resource scarcity. These archetypes include technological modernization, sustainable intensification, regional agrarianism, and urban agriculture, each driven by distinct ethical orientations and approaches to food production, processing, distribution, and consumption.

Celia Plender · Berghahn Books · Global

During an eviction attempt at the Pullens Estate, squatters rained down rotten apples, vegetable peelings, and manure from a local city farm on police and bailiffs. To delay the eviction, stairwells and many flat doors were blocked with boards, steel, barbed wire, or concrete blocks, and door numbers were painted over. By noon, only sixteen of the thirty planned squat evictions had been completed.

Liu Shan, Mohd Johari Mohd Yusof, Mohammad Mujaheed Hassan, Gao Lihui · ALAM CIPTA International Journal Of Sustainable Tropical Design & Practice · Global

This systematic review assessed the contribution of urban farming in vacant land to sustainable development. It showed that over the last decade, research in this area has focused almost exclusively on sustainability, published mainly in the United States and some European countries. Food security and improved nutrition were the most discussed topics, followed by urban sustainability, while quality was least mentioned. Although there is a substantial basis for positive benefits, gaps remain in quantitative assessments and in-depth case studies on sustainable contributions.

Acharya, Sumit, Nayak, Priti Smita, Pramanik, Kartik · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Global

This article highlights microgreen cultivation as a solution for sustainable urban and peri-urban horticulture, addressing challenges from urbanization and demand for nutrient-dense foods. Microgreens are young seedlings harvested within 7–21 days, offering high concentrations of nutrients. They are suitable for urban environments due to minimal resource requirements, rapid growth, low water usage, and high yield, contributing to food security, reduced carbon footprints, and ecological balance by minimizing chemical inputs.

Bhoirab Gogoi, Shourov Dutta, Trishnalee Saikia, Rituparna Saikia, Sanjoy Borthakur, Manoranjan Neog · International Journal of Research in Agronomy · Global

A comprehensive review synthesized literature on the taxonomic diversity, cultivation practices, nutritional and phytochemical composition, health benefits, and postharvest management of microgreens. Microgreens possess significantly higher concentrations of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants than their mature counterparts. For instance, radish microgreens contained 147 mg of vitamin C per 100g fresh weight, red amaranth microgreens offered up to 50 mg of iron, and sunflower microgreens provided around 65 mg of calcium.

Joshua Zeunert, Scott Hawken, Josh Gowers · Land · Australia (Sydney)

A critical GIS analysis was conducted for Sydney and neighboring regions in NSW, Australia, to understand and advocate for Sydney's food production capacity. The study challenged the notion that Sydney's metropolitan landscape has low inherent biophysical quality for agriculture. Despite current metropolitan planning policy that marginalizes agricultural productivity, datasets revealed western Sydney is biophysically well suited for agriculture. Sydney's overall agricultural capacity was found to be comparable to five of six other coastal regions of NSW and superior to at least two, challenging current planning orthodoxy and policy.

Sarah Steinegger, Nora Katharina Faltmann · Journal of Political Ecology · Switzerland

This qualitative research examined the challenges consumers and farmers face in establishing proximity within a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) initiative in Switzerland that links rural mountain and urban areas. The study found that consumers and farmers are facing challenges in establishing proximity. Nevertheless, shared experiences of farming activities and social events, along with participants' willingness to improve CSA operations and strengthen ties for mutual understanding and joint efforts, contribute to the ongoing process of establishing proximity.

Henry Mensah · City and Environment Interactions · Ghana (Kumasi)

This study investigated adaptation practices and challenges among 85 urban farmers across three locations in Kumasi, Ghana. Farmers employed strategies like planting local crop varieties, expanding farms, and relocating. However, these strategies are hindered by institutional and technological limitations, financial constraints, lack of climate information, and delays in extension support, indicating significant governance challenges.

B. Constance, Adrienne Grêt‐Regamey, Andoniaina Valérie Andriamanga, Dominic A. Martin, Nicolas Salliou · Ecosystems and People · Madagascar (Antananarivo)

This study investigated the motivations and consequences of soil extraction for brick-making in Antananarivo, Madagascar, through 263 interviews with farmers and brick-makers. Findings indicate soil extraction serves as a climate change adaptation strategy, leading to a decline in flood regulation capacity but also a shift to more resilient cultivation practices like raised gardens. Climate change, with shorter rainy seasons, intensifies soil extraction.

Emily Schneider · Amsterdam Museum Journal · Global

This essay explores the conjuncture of interspecies reciprocity, hospitality, gift-giving practices, and the co-creation of urban spaces, focusing on the potential for and complexity of neighborly relationships between humans and plants. Borrowing the concept of the ‘good neighbor’ from Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass, it considers the conditions under which relationships based on care and responsibility can thrive through ‘circular reciprocity’. Sites for close interspecies encounters, like urban foraging practices and community gardens, show the potential of a caring and attentive striving toward neighborliness but also reveal the multiplicity and ambiguity of what can be considered different, sometimes irreconcilable, interests and needs of various urban dwellers. Nevertheless, this essay argues that the practice of becoming ‘good neighbors’ ultimately benefits both humans and plants.

Mare Kõiva · Yearbook of Balkan and Baltic Studies · Estonia

This study examines the historical development, cultural meanings, and contemporary practices of indoor, balcony, and rooftop gardening in Estonia from the 19th to 21st centuries. Combining historical sources, folkloric data, horticultural literature, and qualitative interviews, the research shows that urban plant cultivation in Estonia is shaped by cultural, ecological, architectural, and personal factors.

Arun Kumar, Sandhya Prajapati · · Global

Urban farming has emerged as a viable approach that encourages intensive farming techniques and urban wastewater to sustainably generate food. This approach optimizes available urban spaces like rooftops, vacant lots, and vertical structures to cultivate food within city boundaries. It lessens reliance on lengthy supply chains and promotes a clean, sustainable environment by minimizing resource consumption, including fresh water and pesticides.

Armando Villa-Ignacio, Maria Y. Chavez, Jennifer Bousselot · HortTechnology · Global

A two-year study at two locations evaluated five leafy greens (arugula, kale, lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard) under opaque and 40% semitransparent photovoltaic (PV) modules and full sun. Four of the five crops, excluding spinach, showed higher fresh and dry weight under 40% semitransparent modules compared to other treatments and full sun. While most leafy greens under PV modules had lower stomatal conductance, lettuce and Swiss chard under semitransparent modules showed higher stomatal conductance.

Joyce dos Santos Saraiva, Caio Cézar Ferreira de Souza, Maria Lúcia Bahia Lopes, Helena Lúcia Zagury Tourinho, Marcos Antônio Souza dos Santos · Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental · Global

This study, using a systematic literature review with the PRISMA method, investigated whether distinctions between urban and rural agriculture justify "urban agriculture" as a specific category. The analysis revealed a lack of consensus among authors, with a predominant understanding that there are not two distinct types of agriculture, but rather the same activity carried out in different spaces, which questions the validity of the term "urban agriculture."

Guilherme Raj, Giuseppe Feola · Local Environment · Portugal

This study longitudinally examines labor in three Portuguese community-supported agriculture (CSA) initiatives to reconstruct the trajectory of labor diversification over several years. The analysis shows that the CSA setup led to labor diversification in all three case studies. Findings suggest that "community" is an emergent property rather than an inherent quality of CSA, and that empowerment and disempowerment dynamics are crucial in diversifying work relations.

Matt Boyd, Nick Wilson · PLoS ONE · Global

This study estimates the contribution of urban and near-urban agriculture to resilience against abrupt global catastrophic risks (GCRs) in a globally median-sized city. Using mathematical optimization and Google Earth image analysis, researchers determined optimal crops and land area for food production. Findings indicate that urban agriculture could feed 20% of the population, with an additional 1140 hectares of near-urban cultivation and 110 hectares for biofuel feedstock needed to cover the shortfall, though more land is required in nuclear winter scenarios.

Average Chigwenya, Samson Gwamure · Kuveza neKuumba The Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University Journal of Design Innovative Thinking and Practice · Zimbabwe (Masvingo City)

This research examined how urban agriculture has been incorporated in Masvingo City, Zimbabwe. A mixed methods approach, including interviews with key informants and field observations in urban agriculture areas, was adopted. The research found that despite the widespread practice of urban agriculture, Masvingo City is not innovative in including urban agriculture in its development agenda.