Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
974 results(37 / 39)
Stories Of Apples: An exploration of the arenas of a London food supply
2010Poppy Nicol · ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) · United Kingdom (London)
This paper studies how various apples enter a community in London, using the apple as a device to analyze the city-region's food system and its connection to productive land. A multi-level analysis examined four arenas of procurement: mainstream retail (supermarkets), wholesale markets, direct links with producers (CSA box schemes, farmers' markets), and ecologically localized procurement (gleaning projects, community orchards). The study explores how these different journeys are understood and accounted for.
CommunityUrban–rural linkageFood miles & supply chainEconomicsThe law and allotments
2010Richard L. Wiltshire · Research Portal (King's College London) · United Kingdom
This chapter provides authoritative guidance to present and future allotment holders on statute and case law and support mechanisms related to the acquisition, use, defense, and termination of allotment gardens and allotment tenancies. It draws on "Growing in the Community" to contextualize specific, prescriptive allotment legislation within the broader context of good management practices.
PolicyCommunityGoing public: landscaping everyday life
2010Amanda Claremont, Andrew Church, Mark Bhatti, Paul Stenner · Cultural Geographies · United Kingdom
This 2010 account documented a practice-based approach to British gardens, involving public engagement through a seminar, writing workshop, and an exhibition of amateur photographs. The exhibition explored the production and limits of lay and expert knowledge, noting that many displayed photos did not meet public exhibition standards. The study highlighted challenges encountered and the value of public engagement for understanding everyday spaces and academic practice.
CommunityFood educationRömerstadt: the modern garden city
2010Susan Henderson · Planning Perspectives · Germany (Frankfurt)
The Römerstadt settlement in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, was a key achievement of the "New Frankfurt" urban expansion program (1926-1932), re-housing 60,000 people in 15,000 units. It integrated technical advances like central heating and cable radio, alongside social reforms such as a model school and a landscape plan with allotment gardens and parks. This article surveys Römerstadt's design and history, presenting it as the most complete realization of the program's ideals.
PolicyCommunityUrban–rural linkageTemporal and spatial changes in the distribution of heaths within the city of Toruń according to analysis of cartographic and remote-sensing materials, and field exploration
2010Mieczysław Kunz, Andrzej Nienartowicz · Ecological Questions · Poland
This study in Toruń, Poland, analyzed changes in the distribution and surface area of heaths over nearly 120 years at two former military sites, "JAR" and "Glinki." The analysis utilized historical topographic maps, aerial photos, a high-resolution Ikonos satellite image, and direct field exploration with GPS devices. It was found that the JAR site currently has 22 heather patches covering 11.7328 ha, and the Glinki district also has 22 heather patches covering 3.5701 ha, identifying them as the largest heath sites within Toruń's administrative boundaries. The analysis also outlined small fragments where heaths could be preserved after future housing estate construction at JAR and discussed future land use changes at Glinki due to a scheduled housing estate.
CommunityUrban–rural linkagePolicyEl "Manifiesto Verde" de Leberecht Migge
2009de Cárdenas Maestre I. · Cuaderno de Notas, no. 12, 119-134 · Germany
A Spanish-language study of Migge's 1919 'Green Manifesto', examining his utopian call for self-sufficiency and self-governance through small, interconnected rural-urban groups he termed Stadtland or Landstadt.
CommunityEconomicsPolicyLocal food, food miles and carbon emissions: A comparison of farm shop and mass distribution approaches
2009Coley, D., Howard, M., Winter, M. · Food Policy 34(2), 150–155 · United Kingdom
Compares farm-shop and mass-distribution approaches, showing that if a consumer drives more than 6.7 km one way, even local produce can emit more carbon than mass distribution—a classic paper opening the debate that 'local food is not automatically sustainable'.
EconomicsFactors influencing the concentration of heavy metals in soils of allotment gardens in the city of Wroclaw, Poland
2009Cezary Kabała, T. Chodak, L. Szerszeń, Anna Karczewska, Katarzyna Szopka, Urszula Fratczak · Fresenius environmental bulletin · Poland (Wroclaw)
An analysis of 180 allotment garden soils in Wroclaw, Poland, found that concentrations of Cu, Pb, and Zn (12.5-659 mg Pb kg-1, 38.1-2103 mg Zn kg-1, 12.9-595 mg Cu kg-1) were influenced by industrial pollution sources, organic matter, pH, and macronutrients. Soils in gardens on former housing or industrial areas had significantly higher metal concentrations. Up to 35% of soils in the city zone were excessively contaminated, making them unsuitable for vegetable and fruit production and requiring reclamation.
Contamination & food safetyHealthCommunityParchi Agrari Periurbani: una nuova proposta di paesaggio
2009Maria Gabriella Errico · · Europe
This study analyzed theories and concepts intertwining human activity with economic, social, scientific, and political aspects, driven by interest in solutions for maintaining agricultural landscapes in peri-urban areas. It investigated the landscape characteristics of territories between city and countryside that retain cultural historical signs. By synthesizing key challenges of peri-urban areas, the research aimed to identify design strategies for active conservation and transformation through agricultural park projects. The study proceeded to recognize the characteristics and critical issues of the peri-urban agricultural landscape.
Peri-urban agriculturePolicyCommunityOlympics watch
2009· Engineering & Technology · United Kingdom (London)
This article describes the historical landscape of the 2012 London Olympic Park site, a 321-hectare brownfield in the Lea Valley. Archaeological findings by the Museum of London indicate human presence from the Mesolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman periods, with evidence of dwellings, skeletons, and a Roman coin. The site hosted textile printing in the 17th century, followed by petrol factories, bone, varnish, soap, and tallow works, distilleries, engineering, and chemical plants, and was used for landfill from the late 19th century. It also had strong electronic associations, with the development of the first diode valve in 1904 and the establishment of Britain's first radio valve factory in 1916 and first television tube factory in 1936.
CommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageComment travailler avec et pour les agriculteurs en contexte péri-urbain ?
2009C. Colliot, J.M. Bertrand · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · France
This paper discusses how peri-urban agriculture is influenced by urban sprawl, noting that common tools like SCoT and PLU are insufficient for rural extension services in this context. Based on examples from the Provence-Alpes Côtes d’Azur region and a CASDAR project, it proposes a future network to renew competencies of rural advisors. The objective is to foster fruitful relationships with city extension services.
Peri-urban agriculturePolicyUrban–rural linkage르 그랑 파리 프로젝트의 시사점
2009홍석기 · 정책리포트 · France (Paris)
The "Le Grand Paris Project" proposes a major reform of Paris to transform it into a sustainable and globally competitive city for the 21st century. Proposed plans, to be implemented from 2020 to 2030, include physical spatial expansion beyond current boundaries, establishment of new governance for geographical and sociocultural integration, and a shift from a single-core radial to a multi-core linear urban structure. The project also suggests urban agriculture, agro-cities, and green car activation to improve the urban environment in line with the Kyoto Protocol.
PolicyClimate changeUrban–rural linkageCase Study : Stroud Community Supported Agriculture
2009Robert Rogerson, Sue Sadler · Strathprints: The University of Strathclyde institutional repository (University of Strathclyde) · United Kingdom
This case study, prepared by BRASS (Centre for Business Relationships Accountability, Sustainability & Society), is part of an HCA/ESRC funded research project. The project investigated skills and knowledge applied in sustainability initiatives related to housing, land, food, and transport.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceSynaxis Baltica : Potsdam - Berlin, Germany 2009
2009Hubert Więckowski · Jagiellonian University Repository (Jagiellonian University) · Germany (Berlin)
This article describes the 8th edition of the Synaxis Baltica Summer Academy, organized in Potsdam and Berlin, Germany. It presents the significant aims of the Synaxis Baltica Summer Academy, established in 2002, and briefly describes the main topics of the 8th academy, which included community gardens and guerilla gardening. Information about lectures, experts, and participants' tasks and obligations is also provided.
CommunityDIYThe Cluster of Urban Agriculture: Case of Bartın-Turkey
2009AÇIKSÖZ Sebahat · Tarım Bilimleri Dergisi · Turkey (Bartın)
This study investigated whether urban agriculture activities in Bartın, Turkey, could be organized as a cluster according to Cluster Growth Theory, and examined its cluster characteristics as part of the TR-26 Bartın Regional Development Project. While urban agriculture in Bartın was identified as having cluster characteristics and growth potential, the study found that a fundamental problem for its future development is weak coordination and cooperation among stakeholders. It proposes a model for urban agriculture activities for a "Bartın Urban Initiative" at the city level.
Governance failureEconomicsCommunityPolicyUncertainty and Territorial Innovations in Peri-urban Agricultural Spaces
2009Lucette Laurens · Journal for Geography · France
This inquiry examines peri-urban agricultural spaces in Languedoc-Roussillon and the Montpellier agglomeration, France, which are characterized by a decline in agricultural activities and abandonment. These spaces are confronted with new, uncertain, and innovative dynamics, appearing as multifunctional spaces that need to be re-invented. The study highlights the paradox of these areas caught between appropriation for different uses and agricultural decline.
Economic viabilityPeri-urban agriculturePolicyUrban–rural linkageCommon ground? Motivations for participation in a community-supported agriculture scheme
2008Rosie Cox, Lewis Holloway, Laura Venn, Liz Dowler, Jane Ricketts Hein, Moya Kneafsey, Helena Tuomainen · Local Environment · United Kingdom
This paper examines the motivations of producers and consumers participating in a community-supported agriculture (CSA) project in Scotland. It reveals the diverse motivations and philosophies consumers bring to the scheme, contrasting them with the organizers' stated aims. The study argues that effective communication within direct marketing schemes is important for fostering long-term commitment between producers and consumers, and for encouraging consumers to consider broader behavioral changes.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsUrban and Peri-urban Agriculture in Kyiv (Ukraine): "Crisis Induced Strategy" versus Recreational Resource
2008Zoia Komirenko, D.M. Hoermann, Komirenko, Z., Hoermann, D.M. · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Ukraine (Kyiv)
This study surveyed 240 Kyiv households with urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in 2005 using a standardized questionnaire. Data collected covered production, inputs, sales, and the importance of plots for self-sufficiency, recreation, and leisure. Cluster analysis identified four groups of UPA users, revealing that the importance of UPA shifts from livelihood necessity to recreational resource, or combines both, depending on the plot type.
Peri-urban agricultureEconomicsCommunityWelfareOf Other Places: The Garden as a Heterotopic Site in Contemporary Art
2008Melanie Dana Nakaue · The Brock Review · Europe
This article investigates the use and representation of the garden in contemporary art by applying Michel Foucault's concept of heterotopia. Stan Douglas reconstructs early 19th-century Northern European community gardens in his work "Der Sandman," while Hew Locke recontextualizes the garden as a site of postcolonial experience with his assemblage topiary sculpture "Black Queen." Through this analysis, the article aims to illuminate the connection between site and subjectivity and the multiplicity of meaning resulting from the garden as a quintessential site of postmodern experience.
CommunityLeberecht Migge's "Green Manifesto": Envisioning a Revolution of Gardens
2007Haney D. H. · Landscape Journal, 26(2), 201-218 · Germany
Analyzes Migge's 1919 'Green Manifesto', one of the most overtly political tracts by a landscape architect, proposing that intensive vegetable gardens for everyone could solve Germany's social and economic problems through a technologically modern synthesis of garden and dwelling.
Organic cycleCommunityPolicyGrowing young minds
2007Lindsey Cox · SecEd · United Kingdom
This article by Lindsey Cox examines how school gardens can contribute to pupils' engagement with healthy eating. It suggests that learning about the origin of food through school gardens is important for fostering healthy eating habits among students.
Food educationSpaces to play/playing with spaces: young people, citizenship and Joan Littlewood
2007Nadine Holdsworth · Research in Drama Education The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance · United Kingdom
This article examines Joan Littlewood's cultural innovations beyond traditional theatre, focusing on her local projects in the 1960s that promoted cultural democracy and active citizenship. During redevelopment around Theatre Royal, Stratford East, Littlewood transformed discarded spaces into temporary structures, playgrounds, mini inner-city farms, and planting schemes. These activities emphasized children's access to cultural activity, social encounter, and creative play, and explored their interaction in the public realm and responsibility for animating spaces.
CommunityFood educationUrban–rural linkageArchaeological Desk-Based Assessment of Garden Street and Broad Lane, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
2007Mark Stenton · Archaeology Data Service · United Kingdom (Sheffield)
A desk-based assessment of land at Garden Street and Broad Lane, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, conducted in July 2007, involved a site visit and documentary research. The site, undeveloped prior to 1736, contained allotment gardens by 1779 and was developed with housing, retail, and industrial premises by the mid-19th century. These 19th-century structures were demolished in 1935 and replaced by current buildings. The assessment notes uncertainty regarding the presence of cellarage in earlier buildings and the impact of 20th-century construction on potential sub-surface archaeological deposits.
CommunityArchaeological Desk-Based Assessment of Hanover Works, Scotland Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
2007Mark Stenton · Archaeology Data Service · United Kingdom (Sheffield)
This desk-based archaeological assessment of Hanover Works in Sheffield, UK, conducted in July 2007, involved a site visit and documentary research. The area was likely agricultural in the medieval period, becoming small plots by the early 17th century, and developed industrially from the early 19th century. The assessment suggests that 19th-century subsurface archaeological features may remain beneath present-day structures, though their condition is undetermined.
CommunityPolicyArchaeological Desk-Based Assessment of Bankwood Lane, New Rossington, South Yorkshire
2007Mark Stenton · Archaeology Data Service · United Kingdom (South Yorkshire)
In October 2007, ARCUS conducted a desk-based assessment of land at Bankwood Lane, New Rossington, South Yorkshire (SK 60828 98613), which included a site visit, documentary, and cartographic research. The site is located in an area of key significance for the Iron Age and Romano-British periods and was parkland or pasture within the Rossington Hall estate between approximately 1220 and 1938. Substantial ground disturbance was unlikely during this period or subsequent post-war development, as the site contained allotment gardens and a factory unit without basement levels.
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