Research & reports

최지원, 오충현 · 한국환경생태학회 학술발표논문집 · South Korea

A study of urban agriculture in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea, reviewing about ten years of activity from the district's 2010 enactment of Korea's first eco-friendly urban agriculture support ordinance through its 2019 comprehensive plan, assessed across economic, environmental-ecological and social dimensions using Lee Chang-woo's (2016) functional classification and a resident satisfaction survey, to derive directions for the next urban agriculture master plan. On the economic side, following the district's first urban garden plots opened in the Gangil-dong area in 2009, by January 2019 there were 39 sites totaling 145,806 square meters across 6,873 plots, and in 2018 the Gangdong Urban Agriculture Support Center ("Ssingssing Dream") recorded produce sales of 348,218,000 KRW and donated 3,204 kg of produce to low-income households. On the environmental side, urban beekeeping begun in 2013 had grown to roughly 40 hives by 2018, alongside 25,923 box gardens and 121 rooftop gardens (totaling 1,828 square meters) established by 2018; on the social side, rooftop gardens at eight welfare facilities hosted a total of 107 horticultural therapy sessions by 2018.

Hannah Furniss, Amos Darnell, Timothy A. Brown · Murray State's Digital Commons (Murray State University) · United States

A study on urban soils in Calloway County, Kentucky, aimed at determining the differences between urban soils and traditional agricultural fields to assess the viability of urban agriculture as a food source and whether urban agriculture systems could be modeled for broader application. Using a no-till soybean field as a conventional-agriculture control, the researchers compared a developed urban garden (growing food and other plants) and a managed residential turf lawn, taking 36 disturbed and undisturbed soil samples in triplicate from depths of 0-7.5 cm and 7.5-15 cm, measuring organic matter, water holding capacity, field capacity, bulk density, porosity, and pH. As of the abstract, results were stated to be presented on a poster and no specific figures were given.

Giliarde Souza Brito, Hélder dos Anjos Augusto, Eduardo Magalhães Ribeiro · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Brazil

A qualitative study set out to identify agricultural practices in the urban area of Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, Brazil, and to analyze the flows of agricultural products, biodiversity and agricultural knowledge circulating in networks linking migrants' municipalities of origin to their destination. The results show a continuous dialogue with places of origin coupled with food cultivation in urban spaces.

Giliarde de Souza Brito, Hélder Dos Anjos Augusto, A Ribeiro · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil

This qualitative study focused on agricultural practices in the urban area of Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, Brazil, with the main objective of identifying the flow of agricultural products, agricultural biodiversity, and knowledge circulating through networks linking migrants' municipalities of origin to their destination. Results are presented through ongoing dialogue with local sources, connected to the practice of growing food within city spaces.

トシオ キクチ, Toshio Kikuchi, 俊夫 菊地 · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Canada

Focusing on community gardens in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, particularly in the city of Richmond, this study (2019) sought to clarify how urban agriculture's development is accompanied by the "commodification of rural space." It finds that Metro Vancouver's urban agriculture differs from suburban agriculture in that community gardens prioritize maintaining green and leisure space within the urban environment over agricultural production for food supply. The study concludes that community gardens function as a node connecting "urbanity" and "rurality," existing in the metropolitan periphery through a commodification of rural character for urban leisure use — that is, their role as green/leisure space for urban residents takes precedence over their function as actual food production.

Zatalini Putri Permatasari, Ninuk Herlina · Jurnal Produksi Tanaman · Indonesia

Conducted from April to June 2016 in Pandanrejo Village, Bumiaji District, Batu City, Indonesia, this study aimed to determine the appropriate planting-media composition and plant number to increase the growth and yield of kailan (Brassica oleracea var. Alboglabra) in a vertikultur (vertical cultivation) system. Using a randomized complete block design, the results showed that planting-media composition and plant-number treatments significantly affected plant height, leaf number, leaf area, total fresh weight per plant, fresh root weight per meter, and total and root dry weight per plant and per meter, but did not significantly affect total fresh weight per meter, fresh consumable weight per plant and per meter, or fresh root weight per plant.

Global Generation · Global Generation · United Kingdom

Global Generation's Skip Garden was a portable urban garden that operated for 10 years, from 2009 to 2019, within a 67-acre King's Cross construction site, relocating within the site as land was sold and developed. Food was grown in skips by young people and local business volunteers, using largely self-sustaining organic practices including composting, rainwater harvesting and beekeeping, with produce served at the on-site Skip Garden Kitchen.

NYC Department of Buildings · NYC Department of Buildings · United States

Per an NYC Department of Buildings service notice, beginning November 15, 2019, new buildings and buildings undergoing a complete roof deck or assembly replacement must provide a sustainable roofing zone covering 100% of the roof. That zone must include a solar photovoltaic system generating at least 4kW, a green roof system, or a combination of both.

Paul de Graaf · Eetbaar Rotterdam · Netherlands

This Eetbaar Rotterdam retrospective (author Paul de Graaf, published 30 April 2019) on Rotterdam urban farming project Uit Je Eigen Stad (UJES) states that UJES was declared bankrupt on 13 November 2018, bringing a definitive end after 6 years to one of the most notable urban agriculture experiments in Rotterdam. It opened with a festive celebration in September 2012, but the idea's seed dates to 2006, when Bas de Groot's graduation plan at the Warmonderhof school (for a care garden) went unrealized and later grew within the urban-agriculture expertise group Eetbaar Rotterdam. The site was the Marconistrip, designated a 'freezone' by the municipality; financing came from housing corporation Havensteder (investing in buildings, expecting return via rent), high-interest loans from Stichting DOEN and Rabobank, small crowdfunded contributions, and municipal officials' time (under alderwoman Van Huffelen) securing permits. The plan was to build a farm and recoup investments over 10 years, but the article describes this as a difficult effort in which urban-farming ideals clashed with profit-driven activity.

Luc Menapace · Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France, blog) · France

Blog article from the BnF's Gallica platform recounting how Abbé Lemire founded the Ligue du Coin de Terre et du Foyer in 1896 to promote workers' gardens. The league was recognized as a public-interest body in 1909, renamed the Fédération nationale des jardins ouvriers in 1921, and renamed again to the Fédération nationale des jardins familiaux in 1992. Gardens were framed as remedies for insalubrity and alcoholism and as sources of food and leisure.

VIPARIS · VIPARIS · France

Official news article from venue operator VIPARIS describing Nature Urbaine, a 14,000 m² urban rooftop farm atop Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. It produces about 200 kg of fruit and vegetables per day, promotes short-circuit local distribution, and reuses urban resources such as unused space, organic waste, and waste heat. Open to visitors on Monday and Saturday mornings.

JTC Corporation · JTC Corporation · Singapore

Published by JTC on 27 Feb 2019, this article describes urban farming company Comcrop, whose founder Allan Lim started his first community farm in Bukit Panjang in 2011, later ran a rooftop farm at *SCAPE, and then built a 36,000-square-foot facility with six greenhouses at a JTC site in Woodlands. The Woodlands farm grows leafy vegetables such as pak choy, lettuce and mizuna at high output; CEO Peter Barber states the first greenhouse alone can produce 40 to 50kg a day. Barber envisions placing farms in every neighbourhood in Singapore to employ locals and supply supermarkets, while Lim stresses the need to build agricultural research capability in Singapore.

Jonathan Stoltz, Christina Schäffer · Frontiers in Psychology · Global

This paper explores the salutogenic potential of urban green spaces, proposing edible forest gardens as a concept for urban green space use and management. It argues that including edible forest gardens in urban green spaces (today globally dominated by lawns) could reinforce several affordances of salutogenic importance, such as social cohesion and restoration from psycho-physiological stress and attention fatigue. Increased opportunities for contact with nature and food production processes may also reinforce pro-environmental behaviors in the population.

Kimisato Oda, Christoph Rupprecht, Kazuaki Tsuchiya, Steven R. McGreevy · Sustainability · Japan (Kyoto)

A study in Kyoto City, Japan, examined agricultural land use from 2007–2017 to assess urban agriculture as a sustainability strategy for shrinking cities. Analysis revealed a 10% decline (209 ha) in agricultural land use over ten years, with main post-agricultural uses being residential (40%) and vacant land (28%). The findings indicate that Kyoto City is not currently positioned to benefit from population decline through localized food production.

Anna Trembecka, Anita Kwartnik-Pruc · Sustainability · Poland

This study analyzed data on the number and area of allotment gardens, their distribution across Poland, and the process of regulating the legal status of land occupied by allotment gardens. The research identified the number and area of family allotment gardens in Poland, along with the range and types of claims against them. The study found that land occupied by family allotment gardens requires protection and legal status regulation, which is difficult due to various entities submitting claims to these areas because of their attractive urban locations.

Suranga Wadduwage · Journal of Land Use Science · Australia (Adelaide)

A multi-criteria spatially-explicit study in the Adelaide metropolitan area, Australia, investigated agricultural land vulnerability to urban sprawl under opposing policy directions. The study showed higher agricultural land vulnerabilities in “Business-As-Usual” and “Accelerated Economic Development” scenarios, extending into rural areas with a leap-frog effect. This confirms the need to sacrifice farmland uses to maintain land supply for urban development under these conditions.

Neslihan Demircan · ATLAS JOURNAL · Global

This workshop evaluated the impact of urbanization and population growth on urban agriculture. Amid challenges to food security and hygienic maintenance due to decreasing urban agricultural lands, global urban allotment models and research on their benefits to local ecosystems and the negative aspects of climate shifts were revealed.

Naomi Robert, Kent Mullinix · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Canada

This study assessed Official Community Plans (OCPs) from 61 municipalities in British Columbia, Canada, to identify focal points and gaps in local government food system planning. It found that policies addressing food access and urban agriculture were most prevalent, but recognition of Indigenous foodways was scarce. Gaps were identified in post-production capacity, waste management, and environmental stewardship, suggesting a need for coordinated policy efforts beyond urban agriculture.

Andreia Gerbaudo Gimenez, Cleidivaldo Siqueira Pereira, Gislania Nobres da Silva, Heloísa Alves Pereira, Hérica Ribeiro Fabro · · Brazil

This work proposal focuses on school gardens as a means to develop environmental education and food themes, connecting theoretical and practical concepts to aid interdisciplinary teaching and learning. It aims to foster students who value agricultural principles, noting advances in students' methodological conception of Field Education despite regional challenges from the agro-industrial sector.

Khadija Benis, Rukaia Gashgari, Adnan Alsaati, Christoph Reinhart · DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) · Saudi Arabia (Riyadh)

The Urban Foodprints (UF) methodology was applied to assess the environmental sustainability of high-yield urban agriculture in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, focusing on tomatoes. While urban production in high-yield greenhouses could reduce Global Warming Potential by 9% and water savings were significant, the energy needs of these greenhouses were considerably higher than the baseline. This indicates a trade-off where environmental benefits are partially offset by increased energy consumption.

Inmaculada Marques-Pérez, Baldomero Segura García del Río · Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems · Spain (Valencia)

This study focuses on "Huerta de Valencia," a peri-urban agricultural system around Valencia, Spain, analyzing the debate between urban growth strategies and farmland preservation. It uses multifunctionality approaches and multi-criteria analysis techniques to examine territorial planning processes by stakeholders. Differences in perceptions among stakeholder groups result in varying future visions for this agricultural system, impacting the design of rural development and agro-environmental measures.

Renata Blumberg, Rosa Huitzitzilin, Claudia Urdanivia, Brian C. Lorio · Capitalism Nature Socialism · United States (New Jersey)

This article examines the challenges and possibilities of community gardening in small, peripheral cities with large immigrant populations, using concepts from feminist geography and food justice research. Focusing on the "Raíces Del Sur" community garden in Passaic, New Jersey, as a case study, it argues that these concepts provide a useful framework for enacting ecofeminist visions through community gardens. The study emphasizes the need for greater ecofeminist engagement with community gardening initiatives in cities throughout New Jersey.

Valentina Gulin Zrnić, Tihana Rubić · Narodna umjetnost : hrvatski časopis za etnologiju i folkloristiku · Croatia (Zagreb)

This paper examines four urban gardening communities in Zagreb, Croatia, focusing on their actors, structures, and garden aims. It discusses the practice of illegal "wild" gardens and the changing contexts of urban gardening, using ethnographic examples to illustrate diverse organizational methods, communality, and governance issues. The analysis highlights the heterogeneity and dynamics of these gardening communities and considers their potential in urban governance strategies.

Abubakar U. Benna · Advances in e-business research series · Global

This chapter reviews literature and case studies on collaborative consumption in agriculture to support small- and medium-scale farmers in developing countries. It notes limited research on collaborative consumption as a catalyst for agricultural development. The study provides observations to assist with strategies for increasing producer and customer satisfaction, value addition, and engagement.

Gabrielle Roesch‐McNally, Jacqueline Ann Nester, Andrea Basche, Eric Christianson, Emily Zimmerman · Lincoln (University of Nebraska) · United States (Iowa)

Story County, Iowa, despite being in a highly agriculturally productive state, faces significant food insecurity. In 2014, 15.2% of its residents (nearly 14,000 individuals) were food insecure, with 45% of them not qualifying for government assistance. The county dedicates only 2.4 acres of cropland per thousand residents to fruit, vegetable, and nut production, significantly lower than the US average of 32 acres, highlighting a paradox of hunger amidst agricultural abundance.