Research & reports

Isabel Boussard · OpenEdition (OpenEdition) · Europe

This book, published in 1999, defines "urban agricultures" as agricultural activities aimed at land development within urban or peri-urban sites. It explores the subject beyond traditional French worker or family gardens, considering the diversity of garden types and the broad geographical scope across Europe.

Megan Poole · · Global

Factors influencing primary school teachers' decisions to utilize school gardens in their STEM curriculum were investigated using a mixed methods design in a single school district. Quantitative data was collected from garden resource and teacher self-efficacy surveys, while qualitative data was extracted from in-depth teacher interviews. Overall analyses determined that aspects of instruction and logistics were the most important factors for teachers in their decision to utilize school gardens.

Fiona Nunan · · India (Hubli-Dharwad)

Urban agriculture in Hubli-Dharwad, India, is characterized by tradition and links with rural areas. The majority of urban agricultural activities in India involve keeping livestock, particularly in urban dairies, rather than vegetable growing by low-income communities. Urban and peri-urban agricultural activities in India are strongly associated with urban-based sources of waste, both in terms of consuming waste and producing dung.

Tina M. Waliczek, R. Daniel Lineberger, Jayne M. Zajicek, Jennifer Bradley · HortTechnology · Global

This study investigated adults' perceptions of the benefits of children participating in gardening through a web-based survey (320 responses) targeting adults working with youth in garden situations. The study covered 128,836 children, primarily under 12, involved in gardening with teachers in school gardens. Adults reported benefits to children's self-esteem and reduction in stress levels. Comparisons showed parents viewed food production as most important, while teachers prioritized socializing and learning about plants.

Sonja M. Skelly, John Bradley · HortScience · United States (Florida)

This research project aimed to develop a typology of school garden program intensity and to determine if variables related to positive youth development varied within this intensity typology. Twenty elementary schools in Florida participated, accounting for approximately 20 teachers and 400 third-grade students. The study examined student developmental assets, environmental attitudes, and attitudes toward science.

Gary R. Vieth · · United States (Hawaii)

This article examines conditions to encourage Oahu hula dancers, who gather forest plant materials for lei, to switch to alternatives like community gardens or commercial purchase. Some hula teachers expressed willingness to switch if alternatives were attractive, while others did not. The study suggests that policies making alternatives more appealing, such as reducing labor in community gardens or lowering commercial prices, may be more cost-effective than trying to change user preferences.

Gary R. Vieth, Linda J. Cox, Margaret Josephson, James R. Hollyer · Environmental Practice · United States (Hawaii)

This article examines conditions to encourage hula dancers on Oahu, Hawaii, to switch from forest gathering for lei plant materials to alternatives like community gardens or commercial purchase. Some hula teachers expressed willingness to switch if alternatives were attractive, while others did not. The study suggests that policies making alternatives more appealing, such as reducing labor in community gardens or lowering commercial prices, may be more cost-effective than trying to change user preferences.

Lorie Hammond · · United States (California)

This study applies an anthropological approach to science teaching at a mainstream California elementary school, focusing on inter-cultural dialogue between Mien refugee families from Laos and mainstream educators. Using a family literacy project and a school-community garden, the research explores how traditional cultural knowledge and Western scientific knowledge can blend to develop curricula for science and literacy. The paper emphasizes dialogue where minority and majority voices co-create curricula, contrasting with standard parent involvement models.

Richard Wiltshire, Ren Azuma · Local Environment · Global

In the late 1980s, Japanese experts seeking a model allotment garden rejected the UK model, perceiving it as low status and in decline, in favor of the German Kleingarten. This paper suggests reconsidering the UK experience, given efforts to rebrand UK allotment gardening within sustainable development and the challenges faced by the Japanese Kleingarten model in the 1990s' changed economic climate.

Bryan Zinschlag · · United States

This case study examines the City Soil Network (CSN), a community garden organization comprising seventeen garden sites in Portland, Oregon, thirteen of them in Northeast Portland — an area with a history of racial and ethnic discrimination. Methods combined content analysis of organizational publications, participant observation at four Northeast Portland garden sites, and interviews with eleven CSN members representing all three levels of involvement in the organization. Recent gentrification in Northeast Portland has disproportionately displaced African Americans and other historically marginalized residents, and the author argues that the CSN has so far failed to engage the residents who stand to benefit most from involvement.

N. Purnomohadi, N. Bakker, Marielle Dubbeling, S. Gündel, U. Sabel-Koschella, H. de Zeeuw · · Indonesia (Jakarta)

This piece's abstract describes the physical conditions of Jakarta's Special Capital City Region (DKI): an average annual temperature of 27C, humidity of 80-90%, annual rainfall of about 2,000 mm (highest in January, lowest in September), an area of about 650 km2, a population density of 12,495 people per km2, population growth of 2.4% per year, and low, flat land of 0-50 m elevation with fertile alluvial soils.

Jean-Noël Consalès · Méditerranée · France

In Marseille, France, family gardens (jardins familiaux) have established themselves over a century as privileged witnesses to the different phases of urbanization (2000). From a necessary peripheral phenomenon during 1900–1945, to a land reserve during the postwar boom years, these collective vegetable-garden groupings stand today as symbols of urban society's renewed enthusiasm for peripheral agriculture. Marseille's family gardens have effectively become veritable territorial laboratories of urban agriculture in the Mediterranean.

Drangert Jo · PubMed · Global

Motivated by concerns over water and food scarcity and the health threats posed by faecal pollution and malnutrition, this paper discusses the development of a no-mix excreta disposal system that separates urine and faeces. It argues that ecological sanitation systems open up new, constructive sanitation options, particularly in poor peri-urban areas. The purpose of the no-mix system is described as saving water, reducing wastewater treatment problems, protecting groundwater quality, and recirculating nutrients from urine, and the paper addresses these aspects comprehensively.

Rachel Nugent, N. Bakker, Marielle Dubbeling, S. Gündel, U. Sabel-Koschella, H. de Zeeuw · · Global

This piece opens with general context on urban growth in the developing world — expanding cities add jobs and services while facing pressure to provide public services amid existing unemployment, with many new jobs aimed at unskilled and less-educated workers, both migrants and city-born residents. The available text does not present specific urban agriculture findings, methods, or data.

David Billings · · United States

A study of Portland, Oregon, examines claims that the well-documented benefits of community gardens are inequitably distributed across society. Portland is recognized as a sustainability leader with an abundance of community gardens and urban agriculture, yet it is also one of the whitest urban cities in the United States, where people of color — and the black community in particular — have faced a legacy of oppression and marginalization. Based on 17 in-depth interviews and extensive observation of community gardens, the research finds that the whiteness of these garden spaces functions to marginalize black individuals and contributes to the ongoing oppression of the black community. It also documents how Portland's black community engages in community gardening as a means of resisting these and broader effects of structural racism.

Altieri M.A., Companioni N., Cañizares K., Murphy C., Rosset P., Bourque M., Nicholls C.I. · Agriculture and Human Values · Cuba (Havana)

This study analyzes Cuba's grassroots urban agriculture movement that emerged after the 1989 Soviet collapse, showing how ~8,000 gardens nationwide operated on agroecological principles without synthetic inputs, providing Havana with thousands of tonnes of produce by 1996.

Seana Irvine, Lorraine Johnson, Kim Peters · Local Environment · Canada

This case study provides an analytical account of the Alex Wilson Community Garden in Toronto, Canada, examining the connections between ecological restoration and community gardening. The garden, opened in June 1998, reflects Alex Wilson's work by linking these two enterprises to nurture relationships between people, communities, and the landscape. Its design reconstructs the natural and cultural history of southern Ontario with native plant species, aiming for a positive impact on local biodiversity. The participatory planning process involved various stakeholders and utilized planning tools like conservation easements.

Laura DeLind, A. Ferguson · Human Organization · United States

This paper explores the role of gender within Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) using a Michigan CSA as a case study. It notes that women constitute a majority of active CSA membership and seeks to understand what attracts them and the nature of their involvement. The study finds preliminary answers within the wider context of new social movements.

Megumi Higuchi · Japanese Journal of Human Geography · Japan

This paper analyzed the Minuma Fureai Garden in Kawaguchi City, Saitama prefecture, finding that its operation costs exceed annual income from user fees (15,000 Yen/person/year), with municipal subsidies covering 18% of total income. While land use regulations keep rent low, deregulation could threaten the garden's existence. A user survey revealed 70% of users were over 50, and 60% re-applied after a one-year contract, though this varied by distance.

Isami Kinoshita, Jin Yoshikawa · Journal of the City Planning Institute of Japan · Japan

This study identified the meaning and role of edible landscapes in urban residential areas by comparing three districts in Japan: Nezu, Taishido, and Kokubunji-shinmachi. Through observation, interviews, and questionnaires, five common meanings and roles were found, including providing fresh food, fostering memories, promoting communication, preserving folk customs, and encouraging ecological thinking despite maintenance challenges.

Martha S. Burns, Nicholas J. Certo, Keith Storey · Education and training in mental retardation and developmental disabilities · Global

This quantitative study explored regular education students' attitudinal changes towards students with severe disabilities through inclusive service learning projects. The study involved a first intervention group of 12 volunteers who created a community garden with 8 students with severe disabilities, and a second intervention group of 12 Outdoor Education students who assisted 8 students with severe disabilities at a Special Olympics event. An attitudinal questionnaire was administered before and after the projects, and a control group was also included, but the abstract does not report the findings.

K. Haggard, Phillip J. Cooper · Solar today · United States (California)

The Tierra Nueva Cohousing Project in California comprises living units, a common house, community orchard, community gardens, play space, future shop space, and parking. The units incorporate thermal mass, solar heating, passive solar cooling, and perimeter insulation on slabs. The design of the project was collectively agreed upon by the entire community.

Mary Anne Foo, Jason Robinson, Monica Rhodes, Lillian S. Lew, Maichew Chao, Sadira Sokhan Dy, William Eir · Health Education · United States (California)

This article describes how implementing policy changes in organizations and communities supported physical activity in the Southeast Asian community in Long Beach, California. Case studies from the Families in Good Health program illustrate the components of successful policy development for physical activity. Increased policy opportunities occurred when high levels of five factors were present: program champions were cultivated; strong partnerships were formed; the community gave approval of program results; community leaders were involved; and organizations or resources were ready for policy development.

Keiichi Moritsuka, Yoshiyuki Tokunaga, Hiraku Hoshi, Hiroshi Suda · INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING REVIEW · Global

This paper proposes policies for allotment garden facilities and management, based on a survey of users' consciousness. The survey found that some users rent gardens that do not satisfy their purpose due to a lack of publicly available information about allotment gardens. The paper concludes that garden managers must publicize the purpose of establishing gardens and show eagerness, while users should communicate with managers, guides, and other users.

Tina M. Waliczek, Jayne M. Zajicek · Journal of Environmental Horticulture · United States

Project GREEN, a school garden program, was integrated into seven elementary and junior high schools in Kansas and Texas to evaluate its impact on students' environmental attitudes. Students' environmental attitudes were significantly more positive after participating, with post-test mean scores 0.26 points higher than pre-test scores. Demographic analysis showed that female, Caucasian, and rural students exhibited more positive environmental attitudes compared to other groups.