Research & reports

Nur Hanie Mohd Latif, Mohd. Arami Md. Jais, Izawati Tukiman, Rashidi Othman · · Malaysia

This research explored the potential of fern species as natural indicators to forecast microclimate changes in urban areas in Malaysia. Observations of latitudinal changes were conducted at Gunung Jerai and Lata Jarum, while urban heat island studies were performed at Hospital Serdang's rooftop garden and One Utama Shopping Complex's Secret Garden. The observations indicated that climate is a main factor affecting fern species occurrences, and microclimate has a strong relationship with fern species distribution.

Delene Weber, Greg Brown · · Australia (Adelaide)

A study in selected parks in the Adelaide metropolitan area revealed strong support for strategies such as improving public transport, increasing the use of water-sensitive grass, adding urban forests, and establishing community gardens. Conversely, low levels of support were associated with strategies like allowing natural water features to dry up, increasing paved areas, and seasonal closure of some parks. This project is the first step in a larger initiative to optimize the use of Adelaide's parks.

Victoria Derr · Children Youth and Environments · Global

This book review examines Sandra Steingraber's "Raising Elijah," which addresses parental concerns about environmental crises and children's protection. The book details environmental hazards and advocates for engagement in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms. It criticizes the inadequacy of policies that force parents to act as "their own regulatory agencies" and suggests that collaborative, multi-agency approaches are necessary for effective environmental protection, beyond individual actions like buying local and organic.

H. de Zeeuw, R. van Veenhuizen, Marielle Dubbeling · · Global

A Foresight Project on Global Food and Farming Futures paper reviews available evidence on the potential of urban agriculture to address urban challenges in developing countries and surveys how local and national authorities view urban agriculture, closing with the authors' perspective on its role in sustainable city development.

Jenny Gustavsson, Christel Cederberg, Ulf Sonesson, Robert van Otterdijk, Alexandre Meybeck, FAO · Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) · Global

This FAO study, conducted for the SAVE FOOD! congress at Interpack 2011 in Düsseldorf, estimates that roughly 1.3 billion tons of edible food produced globally is lost or wasted each year. It finds large regional disparities in per capita consumer-level food waste: 95-115 kg/year in Europe and North America versus only 6-11 kg/year in sub-Saharan Africa and South/Southeast Asia. Combined per capita food losses and waste across the supply chain are reported at 280-300 kg/year in Europe and North America versus 120-170 kg/year in sub-Saharan Africa and South/Southeast Asia.

Leonie Pearson, Linda Pearson, Craig J. Pearson · International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability · Global

This paper reviews research on urban agriculture, focusing on its social, economic, and environmental sustainability dimensions. It proposes three elements and three scales for urban agriculture, highlighting legal, social, and economic constraints and opportunities. The analysis suggests future research priorities include identifying principles for resilient cities and trialling innovative institutional mechanisms.

David Mason, Ian Knowd · International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability · Australia (Sydney)

This paper explores the history of urban agriculture (UA) in the Sydney region, which emerged as a grassroots response to global forces negatively impacting urban and farming communities. These forces include urban sprawl, supermarket dominance, the fast food industry, and globalization. Community-based promotion of local agriculture is leading governments and organizations to recognize UA as a strategic mechanism for urban communities to address food security and other challenges.

Nikita S. Eriksen‐Hamel, George Danso · International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability · Global

Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UA) significantly contributes to the total food requirements of cities, especially in southern cities of the developing world. This review describes agronomic issues unique to UA and identifies possible interventions to address them. Growth-limiting and growth-reducing factors in UA include water availability, nutrient supply, soil degradation, pests, and soil pollution. Addressing these constraints requires action at both field and municipal or regional levels.

Daisuke Tachibana, Hitoshi Watanabe, Kei Yakushiji, Kenji Nakamura, Takaharu YOSHIOKA · AIJ Journal of Technology and Design · Global

This study conducted a four-year growth experiment with eighty ornamental plants, including perennials, bulbous plants, and shrubs, in an experimental rooftop garden using a rainwater storage planting base. It was found that various plant types could grow in a thin 10cm substrate depth, their bloom times and flowering periods were confirmed, and the rainwater storage system allowed for reduced irrigation frequency even in thin-layer planting.

Keith G. Tidball · Anthropology News · Global

This record is a commentary on green space and disaster resistance, recovery, and resilience. It lists keywords including community gardening, community gardens, development, ecology and environment, botany and plants, and urban anthropology.

Marina Moraes Diniz de Oliveira Queiroz · · Sweden

This work studies urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) and alternative food production strategies, aiming to connect current food systems, urban structures, and climate change. It discusses urban planning, transport, waste management, and localized food production, proposing solutions for a Swedish context. The work argues for utilizing arable land in and near cities and integrating local food production with sustainable transport to prepare for reduced fossil energy and global warming.

Radojica Sarić, Vladana Hamović, Svetlana Roljević Nikolić, Radojica Sarić, Vladana Hamović, Svetlana Roljevic · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Serbia

This paper analyzes urban agriculture in Serbia, focusing on its role in configuring urban open spaces and its effects on sustainable development and environmental protection. The study aims to understand the economic, social, and ecological impacts of urban agricultural production on improving city life quality, especially given Serbia's dynamic urbanization and agricultural land transformation post-World War II.

Emmanuel Berthier, Bernard de Gouvello, Florian Archambault, Didier Gallis · · Global

This preliminary study aimed to better understand the water balance of vegetated or green roofs (TTV) and to develop a conceptual reservoir storage model. Two databases were used: CSTB's one-year data (limited to rain and runoff) and LROP's nine-day detailed data (including evapotranspiration and water storage). Detailed monitoring was shown to deepen the understanding of water balance, and the developed reservoir storage model appeared suitable for reproducing the TTV water balance.

AP Chanan, Jaya Kandasamy, S. Vigneswaran, G Spyrakis, I Ghetti, Elisa Idris · UTS ePRESS (University of Technology Sydney) · Australia (Sydney)

This paper outlines a project by Kogarah Council in Sydney, Australia, which assisted all 22 schools in the Kogarah LGA to install rainwater tanks. The initiative aimed to increase water use efficiency and reduce potable water consumption for toilet flushing and school garden irrigation. The project successfully reduced drinking water usage and served as a visual reminder for students to conserve water.

Nerea Morán Alonso · · Global

This article reviews the historical background of urban agriculture, highlighting it as an example of action in crisis situations and the social potential of food production in urban contexts. In Southern countries, urban agriculture has gained importance as a development strategy, including programs led by international organizations. Urban gardens, by integrating nature into the city, contribute to urban metabolic efficiency and enhance biological diversity.

Eva Collins, Kate Kearins · Academy of Management Learning and Education · New Zealand (Auckland)

A sustainability instructor took a graduate class to an eco-village near Auckland, New Zealand, where students observed off-grid homes and community gardens. While New Zealand students were inspired by the alternative lifestyle, two international students from China and Tajikistan expressed that this lifestyle was how they lived at home and they did not wish to live that way, preferring the New Zealand lifestyle. This indicates a limited appeal of the eco-village model to some international students.

윤혜경, 이연숙, 이홍성 · 한국생태환경건축학회 학술발표대회 논문집 · Global

This study investigates the utility of "Health Community Farming Gardens" within apartment buildings in Korea, aiming to present a realistic and effective apartment floor plan that enhances residents' health. Through a literature review of green infrastructure and urban farming, the research confirms that green infrastructure and urban farming revitalize apartment culture, effectively address ecosystem deterioration, and foster a green cultural spread within resident communities. The study emphasizes the innovation of integrating farming gardens into apartment buildings to maintain residents' holistic health.

Geisy Hernández, J. Pérez Pérez, Roberto Martínez, Teresa López · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Cuba

This study investigated irrigation water management for guava cultivation under urban agriculture conditions at UBPC Celia Sánchez in Habana del Este, Cuba. Using a drip irrigation system with fixed doses and intervals, results showed that initial irrigation doses need adjustment based on crop demands. During the development period, the used doses and irrigation frequencies were acceptable, with an average 90% irrigation efficiency. Maintaining high soil moisture significantly impacted guava yield and size, producing more large fruits and yields up to 36.7 t/ha.

Zhifeng Chen, Guohua Lin, Liu Rongzhang, Lin Shu-wen · Nongye xiandaihua yanjiu · Global

This paper analyzes the significance of low-carbon patterns in urban agriculture development from economic, aesthetic, ecological, and philosophical perspectives, examining low-carbon patterns characterized by high-value industry structures, high resource efficiency, ecological safety, and mechanism innovation. Based on a city's natural resources, agricultural resources, and low-carbon technology, it summarizes low-carbon patterns of urban agriculture spanning multiple regions, scenic areas, and types, and proposes that local governments should actively create conditions to support and develop low-carbon industrial patterns of urban agriculture.

袁新华 · 环境 · Global

Amidst the trend of sustainable development, various environmentally friendly lifestyle attempts have spontaneously emerged worldwide. Examples include neighbors sharing laundry rooms and gardens to reduce resource consumption, exchanging old refrigerators for food or pianos via radio programs, and transforming abandoned land into community gardens. People who enjoy these sharing and collaborative behaviors are called "Pīn Kè".

Yu Chen, Wong Nyuk Hien · Advances in Building Energy Research · Global

This chapter reviews three major types of urban greenery: public green areas, rooftop gardens, and vertical landscaping, from systematic and thermal benefit perspectives. It synthesizes worldwide research on these types of urban greenery and provides general guidelines for strategic landscaping in cities.

Isabelle Anguelovski · Urban Agriculture Magazine · Ecuador (Quito)

Marginalized urban communities in Quito, Ecuador, residing in informal settlements or on fragile hillsides, are highly vulnerable to climate change impacts like floods, landslides, droughts, and food scarcity. Many of these communities rely on urban agriculture for sustainable livelihoods and food security.

Xing Dong · China Environmental Protection Industry · Global

This paper introduces basic knowledge of rooftop gardens and discusses their various environmental benefits.

Antonio Ortega Santos · Historia Contemporánea · Cuba (La Habana)

This article reviews contributions from urban environmental history and examines the potential of productive strategies to transform cities into more sustainable systems. The latter part of the article presents the results of Urban Agriculture in Havana, Cuba. Havana's urban agriculture secured urban food supply levels and the sovereignty of urban agricultural producers, transforming the city into a more socio-environmentally sustainable model as an urgent measure against supply problems for the Cuban economy.

Qicheng Lu · Ecological Economy · Global

This paper studies the functions of urban agriculture on the evolution of eco-city as a self-organizational system, based on reviews of conceptions and meaning. It analyzes the synergy effects between developing urban agriculture and constructing eco-city from sharing effective, implementing effective, and synchronizing effective perspectives. The study concludes that a typical synergy relationship exists between developing urban agriculture and constructing eco-city.