Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
1180 results(35 / 48)
Longitudinal study of urbanisation processes in peri-urban areas of Greater Copenhagen:what happens to farming?
2015Anne Gravsholt Busck, Christian Fertner, Lone Søderkvist Kristensen, Søren Bech Pilgaard Kristensen, Mike Brian Johannsen Kyndesen, Susanne Ogstrup, Jørgen Primdahl, Søren Præstholm, Ann-Sofie Richardt, Jens Peter Vesterager, Lars Winther · Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) · Denmark
This longitudinal study investigated urbanization processes in peri-urban agricultural areas of the Greater Copenhagen region, Denmark, surveying 160-200 farm properties across eight study areas in 1984, 1994, 2004, and 2014 using face-to-face interviews. It found that while some agricultural land became urban, the overall agricultural land use remained largely stable, though concentrated on fewer, larger farms. Economic activities diversified, with more property owners engaging in other gainful activities, and farming in these areas faces constant challenges from increasing external activities.
Peri-urban agricultureUrban–rural linkagePolicyEconomicsBoerende stedelingen of verstedelijkte boeren
2015Reinoud Vermoesen · Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis · Belgium (Antwerp)
This study examined urban farming in early modern Antwerp, focusing on individual households and the gardeners’ guild. While 18th-century records mentioned few farmers within the city walls, this research suggests a more widespread phenomenon. Gardeners’ guild members primarily had a retail function rather than food production, and a variety of households not belonging to the guild were also active in agriculture.
Urban–rural linkageEconomicsPolicyContesting urban agriculture: the politics of meat production in the License-Buy-Back Scheme (2006-2007) in Hong Kong
2015Kin Wing Chan · Open Research Exeter (University of Exeter) · Hong Kong
This study examines the politics of meat production in Hong Kong's 2006-2007 License-Buy-Back Scheme (LBBS), focusing on pig farming. It investigates how the LBBS served as a tactic to reduce and control the pig farming industry, contrasting it with urban vegetable farming which holds a more positive aesthetic image. The research highlights a scarcity of studies on why certain forms of urban agriculture are valued more than others.
Governance failurePolicyEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceAgriculture urbaine et enjeux de santé
2015Christine Aubry, Jeanne Pourias, Anne Cécile Daniel · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · Global
Urban agriculture is gaining popularity, often for its contribution to urban greening, re-establishing connections between urban dwellers and agricultural and food production, and among urban dwellers themselves. However, urban agriculture also involves significant health issues, which advocate for urban planning that promotes its maintenance or establishment under healthy environmental conditions.
Contamination & food safetyHealthPolicyCommunityTransforming Food Systems Through Food Sovereignty: An Australian Urban Context
2015Federico Davila, Robert Dyball · Australian Journal of Environmental Education · Australia
This article examines the potential of food sovereignty, as defined by La Via Campesina, to reframe food as a human right within the Australian food discourse. It argues that urban food production in Australia offers educative value by transforming individuals' social and environmental concerns about food systems. Community participation in urban food production can foster political understanding and support for alternative food systems, developing elements of food sovereignty in an Australian urban context.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityFood educationPolicyInformal planning in a transactive governmentality. Re-reading planning practices through Ghent’s community gardens
2015Chiara Certomà, Bruno Notteboom · Planning Theory · Belgium (Ghent)
This article examines a new planning mode involving collaboration between state, private, and community actors in the context of urban gardening movements. It analyzes urban gardening projects in Ghent, Belgium, to explore the transformation of planning practices. The article concludes that urban gardening exemplifies an emerging informal planning mode supported by a transactive governmentality, potentially leading to co-creative transformation of public urban space.
CommunityPolicyCollective Action Dynamics in Urban Neighborhoods: A Study of Urban Community Gardens
2015Nishesh Chalise · Open Scholarship Institutional Repository (Washington University in St. Louis) · Global
This study investigated the processes leading to sustained or eroding community engagement over time in urban community gardens within a low-income urban neighborhood. Key informant interviews were conducted with gardeners from various community gardens, and the data was used to understand the context of garden establishment and to revise a system dynamics model based on collective action theories. The model, which incorporated eight main structures including gardeners, land, activities, and social relationships, successfully produced both sustained and eroding community engagement.
CommunityPolicyHealthModern Capitalism and Food Commoditization: The Limitations of Industrial Agriculture and the Challenges of Sustainable Alternatives
2015Gerardo Patron-Cano · Digital Commons - DU (University of Denver) · Global
This thesis argues that agriculture should be divorced from capitalist economic principles, pointing out that industrialized growing methods have been economically, socially, and environmentally unsustainable. For sustainable and equitable agriculture, food systems need to be de-commodified, with policies empowering local community control and subsidizing localized production-consumption cycles. Urban farming and food hub initiatives are discussed as primary solutions to address challenges limiting local food systems from replacing the dominant industrial agricultural paradigm.
Food sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyCommunityStudies on the Development of Family Farms Under the Background of Urban Agriculture
2015Wang Hai-ya · · Global
Under the background of urban agriculture, family farms have broad development prospects and are categorized into three development modes: professional production type, multi-functional integrated type, and ecological protection type. This study proposed countermeasures for key issues such as land, capital, talent, products, and social services, including formulating family farm development plans, accelerating land approval, promoting land circulation, encouraging company registration, strengthening government funding support, and introducing social capital.
EconomicsPolicyUrban–rural linkagePolicies Fostering Multifunctional Urban Agriculture in the City of Zurich
2015Ingrid Jahrl, Otto Schmid · Organic Eprints (International Centre for Research in Organic Food Systems, and Research Institute of Organic Agriculture) · Switzerland
In Zurich, Switzerland, urban agriculture policies have evolved towards fulfilling multiple functions. This multifunctional approach aims to provide diverse services for city dwellers, fostering biodiversity, offering attractive recreational landscapes, and creating educational opportunities, with food production being a part but not the main goal. The city administration has implemented various support mechanisms to ensure the concept's implementation and maintenance.
PolicyBiodiversityFood educationCommunityGreening and “un”greening Adelaide, South Australia
2015Guy M. Robinson, Zhiling Liu · AIMS environmental science · Australia
This paper examines the contradictions between greening and "ungreening" in Adelaide, South Australia, focusing on the city's Park Lands and urban sprawl. It argues that urban sprawl, including recent development on prime farmland, has been antithetical to biodiversity maintenance and greening principles, reducing sustainability capacity. The paper identifies problems such as conflict between biodiversity and protecting residents in bushfire risk areas, stemming from a relaxed attitude towards low-density expansion.
Environmental trade-offsUrban–rural linkagePolicyBiodiversityExtracting Urban Food Potential: design-based methods for digital and bodily cartography
2015Anna Maria Orrù · Chalmers Publication Library (Chalmers University of Technology) · Sweden (Stockholm)
This paper investigated whether engaging citizens as design agents through an alternate participation platform could bridge the gap between urban design processes and citizens. This approach was applied to Stockholm's urban agriculture movement, aiming to engage citizens in locating existing and potential food growing places and gathering information. Results showed that a combination of digital and bodily approaches was necessary for critical cartography to holistically engage citizens as spatial agents informing urban policy.
CommunityPolicyDigital agricultureMultifunctional Peri-Urban Agriculture and Local Food Access in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal: A Review
2015Shreema Rana · Journal of Natural Resources and Development · Nepal
This paper reviews existing literature on urban food supply chains and food security benefits of peri-urban agriculture in developing regions, focusing on the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. It highlights the significance of peri-urban areas for a sustainable food chain and points out existing but unrecognized features of peri-urban agriculture at local and policy-making levels. The review identifies gaps in local preferences and policy acknowledgment, suggesting further research is needed for sustainable peri-urban agriculture approaches.
Peri-urban agricultureFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsPrograma de desarrollo para una agricultura sostenible en áreas urbana y peri-urbana de la ciudad de Machala.
2015Delgado Pontón, Daniela María · · Ecuador (Machala)
This work aims to provide guidelines for implementing a municipal urban and peri-urban agriculture program in Machala, Ecuador, to improve environmental quality and food security for the population. The proposed program's guidelines are presented, supported by arguments for its importance in combating hunger, enhancing food and nutritional security, reducing urban habitat deterioration, and generating employment for participating families.
Food sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsCommunityIs landscape gardening
2015Udo Weilacher · · Global
Gardening, particularly in the context of 'urban gardening', is regaining focus in landscape architecture debates about city sustainability. This trend raises questions about whether it is a lasting direction or a temporary fad related to romantic notions of withdrawing from rationally designed cities. To understand why gardening's importance in landscape architecture diminished, a historical review of landscape architecture over the past century is necessary.
Urban–rural linkageClimate changePolicyUrban food policies and programmes: an overview
2015Lauren Baker and Henk de Zeeuw · · Global
This chapter analyzes the opportunities and limitations of urban agriculture for climate change mitigation and adaptation, providing information on city projects and policies. It identifies challenges for research and policy development concerning urban agriculture's potential as a city climate change and disaster risk-reduction strategy.
PolicyClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceО перспективах применения растительной земли на основе компостов из древесно-растительных остатков в городском озеленении
2015А А Золотаревский, И И Прокопович · Лесной вестник / Forestry bulletin · Russia (Moscow)
This article explores the potential of composts made from woody-plant waste (WPW) as an alternative to expensive organic additives for urban gardening in Moscow. It suggests that composting WPW can provide a cost-effective solution for preparing fertile soil, which is crucial for plant survival in urban environments. Modern composting technologies allow for the mechanization of WPW composting, producing vegetable earth suitable for planting trees.
CompostOrganic cyclePolicyEconomicsLa agricultura urbana en la ciudad de Cienfuegos: ejes estratégicos en pos de la sostenibilidad agrícola Urban agriculture in the city of Cienfuegos: strategic areas towards agricultural sustainability
2015Xiomara Asunción, Moreno Lorenzo, Reynier Rodríguez Rico, Eduardo San, Marful Orbis · · Cuba (Cienfuegos)
This study aimed to characterize urban agriculture in Cienfuegos city, Cuba, and identify strategic axes for the further implementation of its land use and urban plan. Through SWOT analysis and variable identification and spatial analysis using GIS, the positive and negative impacts of urban agriculture on the urban, environmental, economic, and social spheres were determined, leading to the enunciation of strategic priorities for urban planning. This article reports on this experience.
Urban–rural linkagePolicyClimate changeURBAN AGRICULTURE: A STRATEGY TO SUSTAIN URBAN ENVIRONMENT (CASE STUDY: QAZVIN CITY)
2015Marzieh Rezaei Qaleh, Hossein Medi, Mahdi Sheybani · Cumhuriyet Science Journal · Iran (Qazvin City)
This study investigated the role of urban agriculture in sustaining the urban environment, using Qazvin City, Iran, as a case study. Qazvin City, historically surrounded by traditional gardens that created a favorable urban environment, is now experiencing the destruction of these garden environments due to development processes, posing a risk of breaking the chain of environmental sustainability. The research, based on content analysis through observation and document study, proposed solutions considering environmental concerns, including preserving old irrigation methods, restoring native plant species, and focusing on existing water resources.
Environmental trade-offsUrban–rural linkageClimate changePolicyParticipation as if Things Mattered
2015Noortje Marres · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · Global
This text explores the concept of "material participation," where everyday material practices like gardening, washing, and cycling are proposed to facilitate engagement in social and public life. It suggests that material environments, such as kitchens and allotment gardens, have unique capacities to involve people and make broader social problems accessible for intervention. The text raises questions about the legitimacy, efficacy, and distinctiveness of these explicitly material forms of engagement.
CommunityHealthPolicyUrban Agriculture in the Framework of Sustainable Urbanism
2015Ana Lucrecia Nadal Fuentes · Temes de disseny · Global
This article discusses the historical relationship between cities and agriculture, noting that while agriculture was central to ancient civilizations, it was excluded from modern 20th-century urban plans. The study highlights that current and projected demographic growth in urban areas has increased the value of urban agriculture.
CommunityPolicyClimate changeA methodology for the sustainability assessment of agri-food systems: an application to the Slow Food Presidia project
2014Peano C., Migliorini P., Sottile F. · Ecology and Society · Global
Develops an indicator-based sustainability assessment tool translating Slow Food's 'good, clean, fair' principles into criteria spanning economic, ecological, social, cultural, and quality dimensions, applied to the Slow Food Presidia project.
Heirloom & landracePolicyEconomicsBiodiversityRe-purposing the master's tools: the open source seed initiative and the struggle for seed sovereignty
2014Kloppenburg J. · The Journal of Peasant Studies · Global
Argues that food sovereignty requires seed sovereignty, examining the Open Source Seed Initiative's attempt to apply open-source legal tools against corporate enclosure and intellectual property rights over plant genetic resources.
Heirloom & landracePolicyBiodiversityCommunityGenebank Standards for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
2014Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) · FAO, Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture · Global
FAO's revised international technical standards guiding genebank management of plant genetic resources, covering orthodox seed, field, in vitro, and cryopreservation collections to ensure secure long-term conservation.
Heirloom & landracePolicyBiodiversitySustainable Food Systems: Building a New Paradigm
2014Marsden, T., Morley, A. (eds.) · Routledge / Earthscan (ISBN 9780415639545) · Global
A comprehensive theoretical volume on building sustainable food systems including the urban-rural nexus, with chapters on food practices, land access and agricultural entrepreneurship at the rural-urban interface.
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