Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
7626 results(304 / 306)
Urban agriculture for sustainable cities: using wastes and idle land and water bodies as resources
1992Jac Smit, Joe Nasr · Environment and Urbanization · Global
This article describes how urban agriculture can transform cities from mere consumers of food and agricultural products into sustainable generators of these products. It focuses on using wastes and idle land and water bodies as resources to achieve resource conservation and health improvement.
CommunityOrganic cycleClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceLAND USE AND TRAVEL DEMAND
1992James W. Roberts, C Wood · · Global
This paper proposes a three-way study for 1992, building on previous case studies in Milton Keynes (UK) and Almere (NL) that noted substantial differences in travel behavior due to land use. The proposed study would cover Manchester, Berlin, and a low-density, car-dependent suburb in Melbourne, examining travel habits under diverse demographic and land use conditions. It suggests potential changes in travel modes and trip lengths following planned urban structural alterations, such as reduced car space in Manchester, S-Bahn and airport extensions in Berlin, and light rail near Melbourne.
PolicyCommunityTurning sunshine into water: PV water pumping in South Africa
1992Richard Gosnell Richard Gosnell · Waterlines · South Africa
This study assesses the performance of a photovoltaic (PV) pump installed at Sondela Community Garden in South Africa. The garden is a vegetable garden managed by 46 Zulu women in a semi-rural area. The research investigates whether solar-electric water pumping can provide water supplies in a region with abundant sunshine but limited water resources.
CommunityPeri-urban agricultureClimate changeReviews/Comptes rendus
1992· Canadian Geographies / Géographies canadiennes · Kenya (Nairobi)
This record contains reviews of two books: "The Geomorphology of Canada: An Introduction" by Alan S. Trenhaile and "A City of Farmers: Informal Urban Agriculture in the Open Spaces of Nairobi, Kenya" by Donald B. Freeman. The latter focuses on informal urban agriculture in Nairobi, Kenya.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceCity and Country: That Awkward Embrace
1991John M. Merriman · Oxford University Press eBooks · France
This chapter emphasizes the “awkward embrace” between city and country in the faubourg and the persistence of an urban agricultural population. It also considers how the troubled relationship between state and city affected the urban periphery and provides an overview of industry's role in faubourg development. To understand the urban periphery in France during the first half of the nineteenth century, it explores the state-city relationship (reflected in town walls), the persistence of rural life at the edge of and within cities, and industry's place in the emergence of the nineteenth-century faubourg.
Urban–rural linkagePolicyCommunityChapter 7: Urban Gardens
1991David R. Coffin · Princeton University Press eBooks · Italy (Rome)
This chapter, authored by David R. Coffin, explores urban gardens in Papal Rome. It contrasts these secular urban horticultural retreats with the cloistered gardens of monks.
CommunityUrban–rural linkageMedicinal plants and primary health care: part 2.
1991· PubMed · Global
This paper emphasizes the need for technological infrastructure to maximize the value of medicinal plants within primary health care (PHC). The WHO Programme on Traditional Medicine highlights the importance of appropriate drug availability in PHC and recommends cultivating medicinal plants in home or community gardens. It advocates for strengthening data gathering and analysis capabilities for economic mapping of medicinal flora in developing countries and for clinical research on the safety and efficacy of herbal medicines used by traditional health practitioners.
CommunityHealthDIYThe Meaning of Gardens: Idea, Place, and Action
1990Mark Francis, Randolph T. Hester · · United States
This publication is a collection of essays exploring the multifaceted meanings of gardens. It examines gardens through the lenses of metaphor, power, ordering, cultural expression, personal expression, and healing. Each section features various authors discussing how gardens relate to faith, social structures, design, community, individual experience, and well-being.
CommunityUrban–rural linkageHORTICULTURAL THERAPY
1990Joel Flagler · HortScience · Global
An overview of horticultural therapy, describing how trained therapists prescribe and administer planting and gardening activities for people with physical, mental and social disabilities in hospitals, geriatric centers, schools, rehabilitation facilities, community gardens and prisons. It states that research measuring effectiveness in clinical and correctional settings, and databases documenting the benefits, are underway, without giving specific figures or results.
HealthWelfareElderlyCommunity‘Three's a crowd’: knowledge, ignorance and power in the context of urban agriculture in Rwanda
1989Johan Pottier · Africa · Rwanda
This article explores the themes of knowledge, ignorance, and power in the context of a Rwandan development project, demonstrating how ignorance is generated through agricultural extension. It argues that agronomic services rely on power structures reminiscent of social inequality, and assesses whether the project-induced creation of ignorance leads to the displacement of local knowledge and the adoption of new methods.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceUrban Agriculture: Research Questions and Zambian Evidence
1988Rakodi C. · The Journal of Modern African Studies · Zambia (Lusaka)
A field-based study of Zambian urban settlements in the 1970s-1980s, finding that urban cultivation serves as a vital survival strategy for low-income households and warrants integration into urban development planning.
CommunityEconomicsPolicyHealthL'agriculture dans la ville : l'exemple de Bangui
1988François Villien · Cahiers d Outre-Mer · Central African Republic (Bangui)
Bangui, Central African Republic, exhibits significant inter-urban agricultural activity, reflecting population poverty. This agriculture is categorized as "inter-domain," practiced within concessions near houses, or "extra-domain," conducted outside family domains. Inter-domain agriculture includes small "jardin de case" (hut gardens) for diverse foodstuffs and larger "champ de case" (hut fields) for single crops like manioc, now also serving as income sources. Extra-domain agriculture utilizes empty land in peripheral districts for food, income, or temporary pioneer front crops, sometimes becoming permanent and hindering urban expansion. Urban agriculture is considered essential for the survival of many family units and for integrating the city into its food supply space.
CommunityWelfareEconomicsCommunity gardens as food producing units∗
1988C J van Vuuren · Development Southern Africa · South Africa
This article discusses the nature and functioning of community gardens in Ciskei, KwaZulu, and KwaNdebele, South Africa. It found that these community gardens are indigenous, acceptable to the local people, and are actively producing food, also demonstrating significant local expertise that should be recognized and developed by agencies. The article argues that these units have often been neglected by agricultural officers.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsEvaluation on Urban Agricultural Land from Residents' Views in Urban Fringe Area
1988Chiaki Negoro, Atsushi Tunekawa · Journal of the City Planning Institute of Japan · Japan
This paper examines the public perception of urban agricultural land as valuable open space in urban fringe areas. The study found that urban agricultural lands are considered valuable "green" spaces, with orchards (mainly persimmon trees) and farms being particularly highly evaluated. These positive perceptions were observed in both agricultural and nearby residential areas.
Peri-urban agricultureCommunityEconomicsBestimmung des Gehaltes ausgewählter Lebensmittel an Blei, Cadmium, Kupfer, Zink und Eisen
1988M. Krelowska‐Kulas · Food / Nahrung · Poland (Kraków)
An investigation using atomic absorption spectroscopy in Kraków, Poland, found that vegetables from urban allotment gardens had average levels of lead, cadmium, copper, zinc, and iron several times higher than control samples from farms 100 km away. In some cases, maximum levels of certain elements approached the admissible limit. However, average levels of lead and cadmium in pigs and cattle showed no reason for objection.
Contamination & food safetyHealthCommunity東京の農業と都市住民の食生活
1988Youko Yokokawa, 洋子 横川 · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan
This 1988 report describes changes in Tokyo's agricultural structure driven by urbanization alongside the state of urban residents' diets. Labor and farmland shifted from Tokyo's special wards to the Tama area, where intensive cultivation of fresh produce such as vegetables was concentrated, while in mountainous districts agriculture was combined with forestry. Cultivated land had shrunk by about 60% over the preceding 25 years, and the number of full-time farm households had fallen by 70%, while part-time farm households roughly doubled. Taking advantage of proximity to a large consumer market, 118 vegetable species were cultivated, with production of daikon radish, spinach, and komatsuna increasing year on year. Self-sufficiency rates for key products were 12.7% for vegetables, 7.2% for milk, 3.4% for eggs, and 2.4% for meat. In the urban diet, average nutrient requirements were largely met, though calcium was somewhat lacking and vitamins B1 and C slightly insufficient. Intake of beans, seafood, and vegetables was low by food group, and average daily salt intake was 13.4g, above the 10g target. Eating out and skipping meals were relatively uncommon overall, but skipping meals — especially breakfast — was more common among high-school-age students and older.
CommunityEconomicsPolicyHorticultural activities and demographic factors influence childrens's self-esteem
1987Williams, Patrick Neal. · K-State Research Exchange (Kansas State University) · United States (Manhattan, Kansas)
A five-month study of children gardening in the Manhattan Community Garden, Manhattan, Kansas, investigated differences in self-esteem, horticultural knowledge, and garden quality. Children without other siblings gardening showed higher self-esteem, gained more horticultural knowledge, and had better appearing gardens than children with other siblings gardening.
Food educationCommunityHealthA Comparative Study on the Types of Community Farms by Urban Residents
1987Yuzo Uchida · Journal of the City Planning Institute of Japan · Japan
This study aims to clarify the situation and types of community farms in Japan, their usage patterns, and their impact on the lives of urban residents. It notes the strong demand for community farms for cultivating vegetables and flowers among urban residents. Various types of community farms exist, including allotment gardens, Japanese Kleingartens, self-supplying community farms, and full-scale orchards in the countryside.
CommunityEconomicsHealthCity Farms: Livestock in Urban Communities
1987Lin Whitifield · Community Development Journal · United Kingdom
This is a journal article published in Community Development Journal (UK), Volume 22, Issue 3, July 1987, pages 242–245, written by Lin Whitfield, Education Officer for the National Federation of City Farms in the United Kingdom. Only bibliographic information and the author's affiliation are available; no further content is given.
Community農地の緑地的価値と都市農業の役割
1987和彦 武内, 洋一 松木 · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan
The available abstract for this 1987 Japanese paper consists only of a repository description (the University of Tokyo's institutional repository, UTokyo Repository) rather than the paper's content, so no findings, methods, or data about farmland's green-space value or the role of urban agriculture can be reported from it.
PolicyCommunityBiodiversityThe People Who Get in the Way: Changing Values in Urban Waste Management
1986Christine Furedy · Water Science & Technology · India
This 1986 paper argues that sociocultural factors — the attitudes and behaviors of both planners/administrators and service recipients — need more attention in waste disposal and treatment policy in developing countries, drawing examples from Calcutta and Lucknow, India, and contending that more research on informal waste reuse practices, including in aquaculture and urban agriculture, could inform how reuse is integrated into community waste disposal systems, which would require changes in officials' attitudes toward established informal practices.
Organic cycleCommunityPolicyThe Joys of Gardening: Collectivist and Bureaucratic Cultures in Conflict
1985Michael S. Jamison · Sociological Quarterly · Global
This study assesses the organizational cultures of collectives and bureaucracies within the urban gardening movement, finding serious underlying differences despite government assistance. Although government agencies provided resources and established projects, collectives and bureaucracies interpreted the urban gardening experience differently. This divergence in understanding the benefits and structuring the experience reveals a source of potential bureaucratic/collectivist conflict.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyCommonplaces
1984Allan Bunch · Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication · Global
A short 1984 review (Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication) of the third edition of the "Community festivals handbook," published by Community Projects Foundation. The review describes the handbook as a practical guide to organizing local, day-to-multi-day community festivals, covering committees, publicity, legal and site-management aspects, and notes it is also relevant to other community-based activities such as barbecues, fundraising, adventure playgrounds, or "setting up a city farm." The review does not report any study, data, or findings specific to urban farming.
CommunityUrban Horticulture: Horticulture for Populated Areas1
1983H. B. Tukey · HortScience · Global
Urban horticulture is defined as a scientific field focused on the functional uses of plants to maintain and improve urban environments. These functional uses extend beyond aesthetics to include screening against wind and views, influencing climate, reducing noise, combating air pollution, providing food, and enhancing human well-being in densely populated areas. The audience for urban horticulture includes landscape professionals, plant societies, and amateur horticulturists.
CommunityHealthClimate changeBiodiversityProject to Increase Urban Food Production in South Africa
1982Pauline Raphaely · Birkhäuser Basel eBooks · South Africa
Food Gardens Unlimited is an educational project in South Africa that teaches disadvantaged urban populations to grow food in small areas using limited resources. The project provides five-day training courses, step-by-step directions, and subsidized seeds through existing institutions. It aims to deliver physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits to participants.
Food educationWelfareCommunityOrganic cycleHealth