Research & reports

Hee-Jeong Yun, Mi-Kyoung Cho · Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning · South Korea

This study critically considers the new paradigm of urban parks, noting that despite progress, urban parks face increased criticism. Criticisms include long development periods for tree growth, limitations in general and cultural ecology, and a lack of economic validity. The study proposes urban agricultural parks as an alternative, connecting them to sustainable regional development and low-carbon society.

Stefan Reyburn · · Global

This special issue compiles eight texts on urban agriculture initiatives, highlighting their diverse forms and contexts. It notes that urban agriculture research intersects multiple disciplines and that social science research on this topic is still in its early, exploratory, and descriptive stages.

Kevin Wonch · Hope College Digital Commons (Hope College) · United States (Detroit)

This study examines urban farming in Detroit, a city experiencing rapid decline with a population under a million, limited access to fresh food stores, and extensive vacant land. While arguing for modern urban farming as a foundation for sustainable practices and positive development, it notes that some political and business analysts question its ability to make a significant impact on the city’s future.

Martijn Koster, Pieter A. de Vries · Focaal · Brazil (Recife)

This article examined slum dwellers' politics in Recife, Brazil, as a realm of possibility where care and recognition are central. A community leader's urban agriculture project, which from an outsider's perspective might be considered non-viable, provided slum dwellers with possibilities to strive for community solidarity and personal recognition. The article concludes that slum politics is about claiming the right to be counted and recognized, and about the care for the other.

杨卓翔 YANG Zhuoxiang, 高阳 GAO Yang, Zhao Zhi, 李双成 LI Shuangcheng · Acta Ecologica Sinica · China (Shenzhen)

An emergy analysis compared the emergy input structure, production efficiency, environmental load, and sustainability of three farms (Biling Modern Agricultural Technology Park, Xili Orchard, and Shanhai Farm) in Shenzhen, China. Xili Orchard showed a high reliance on renewable resources, the lowest environmental load ratio, and the highest emergy indices for sustainable development. Shanhai Farm had a low reliance on renewable resources, the highest environmental load ratio, and was assessed as having the lowest sustainable development capacity.

· · United States

The Birch Tree Project is a rehabilitation initiative for a 56-unit apartment complex designed to house low-to moderate-income families and offer supportive services. These services include a Head Start facility, Life Skills classes, Case Management, Asset Building and Credit Repair, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, a Community Garden, and a Summer Feeding site. Given Farmington City's growth in minimum-wage service industry jobs, which leads many families to spend a disproportionate amount of income on housing, this project aims to create safe, affordable housing opportunities for marginalized families.

Jillian Thompson, Christopher C. Obropta · · United States (Newark)

In 2009, the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program, funded by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, implemented stormwater management education and best management practices (BMPs) in Newark, New Jersey. The initiative aimed to reduce combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharges. Through this effort, a formerly vacant lot was transformed into a community garden featuring a 1,550-gallon cistern and a rain garden, with educational training provided to ex-offenders and sixth-grade students.

Allison Oulton · · United States

This study tested social capital as a measurable indicator for community garden planning in Akron, Ohio, by identifying vacant parcels in areas with fewer civic engagement hubs. Using an adapted methodology that introduced spatial components to social capital at the neighborhood scale, it identified sites with a greater need for social capital. A limitation was that the principal hubs of civic engagement identified were churches, suggesting further fieldwork is needed to identify site-specific social hubs.

Marcela Galindo Molina, Liliana Patricia Gutiérrez Castro, Luviany Andrea Trujillo Nieto, Marcela Galindo Molina, Liliana Patricia Gutiérrez Castro, Luviany Andrea Trujillo Nieto, Marcela Galindo Molina, Liliana Patricia Gutiérrez Castro, Luviany Andrea Trujillo Nieto · Ciencia Unisalle (Universidad de La Salle) · Colombia (Bogotá)

This study analyzed the case of Cooperativa Multiactiva Sur Oriental, a solidarity association centered on urban agriculture in Bogotá, Colombia. Despite being strengthened with agricultural expertise, this association lacks an administrative scheme for proper resource management to generate surpluses and social development benefits for its members. Through participatory action research, the study aims to strengthen the cooperative's administrative and accounting processes to improve its urban agriculture business.

Sjsu ScholarWorks, Gabriel R. Valle · · United States

This paper explores the self-valorization of work in community gardens as a path to environmental justice, arguing that community gardens disrupt capital's system by removing food as a commodity and revaluing time outside market-driven speed. The Chicano community, being susceptible to workplace inequalities, has a particular stake in this self-valorization, as these inequalities are reflected in unhealthy communities, economies, and environments. The study suggests that self-valorization through work creates natural wealth, reconstructing time, oppression, and communities.

Raúl Puente-Asuero · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Global

This chapter provides a critical and propositional analysis of the integration of agricultural production into contemporary urban metabolism. It positions urban agriculture as a strategic green infrastructure capable of mitigating the dysfunctions of the diffuse city model. The text analyzes how urban agriculture acts as a mechanism for urban resilience, allowing the city to recover lost ecosystem functions, improve social cohesion, and reduce its ecological footprint through food sovereignty and on-site organic waste management.

Joël Thibert · Journal of Planning Education and Research · North America

A literature review and an analysis of urban agriculture (UA) in Detroit, Toronto, and Montreal, based on interviews with practitioners, were conducted in North America. The study suggests that UA practices vary significantly and face cultural, legal, and technical challenges. These findings support the view that UA belongs within planning and that municipalities have an important role in facilitating its development.

Nancy Cotugna, Carolyn K. Manning, James DiDomenico · Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition · United States

This study investigated the impact of offering produce grown in an elementary school garden at school lunch on children's vegetable consumption, using a quasi-experimental design and cafeteria observations. The results showed that providing garden produce at school lunch had a small positive impact on children's food choices.

Dehui Wu · Journal of Xinyang Agricultural College · Global

This article presents advanced experiences in urban agricultural development from both domestic and international contexts. It also discusses the developing trends in urban agriculture.

Akira Yuzawa · Journal of Architecture and Planning (Transactions of AIJ) · Japan

This study examined user characteristics and effects of allotment gardens, focusing on "the community farm YUI" in Japan. It found that the main applicants were men aged 50 or older, and key factors in choosing an allotment garden were use charge, distance from home, and agricultural guidance. The identified effects of allotment gardens included providing a purpose for living, fostering agricultural understanding, and promoting exchange among participants.

Annie L Stoller-Patterson · Scholarship @ Claremont (The Claremont Colleges) · United States

This paper explores how education for environmental literacy can be integrated into America's public school system. It investigates the benefits of environmental education and how green school buildings, sustainable cafeterias, school gardens, and environmental education curriculum can be used to teach for environmental literacy at all grade levels. A sample lesson plan is included.

刘喜高, 李一 · 农村工作通讯 · China (Qingdao)

Huangdao District in Qingdao City, Shandong Province, China, has accelerated agricultural transformation and structural adjustment in recent years, following principles of "planning first, government guidance, enterprise as主体, and social participation." Leveraging its resource advantages of mountains, sea, water, forests, and land, Huangdao District is vigorously developing tourism-oriented and eco-tourism modern urban agricultural parks, promoting the upgrade of the agricultural structure. This has driven increased agricultural production and efficiency, and sustained income growth for farmers.

Luciano Deiques Minozzo · · Brazil

This study characterized urban and peri-urban agriculture practiced by nine producers belonging to the Associação Pedritense dos Produtores de Hortifrutigranjeiros (APPH) in Dom Pedrito/RS, Brazil, between September 2011 and March 2012. Findings showed that 67% of producers practiced peri-urban agriculture (10-26 km from the city), while three practiced urban agriculture. Producers had low schooling (78% incomplete elementary education) and 55% earned 2.5 to 4 minimum wages. Family labor accounted for 88% of the workforce, and personal satisfaction was the main motivation. Water availability and quality were identified as limiting factors for production.

Takanori Kuronuma, Saori Hashimoto, Ryuta CHIMURA, Haruaki YOKOKAWA, Kazunori Sakamoto, Hitoshi Watanabe · Journal of the Japanese Society of Revegetation Technology · Japan

This study investigated the annual changes in lightweight soil in a thin substratum rooftop garden planted with Zoysia grass. No annual changes were observed in grass growth or soil physical properties. Soil organic matter tended to increase after construction, and nutrient salt content was comparable to golf course green soil diagnostic standards. However, nutrient salt levels in unused lightweight soil were significantly higher than after construction and decreased annually. No difference in nutrient salt content was confirmed with or without additional fertilization, suggesting the need for fertilization management tailored to the unique rooftop environment.

Cécilia Claeys, Jean-Noël Consalès, Carole Barthélémy · · France (Marseille)

This paper re-examines the question of nature in the city through emerging environmental paradigms, using Marseille, a French Mediterranean city, as a case study. An interdisciplinary analysis combining sociology and geography revealed that new modes of urban and suburban nature management (e.g., National Park, greenways, community gardens) question spatial boundaries between wild and artificial. However, the uses of these spaces are still marked by persistent social segmentations.

Josh Beniston · The Knowledge Bank (The Ohio State University) · United States (Ohio)

An experiment on assessing and managing soil quality for urban agriculture was conducted during the 2011 and 2012 growing seasons on demolished vacant urban lots in Youngstown, Ohio. Soil compaction was identified as a primary constraint, with high bulk density values of 1.79 g cm⁻³ for in-ground plots and 1.55 g cm⁻³ for raised beds. Crop yield data from 2011 showed that both compost-amended and compost + biochar-amended plots had significantly greater crop yields than control plots, with compost + biochar plots achieving the highest harvest index values.

Guo Hua, Guozhu Ren · JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING STUDIES · Global

This paper attempts to define the role of urban agriculture in building resilient cities. It also analyzes how urban agriculture can make cities more resilient to potential crises in emergencies or sudden events, as well as under normal circumstances, such as climate change and oil peak.

Adriana Franklin de Souza da Silva, M. M. da Silva, L. M. de Santana, A. N. Moreira, J. R. B. Pereira, S. A. S. Amorim, C. R. R. S. França, A. P. G. Santos, Rooselvelt Izel Pereira de Melo · infoteca-e (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) · Brazil

This study describes multiple participatory research and technological learning fields concerning alternative control of banana weevils and the management of agroecological gardens in communities of the Brazilian Northeast Semi-arid region. These include projects on the Maria Tereza Project, Senator Nilo Coelho Irrigation Project, community agroecological gardens in Nova Descoberta, Petrolina, PE, chemical characteristics of biofertilizer, adaptation of lettuce varieties, and cultivation of different species using well water.

Katrin Bohn, André Viljoen · · Global

This paper focuses on urban agriculture as a major component of CPUL (Continuous Productive Urban Landscape). The CPUL City concept aims to make urban spaces more productive and desirable for citizens by planfully introducing continuous productive urban landscapes, including urban agriculture, into cities. The CPUL City concept proposes that urban agriculture can contribute to more sustainable and resilient food systems while also adding beneficially to the spatial quality of the urban realm.

Dan Stafford · · United States

This record describes the 2013 Kutztown University School Garden Workshop, an event designed as a learning opportunity for educators and parents. The workshop featured speakers and demonstrations focused on fostering sustainable community partnerships through school gardens.