Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
1180 results(34 / 48)
Urban Agriculture and the Neoliberalization of What?
2016Marion Ernwein · Open Collections · Switzerland (Geneva)
This paper critically examined municipal involvement in community garden and urban agriculture development in the canton of Geneva, Switzerland, focusing on a case study in Vernier. It found that the municipality's urban agriculture program serves contradictory functions, being simultaneously progressive in reversing space privatization and nature commodification, yet also reinforcing the neoliberal production of individualized, self-responsible, and self-entrepreneur subjectivities. The highly-regulated nature of these municipal community gardens complicates their categorization as either grassroots or purely institutional projects.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityUrban agriculture up-scaled: economically and socially productive public green space
2016Joshua Zeunert · UNSWorks (University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia) · Australia
Urban public green spaces typically require external budgets for maintenance, with most projects costing municipal authorities more money than they generate, making them economically unproductive. For instance, the Adelaide Parklands annually costs AU$9 million for maintenance while generating less than AU$1 million in income. Maintenance spending on public green spaces in the USA, UK, and Australia has been declining, a trend accelerated since the 2008 global financial crisis.
Economic viabilityEconomicsCommunityPolicyBases Para La Reestructuración Del Programa De Agricultura Urbana Y Periurbana Agroecológica En Bogotá D.C., Con Base Los Lineamientos Dados En El Acuerdo 605 Del 27 De Agosto De 2015
2016Rada Betancourt, Bibian Andrea · · Colombia (Bogotá)
This document, based on an action research methodology, aims to provide informative, conceptual, and methodological bases for formulating an agroecological urban and peri-urban agriculture (AUPA) program in Bogotá. It describes the context of urban and peri-urban agriculture in the capital district, projects its future in Bogotá, and formulates foundational principles based on previously obtained results.
PolicyUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceA faecal exposure assessment of farm workers in Accra, Ghana: a cross sectional study
2016Prince Antwi-Agyei, Adam Biran, Anne Peasey, Jane Bruce, Jeroen H. J. Ensink · BMC Public Health · Ghana (Accra)
This cross-sectional study in Accra, Ghana, assessed faecal exposure among 80 farm workers during dry and wet seasons, analyzing water and soil samples for E. coli. The results showed that while irrigation water was highly contaminated (5.6 Log E. coli/100 ml), exposure to farm soil (2.3 Log E. coli/g) was the key risk pathway due to soil-to-mouth events, with 53% of farmers experiencing such events daily. The estimated norovirus infection risk to farmers was found to be higher than guidelines set by the WHO, indicating that exposure to soil is a critical pathway of pathogen risk in wastewater farmers, exceeding recommended health targets.
Contamination & food safetyHealthUrban–rural linkagePolicyDisplaying Urban Agriculture: From Garden City to Carrot City
2016Joe Nasr, June Komisar · · Global
This chapter reflects on the re-emergence of food and agriculture as an urban concern for planners and designers, examining public discourse through exhibitions. It analyzes recent exhibits highlighting the relationship between food and cities, using the "Carrot City: Designing for Urban Agriculture" exhibition as a case study. The authors, as co-curators, reflect on lessons learned from staging this exhibition, which traveled across three continents.
PolicyCommunityUrban–rural linkageThe Utopian Idea of Urban Agriculture - Growing Politics in the Urban Area
2016Ida Åberg · · Global
This abstract introduces urban agriculture (UA) as a potential solution to the challenges of feeding rapidly growing cities sustainably and addressing unsustainability and poverty.
PolicyClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceStatens roll förendras
2016Erika Augustinsson · Stat & Styring · Global
This abstract suggests that microcredits, crowdfunding, and urban farming may be significant social innovations of our time, comparable to 20th-century kindergartens, maternal care, and fire departments. It posits that the state's role is changing, focusing more on creating opportunities and relinquishing control.
PolicyCommunityFarmers' place identity and decision-making in a changing peri-urban environment: a case study of Wollondilly Shire Council
2016Laure‐Elise Ruoso, R. Plant, Brent Jacobs, Pierre Maurel · · Australia (Western Sydney)
This study, based on in-depth interviews with farmers in peri-urban Sydney, Australia, examines how changes in these areas impact farmers' place identity and decision-making. It analyzes how increasing urban development, land subdivision, rising land values, and environmental regulations threaten farming activities. The findings indicate that these factors influence farmers' practices, business management, and decisions to continue or relocate peri-urban farming.
Economic viabilityPeri-urban agricultureFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyTactical Urbanism: Short-term Action for Long-term Change
2015Lydon M., Garcia A. · Island Press · Global
A foundational book systematising short-term, low-cost, scalable interventions (pop-up parks, gardens, experiments) that use space temporarily to build consensus for permanent change — a theoretical pillar of interim land activation.
PolicyCommunity'Quiet Food Sovereignty' as Food Sovereignty without a Movement? Insights from Post-socialist Russia
2015Visser O., Mamonova N., Spoor M., Nikulin A. · Globalizations · Russia
Introduces the concept of 'quiet food sovereignty' to describe how Russian smallholders practise dispersed, muted, bottom-up food autonomy in the absence of organised rural social movements.
PolicyCommunityEconomicsWelfareUrban agriculture and food security: A critique based on an assessment of urban land constraints
2015Badami M., Ramankutty N. · Global Food Security · Global
Assessing the urban land needed to grow the urban poor's daily vegetables, the authors conclude urban agriculture can make only a limited contribution to food security in low-income countries where need is greatest, and argue its benefits are often overstated.
PolicyEconomicsInvestigating the association between urban agriculture and food security, dietary diversity, and nutritional status: A systematic literature review
2015Warren E., Hawkesworth S., Knai C. · Food Policy · Global
A systematic review of studies quantifying urban agriculture's link to food security, dietary diversity, and nutrition finds the evidence base weak and inconsistent, showing that empirical support for its effectiveness in easing food-security challenges remains limited.
HealthWelfarePolicyUrban vegetable for food security in cities. A review
2015Eigenbrod C., Gruda N. · Agronomy for Sustainable Development · Global
Reviewing urban vegetable production for food security, the authors note that high land prices and urban pollution constrain urban horticulture, indicating that despite opening new cultivation sites, such limits make it difficult for urban agriculture to fully meet cities' food demand.
EconomicsPolicyEcosystem disservices research: A review of the state of the art with a focus on cities
2015von Döhren P., Haase D. · Ecological Indicators · Global
Reviewing 103 studies, the paper synthesizes ecosystem disservices, functions of urban green and agricultural spaces perceived as negative for human well-being, such as pests, allergens, pollution, and wildlife conflict, and argues that valuing only benefits while ignoring disservices is inadequate.
BiodiversityPolicyContributing to food security in urban areas: differences between urban agriculture and peri-urban agriculture in the Global North
2015Ina Opitz, Regine Berges, Annette Piorr, Thomas Krikser · Agriculture and Human Values · Global
An extensive literature review systematically analyzed urban and peri-urban agriculture in the Global North, comparing their spatial, ecological, and socio-economic characteristics. The study found that urban and peri-urban agriculture differ in most characteristics and in their ability to meet urban food needs. Urban agriculture primarily meets household-level food needs, while peri-urban agriculture provides larger quantities and broader distribution pathways, indicating distinct roles in food security. Both forms of agriculture face similar threats from urbanization pressures.
Food sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageEconomicsPolicyUrban agriculture in the transition to low carbon cities through urban greening
2015Mary J. Thornbush · AIMS environmental science · Global
This review paper examines global trends in urban agriculture as a climate change mitigation and adaptation approach. It presents urban agriculture as a land-use solution that enhances food security, sequesters carbon, and offers rural services within cities. The review discusses physical and human factors influencing urban agriculture adoption, integrating a social-ecological perspective.
Climate changeFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityPolicyAgricultura urbana en el marc d'un urbanisme sostenible
2015Nadal, Ana, Cerón, Ileana, Cuerva Contreras, Eva, Gabarrell Durany, Xavier, Josa Garcia-Tornel, Alejandro, Pons Valladares, Oriol, Rieradevall Pons, Joan, Sanyé-Mengual, E. · UPCommons institutional repository (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya) · Global
This paper discusses the historical relationship between cities and agriculture, noting that agriculture was essential in ancient civilizations. However, in 20th-century modern urban planning, such as Le Corbusier's Chandigarh and Lucio Costa's Brasília, agriculture was largely excluded from major cities.
CommunityPolicyHeirloom & landraceTransdisciplinarity and Action Research to Address the Complex Issues of Urban Agriculture
2015Maria Gerster‐Bentaya, Crozet Natacha, M. Gerster-Bentaya, N. Crozet · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Global
The BMBF project "Urban Agriculture as integrative element of a climate-optimized urban development" was designed as a transdisciplinary research project on multifunctional open space systems in emerging megacities. This article links challenges of a transdisciplinary research approach, such as problem framing and actor engagement, to the nearly six-year research process. It describes the methods used during the two main phases of action research and the types of knowledge generated, also reflecting on limitations experienced by the project team.
Urban–rural linkagePolicyEconomicsUrban agriculture as embedded in the social and solidarity economy Basel
2015Isidor Wallimann · · Switzerland (Basel)
In 2010, the SEA founded the Urban Agriculture Network Basel Association (UAB) to enhance food production for the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) and the urban space. The UAB aims to strengthen the SSE's focus on local and environmental sustainability and shift Basel's food policy towards "food sovereignty." The network fosters social integration by issuing its own hour-based currency and has contributed to building a pilot Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) producer-consumer coop for solar-powered cheese.
CommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceCSA & TeikeiGardening the City: Neighbourliness and Appropriation of the Common Spaces in Bulgaria
2015Меглена Златкова · Colloquia Humanistica · Bulgaria (Plovdiv)
This anthropological research in a Plovdiv neighborhood, Bulgaria, discusses public-private space division in a post-socialist city. It examines everyday practices of urban gardening in common spaces, such as around apartment blocks and on balconies, to understand changing boundaries and social dynamics.
CommunityPolicyRaumgefühle – Gefühlsräume. Perspektiven auf die Verschränkung von emotionalen Praktiken und Topografien der Moderne
2015Benno Gammerl, Rainer Herrn · sub\urban zeitschrift für kritische stadtforschung · Global
This article outlines the theoretical, empirical, and political potential of the tension between affective disruptions of ordered structures and the emotional processing of power-infused spatial relations. It uses urban gardening practices and gentrification debates as examples to demonstrate how analyzing dynamic interactions between spaces and feelings can foster a critical perspective on urbanity, particularly regarding issues of equity. The study focuses on the ambivalent dynamics and effects of emotional-spatial processes.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyEconomicsUrban regeneration in the context of climate change, on the example of adaptive re-use of the military complex in the Bela Crkva
2015Božidar Manić, Tanja Bajić, Ana Niković · Arhitektura i urbanizam · Serbia (Bela Crkva)
This paper discusses the adaptive reuse of an abandoned military complex in Bela Crkva, Serbia, considering climate change and sustainability. A 2012 conceptual solution proposed repurposing the barracks for a university campus, experimental social housing, cultural facilities, and urban agriculture, incorporating alternative energy and energy efficiency. The study highlights issues of abandonment and provides recommendations for adaptation based on past experiences and current environmental challenges.
Climate changeUrban–rural linkagePolicyManaging community gardens in the Czech Republic
2015Eliška Novotná · ACC Journal · Czech Republic
This research investigated the management of community gardens in the Czech Republic, focusing on their economic self-sufficiency and long-term sustainability. The study examined the equipment and operation of gardens, funding sources for investments and operations, and the disclosure of information about their management.
CommunityEconomicsPolicyClimate changeUnravelling the politics of urban food transitions. A governance approach on Alternative Food Networks
2015Alessandra Manganelli · Lirias · Global
This early-stage PhD research (Month 12) investigates the governance of Alternative Food Networks (AFNs), focusing on their internal dynamics and relations with external institutions. While civil society actors catalyze AFNs, the institutional environment they face is not always favorable or accountable, with examples including changes in political priorities and constraining regulations. The Brussels-Capital Region serves as the main empirical case study, analyzing movements like GASAP and "Le Debut des Haricots."
Governance failurePolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceApplications of Carbon Footprint in Urban Planning and Geography
2015Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu · · Global
This abstract discusses how urban expansion and the separation of urban and agricultural areas increase energy demand for transporting food and goods. It notes that despite technological advances, a gap exists between energy demand and supply, even in advanced countries. The abstract concludes that reducing energy demand is a more realistic approach for sustainable development than solely relying on technological progress.
Urban–rural linkageFood miles & supply chainClimate changePolicy