Research & reports

Amy Russell, Ziqi Li, Mingshu Wang · International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation · United Kingdom (Glasgow)

This study investigated the distribution of urban agriculture in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, finding that existing projects are mostly centrally located, covering 36% of the total population (approximately 635,000) within a 10-minute walk. A positive correlation was found between walking travel time to the nearest urban agriculture project and food desert status, indicating access disparity. Using the Maximal Covering Location Problem model, the research identified that a minimum of 15 new urban agriculture projects on vacant and derelict land could increase population coverage to 49% and equalize access disparity to a statistically non-significant level.

Davide Marino, Francesca Curcio, Francesca Benedetta Felici, Giampiero Mazzocchi · Land · Italy (Rome)

This paper proposes agroecological assessment as a tool for formulating evidence-based local food policies, adapting the Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE) model on a sample of 20 farms in the city-region food system of Rome, Italy. Data analysis showed that agroecological principles are not fully adopted by the majority of farms considered in Rome. Additionally, farms with the highest agroecological level are mainly driven by social factors and have a lower propensity for innovation, which could hinder the transformation process of food systems.

Elsa Blareau, Pauline Sy, Karim Daoud, Fabrice Réquier · Insects · France

A study near Paris, France, evaluated the effects of insect-mediated pollination service and potential pollination deficit on fruit set, seed set, and fruit quality (size, weight, malformation) in strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa) growing in an urban area, using flower-visitor observations and pollination experiments. Flower-visitor observations found that the pollinator community consisted solely of unmanaged (wild) pollinators, despite beehives being present in the surrounding landscape. Pollination experiments showed that wild-insect pollination improved fruit size as a qualitative measure of production but did not improve fruit set, and no evidence of pollination deficit was found in this urban environment.

Mahir Yazar, Ece Baykal Fide, İrem Daloğlu Çetinkaya · Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning · Turkey

A 2023 study of climate policies in nine cities in Turkey examined how vulnerable groups and individuals are identified and how land-use policy is developed to address the identified vulnerabilities and climate justice concerns, using policy content analysis and expert interviews. The analysis found critical relationships between identified vulnerable groups, responsive land-use policy and climate justice. While social-aid municipalism-related vulnerabilities dominated districts' climate policies, nature-based solutions (NBS) — especially green infrastructure and urban agriculture — emerged as the dominant climate adaptation approach. However, the way urban vulnerabilities are prioritized in the climate and sustainability plans places less emphasis on intersectionality and infrastructure-related vulnerabilities, and tokenism of justice occurs in the policy documents: the plans do not incorporate vulnerable communities into land-use planning. The study concludes that the complexity of responsive land-use policy requires greater awareness of how to practically support vulnerable communities.

Noémi Gonda, Péter József Bori · Geoforum · Europe

A study using the case of Hungary examined how agricultural initiatives such as Community Supported Agriculture, permaculture, and small-scale and regenerative farming relate to sustainable rural politics under an authoritarian regime. Based on qualitative interviews conducted in Hungary, it identifies three rural pillars sustaining the Hungarian authoritarian regime — unequal land relations, agricultural subsidies, and agricultural commodity sales — and proposes emancipatory alliances, counter-knowledge claims, and emancipatory subjectivities as potential rural pillars of sustainable democracy in response.

J. Meyer, Markus Hassler · Sustainability · Germany

A qualitative study applied the "leverage points" concept, which holds that rethinking how knowledge is produced and used within systems is a key lever for transformation toward sustainability, to community-supported agriculture (CSA), an application not previously made. Semi-structured interviews were conducted at 22 CSA farms in Germany to gather detailed insight into the production and flow of knowledge among stakeholders and to analyze the degree to which these CSAs hold potential to leverage transformational change toward sustainability. The data indicate that CSAs bear substantial potential to leverage sustainability transformation with regard to rethinking agriculture, with a highly cooperative, participatory and transparent structure identified as the characteristic that allows the creation and exchange of information to flourish.

Н.А. БУЛХОВ, С.Л. МОИСЕЕНКО, Н.П. Малышева · Экономика и предпринимательство · Europe

This article examines raising the level of food security in a Russian region through the development of urban agriculture, using the Bryansk region as its example. It considers the mechanism for ensuring food security and identifies its key elements at the present stage, reviews approaches to assessing food security levels, and substantiates possible and significant criteria for such assessment. Using the methodology of D. G. Olovyannikov, it calculated the influence of a proposed measure on the food security level of the Bryansk region, though the abstract does not report the specific resulting figures.

Lara Houston, Sara Heitlinger, Ruth Catlow, Alex Taylor · Bristol University Press eBooks · United Kingdom

This piece asks under what technoscientific conditions food scarcity might be understood as contingent on heterogeneous actors, and how the possibility of food abundance might be approached as a reparative project revaluing those manifold relations, framing blockchain as an infrastructure offering both productive imaginaries and challenges to such work. A series of workshops critically experimented with these possibilities and challenges, working with diverse participants — community growers, organizers, artists and technologists — who used playful methods to act out fictional scenarios set in 2025, a speculative future in which all of London had been transformed into a city farm. For the organizations and participants involved, reparation meant working in the aftermath of social and environmental collapse to bring into being more-than-human value systems that radically decentered human knowledge and experience.

Anni Turunen, Riikka Aro, Suvi Huttunen · Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics · Europe

A qualitative content analysis of semi-structured interviews, observation and visual material from a citizen-led Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group in Finland examined the role of materiality in constituting food citizenship. It found that materialities such as the field, time and body play a central role in CSA activities, and concluded that food citizenship should be understood not as an individual human trait but as a collective, active form of doing produced through intra-action with material-discursive arrangements.

Caroline Verfuerth, Angelina Sanderson Bellamy, Barbora Adlerová, Amy Dutton · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · United Kingdom

Failures of the current food system are described as sitting at the core of multiple overlapping crises, shaping both consumption choices and food production, with low-income households disproportionately affected—their food security and access to healthy, sustainable food impacted as a result. Community-supported agriculture (CSA) is framed as a bottom-up response toward agri-food system transformation, an alternative food system built on locally sold, agroecologically grown food rooted in social values, and, alongside other food citizenship movements and alternative food networks (AFNs), driven by a vision of a democratic, socially and economically just, environmentally sustainable food system. Yet low-income households are underrepresented in the CSA community. This paper reports findings from a co-produced intervention between the research team, four CSA farms in Wales, United Kingdom, and two food aid partners, seeking ways to improve CSA membership accessibility for food-insecure households: 38 households received a weekly vegetable bag for two to four months, and 16 household members were interviewed at the project's start and at the end of the harvest season. Using a food well-being framework, the study found that CSA membership holistically improved food well-being by strengthening producer-consumer relationships, increasing availability of healthy foods, helping people care for their own and their families' well-being, and building place-based food capability and literacy—results the authors use to support calls for prioritizing food well-being interventions to benefit financially excluded, food-insecure households within localized AFNs.

Adelina Court, Aileen Kelly, Michael Hardman · Cogent Social Sciences · United Kingdom (Greater Manchester)

This paper explores the need for innovation in urban green infrastructure, focusing on enabling urban food growing in cities. It reviews current policy tools and presents a case study of a multifunctional forest school in Salford, UK, which enables larger-scale farming in a deprived area. The study, conducted by a multidisciplinary team, also proposes a visual methodology framework for future replication.

Yunus KÖLEOĞLU, Ali SEYYAR, Mehmet AYSOY · Hak İş Uluslararası Emek ve Toplum Dergisi · Europe

This paper discusses the meaning and role of social solidarity in modern societies, based on Emile Durkheim's theory of social solidarity, focusing on solidarity-based agricultural cooperatives as alternative economic models against capitalist/liberal systems. The paper demonstrates that modern societies can successfully present solidarity-based alternative economic models, aligned with the spirit of social innovation, as a reaction to traditional capitalist production systems amidst eroding solidarity norms. Characteristics of solidarity agricultural cooperatives operating in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) are introduced, confirming Durkheim's thesis that social solidarity can emerge through collective movements even within a capitalist-liberal system.

Heike Oevermann, Daniel Keech, Marc Redepenning, Li Fan, Patricia Alberth · Urban Planning · Germany (Bamberg)

The German city of Bamberg offers lessons on how continuity and change interact within the context of inner-urban commercial horticulture, informing sustainable urban transformations in historic cities. Urban food production in Bamberg is not just well-established but a consistent, centuries-old cultural structure influencing the city's fabric. This study discusses what forms of urban horticulture were evident from Bamberg's past and which may prevail in the future.

Marta Camps‐Calvet, Santiago Gorostiza, David Saurı́ · Antipode · Spain (Barcelona)

This study examined social reproduction practices surrounding food in Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939. Core findings informed the role of women in food provision and production through individual subsistence agriculture, involvement in Barcelona’s anarcho-syndicalist agricultural collective, and participation in agriculture education and training programs. The research was based on original archival data, historical press, and interviews with witnesses of the war.

Yangzixian Yang · Journal of Architectural Research and Development · United Kingdom (Birmingham)

This paper aims to assess Birmingham's suitability for flat rooftop farming in the United Kingdom. It explores two examples of rooftop farms, Brooklyn Grange in New York and Thammasat University, the largest rooftop farm in Asia, and proposes converting the tops of buildings at Birmingham City University into a flat roof farm.

Felix Zoll, Caitlin K. Kirby, Kathrin Specht, Rosemarie Siebert · Agriculture and Human Values · Germany

A quantitative study (n=790) among Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) members in Germany used a multiple regression model to identify factors predicting trust in CSA and its farmers. The analysis found that "reputation," "supply of information," "direct social interaction," and "duration of CSA membership" influenced trust. Conversely, "certification status of the CSA farm" and "attitudes toward organic certification" did not significantly predict trust.

Bianca Minotti, Angela Cimini, Gabriella D’Amico, Davide Marino, Giampiero Mazzocchi, Simona Tarra · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Italy (Rome)

This study analyzed food policy processes in the city of Rome, Italy, focusing on the Agrifood Plan, Food Policy for Rome, and Community Gardens Movement. Using a conceptual framework combining policy integration and governance innovation, the research showed that each process performs a different form of governance based on the actors and backgrounds involved. The study demonstrated a strong link between governance innovation and policy integration, with the conception and application of policy integration varying according to the process's governance vision.

Anna Kapała · Laws · France

This study aimed to identify legal instruments implemented in France that support short food supply chains and local food systems. The research identified these tools from various domains and levels, including national laws, government policies, and local government initiatives, analyzing them in relation to forms of short supply chains like direct marketing, producer stores, basket systems, urban agriculture, and public catering deliveries. The French instruments were found to be multiple, diverse, mostly innovative, and to consider social, environmental, and solidarity values.

Sandrine Simon · Educação Sociedade & Culturas · United Kingdom (Bristol)

This article explores three types of climate change activism expressed through urban agriculture: 'proximities', 'disruptive dissent', and 'participatory urban governance'. It analyzes how urban agriculture, as a form of grassroots climate change activism, can help in taking action, using illustrative examples from Bristol, UK, and Lisbon, Portugal. The paper suggests that citizens are exploring ways to participate in combating climate change by changing economic and productive systems in their daily lives and lifestyles.

Zsuzsanna Varga, Etelka Katits, Katinka Magyari, Ildikó Palányi, Éva Szalka · Soproni Egyetem Kiadó eBooks · Europe

A report examining the practice of sustainable management and growth, taking the 1987 UN report as a starting point, through a case study and situation analysis of a nascent, innovative Hungarian agricultural start-up, examining how financial accounting data can be used to measure and interpret the sustainable growth rate (SGR). Drawing on case and situation analysis from the Hungarian consulting sector, the study applied a quantitative technique using a self-developed financial diagnostic and value-creation expert system called FINel. Alongside the theoretical conception of sustainable management and SGR, the report demonstrates its application in business practice, presenting sustainable finance adapted to corporate life cycles as the basis for sustainable corporate management in a holistic approach.

Per-Anders Langendahl, Maria Tunberg, Suvi Kokko · · Europe

Smart urban agriculture — food produced in closed, controlled and digitally augmented environments such as vertical farms, plant factories and aquaponics systems — is found in cities worldwide and is said to produce fresh food year-round using fewer chemicals and fewer food miles. However, critiques of smart urban agriculture note it is a marginal activity that often produces food with low nutritional value and requires energy-intensive artificial lighting. Using qualitative research methods, this report examines the development of smart urban agriculture in Sweden, identifying experimental and entrepreneurial initiatives and analyzing them in relation to high-level policy agendas such as food policy, smart cities and digitalisation. The findings show Swedish smart urban agriculture broadly consists of technology-oriented entrepreneurial start-ups and experimental initiatives split into production-oriented (mainly herbs and leafy greens), community-oriented (prioritizing social benefits), and technology-oriented (developing and supplying digital solutions and services) types. However, product output was limited to a small variety of financially high-margin crops sold at premium prices. In relation to high-level strategic agendas, smart (urban) agriculture is recognized for environmental and social benefits such as mitigating flooding.

Sònia Callau-Berenguer, Anna Roca-Torrent, Josep Montasell-Dorda, Sandra Ricart · Investigaciones Geográficas · Spain (Barcelona)

This study analyzed the food system behavior in the Barcelona Metropolitan Region, Spain, during the initial stage of the Covid-19 pandemic (March-May 2020). Semi-structured interviews with 11 peri-urban entities and institutions revealed shortcomings in the operation and logistics of the metropolitan food system. Findings also indicated complicity between local producers and urban consumers, the role of peri-urban agricultural areas in food supply, and a need for cooperation among food system agents.

Marian Simón Rojo · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · Spain (Madrid)

This study investigated how urban planning can support agroecological and right-to-food movements to create resilient urban food systems, addressing food insecurity. A case study in Madrid, Spain, found that over 14% of the population was food insecure, despite the presence of more than 400 free food distribution nodes. The analysis covered various programs and urban food initiatives, suggesting that urban planning provides tools to apply community-supported agroecological food system qualities to define context-adapted strategies, thereby reducing reliance on the industrial food sector.

Emmanuelle Faure, Corinne Luxembourg, Angélique Dupont · Presses universitaires du Septentrion eBooks · France (Gennevillois)

This chapter proposes understanding urban agriculture, specifically shared gardens in Gennevilliers, as part of a collective project to develop a more environmentally respectful, food-producing city. It also views urban agriculture as a potential lever for women's emancipation. The study will explore how urban agriculture can foster collective responsibility and become a concrete vector for changing relationships within the Gennevilliers context.

Paweł Matacz, L. Świątek · Sustainability · Poland (Szczecin)

This article addresses the problematic heritage of Nazi German underground air raid shelters in Szczecin, Poland, by exploring their revitalization for urban agriculture. Through inventory and analysis, a modular hydroponic plant-growing system adapted to these prefabricated spaces was proposed. This solution aims to overcome negative associations, strengthen food sovereignty, initiate bottom-up community activity, and build social ties in residential neighborhoods.