Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
967 results(39 / 39)
Quantitative evaluation of greenroof systems for sustainable development
2003Grace K. Luk · WIT transactions on ecology and the environment · Canada (Greater Toronto Area)
This paper describes the design and data collection for an on-site evaluation to quantify the benefits of greenroof systems, focusing on six greenroof systems in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada. The study's objective is to specifically quantify the multiple benefits greenroofs provide, such as improved stormwater management, air quality, increased energy efficiency, extended roof life cycle, and mitigation of the Urban Heat Island Effect. A long-term, real-time monitoring program is intended to help define the ecological and hydraulic benefits of these greenroofs.
Climate changePolicyBiodiversityContemporary streamkeepers : a comparison of two urban horticultural restoration programs
2003Charles Rowley · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · United States (California)
This paper compared the successes and failures of two urban creek restoration programs in California: Temescal Creek (initiated nearly 30 years ago) and White Oak Creek (completed about four years ago). Based on the author's success criteria, the more recent White Oak Creek program achieved significant success, while the earlier Temescal Creek restoration did not reach generally acceptable success levels. This difference is attributed to changes in management and scientific practice over 30 years, including substantial changes in the legal basis for restoration, improved monitoring requirements, and the critical role of properly engineered low flow distribution structures.
Limited or null effectCommunityBiodiversityPolicyInventaire des espèces végétales mises en culture dans les parcelles en milieu urbain. Cas de la commune de Limete-Kinshasa- R.D. Congo
2002E. Makumbelo, L. Lukoki, Sj. Paulus, J., N. Luyindula · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa)
A survey conducted in 201 plots within the Limete commune of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, inventoried nineteen cultivated vegetable species and 764 plants from 18 fruit-tree species. Mangifera indica was identified as the most planted tree species, while Ipomoae batatas was the most frequently cultivated vegetable species.
BiodiversityCommunityClimate changeOrganic cycleEstudio de la biodiversidad en huertos agrícolas urbanos de dos municipios de ciudad de La Habana. Caracterización de las accesiones del género Vigna
2001Rodomiro Ortíz, Celia Vera · Cultivos Tropicales · Cuba (Ciudad de La Habana)
This study investigated the agricultural biodiversity in urban gardens across eight localities in the municipalities of Boyeros and Arroyo Naranjo.
BiodiversityUrban–rural linkageWie beeinflusst die persönliche Betroffenheit die Einstellung gegenüber Füchsen in der Stadt
2001Fabio Bontadina, Pascale Contesse, Sandra Gloor · DORA WSL (Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research) · Switzerland (Zurich)
This study analyzed attitudes towards urban foxes in Switzerland using a nationwide survey and questionnaires for households and allotment gardeners in Zurich. While 60% of Swiss respondents were against urban foxes, only 40% in Zurich were; however, 70% of gardeners opposed them, with 55% reporting damage caused by foxes, which negatively correlated with fox acceptance.
Environmental trade-offsCommunityBiodiversityThe greening of the "barrios": Urban agriculture for food security in Cuba
1999Altieri M.A., Companioni N., Cañizares K., Murphy C., Rosset P., Bourque M., Nicholls C.I. · Agriculture and Human Values · Cuba (Havana)
This study analyzes Cuba's grassroots urban agriculture movement that emerged after the 1989 Soviet collapse, showing how ~8,000 gardens nationwide operated on agroecological principles without synthetic inputs, providing Havana with thousands of tonnes of produce by 1996.
CommunityPolicyBiodiversityOrganic cycleCommunity gardens and sustainable land use planning: A case‐study of the Alex Wilson community garden
1999Seana Irvine, Lorraine Johnson, Kim Peters · Local Environment · Canada
This case study provides an analytical account of the Alex Wilson Community Garden in Toronto, Canada, examining the connections between ecological restoration and community gardening. The garden, opened in June 1998, reflects Alex Wilson's work by linking these two enterprises to nurture relationships between people, communities, and the landscape. Its design reconstructs the natural and cultural history of southern Ontario with native plant species, aiming for a positive impact on local biodiversity. The participatory planning process involved various stakeholders and utilized planning tools like conservation easements.
CommunityPolicyBiodiversityUrban–rural linkageEstimating genetic erosion in landraces — two case studies
1996Hammer K., Knüpffer H., Xhuveli L., Perrino P. · Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 43:329-336 · Mediterranean
A classic study comparing collecting missions decades apart in Albania and South Italy, quantifying genetic erosion of landraces at 72.4% and 72.8% respectively.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityIn Situ Conservation of Landraces in Centers of Crop Diversity
1995Brush S. B. · Crop Science 35(2):346-354 · Global
A foundational paper presenting three cases of ongoing farmer maintenance of landraces—potatoes in the Peruvian Andes, maize in southern Mexico and wheat in western Turkey—and the rationale for in situ conservation.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityPolicyWhose Landscape? Technology, Fascism, and Environmentalism on the National Socialist Autobahn
1995Rollins W. H. · Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 85, No. 3, pp. 494–520 · Germany
Analyzes how Seifert and his team applied aesthetic and ecological principles, grounded in climax-vegetation theory, to the Autobahn, probing the entangled relationship of technology, fascism, and environmentalism under National Socialism.
PolicyBiodiversityUrban horticulture: a part of the biodiversity picture
1994H. B. Tukey · Cambridge University Press eBooks · Global
This paper defines urban horticulture as the functional use of plants to improve urban environments. It states that urban horticulture contributes to screening views, food production, reducing noise and air pollution, ameliorating urban climates, and improving human well-being. The abstract notes that information on city plants often comes from observations and anecdotes, and that strategies from commercial agriculture do not always apply well to urban horticulture.
BiodiversityHealthClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceRecognizing Ethiopia's urban farmers.
1993Lee M · PubMed · Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, urban agriculture faces significant challenges due to government disapproval of public land use for farming and difficulty in obtaining credit. A 1983 survey in Addis Ababa found that 17% of 1352 households produced their own food on less than 25 sq. meters, with 90% of non-farmers citing lack of land. Despite urban agricultural cooperatives demonstrating 70% higher member income, their lack of government legalization prevents access to loans for productivity improvement.
Governance failureCommunityEconomicsPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceHealthWelfareClimate changeUrban–rural linkagePeri-urban agricultureFood educationBiodiversityCompostDIYElderlyFood lossHeirloom & landraceOrganic cyclePollinatorsFood miles & supply chainCSA & TeikeiDigital agricultureThe ideology of the nature garden. Nationalistic trends in garden design in Germany during the early twentieth century
1992Wolschke-Bulmahn J., Gröning G. · Journal of Garden History, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 73–80 · Germany
Critically analyzes how the 'nature garden' ideology that emerged in early-twentieth-century Germany, while claiming scholarly basis, carried nationalist and native-plant preferences that fed into later Blood and Soil thinking.
PolicyBiodiversitySome Notes on the Mania for Native Plants in Germany
1992Gröning G., Wolschke-Bulmahn J. · Landscape Journal, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 116–126 · Germany
Examines how German landscape architects' obsession with native plants produced 'landscape rules' that, under National Socialism, became tied to the planning of occupied territories and acquired xenophobic, ideological character.
PolicyBiodiversity新しい都市環境形成のための農地の緑地的価値と都市農業の役割に関する研究
1988功 梶井, 和彦 武内, 洋一 松木 · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan
This abstract describes the UTokyo Repository, an online platform aimed at centrally accumulating, preserving, and disseminating various academic achievements produced at the University of Tokyo in electronic form to the world. Its main purpose is to develop digital collections, make them available online, and preserve them for long-term access.
Urban–rural linkageBiodiversityPolicyUrban Horticulture: Horticulture for Populated Areas1
1983H. B. Tukey · HortScience · Global
Urban horticulture is defined as a scientific field focused on the functional uses of plants to maintain and improve urban environments. These functional uses extend beyond aesthetics to include screening against wind and views, influencing climate, reducing noise, combating air pollution, providing food, and enhancing human well-being in densely populated areas. The audience for urban horticulture includes landscape professionals, plant societies, and amateur horticulturists.
CommunityHealthClimate changeBiodiversityA study of common crop pests in allotment gardens around Leeds
1979Howard J. Atkinson, Naomi Gibson, Harry C. Evans · Plant Pathology · United Kingdom (Leeds)
A survey of 140 growers across 12 allotment sites around Leeds, UK, identified a wide range of crop pests, with brassicas, potatoes, and carrots being more frequently damaged. Soil samples from 33 plots at 10 established sites and 6 plots at 2 new sites revealed potentially damaging levels of pale potato cyst nematode in 21 and 1 plots, respectively. Widespread overwintering populations of carrot fly larvae and pupae were also found in soil samples from eight sites.
Contamination & food safetyCommunityBiodiversityHealth