Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
3275 results(42 / 131)
Analyser l’agriculture urbaine occidentale à travers la notion de capital environnemental
2022Carmen Cantuarias-Villessuzanne, Mathilde Vignau · Nouvelles perspectives en sciences sociales · Global
This paper aims to analyze urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) projects in France through the notion of environmental capital. Interest in UPA has grown in Western countries since the late 19th century, and this study seeks to clarify its economic models and ultimately formalize a new mapping of contemporary UPA projects in France.
CommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceIndividuals in Collaborative Governance for Environmental Management
2022Julio C. Zambrano-Gutiérrez, Laura Silvia Valente de Macedo, Marc Eric Barda Picavet, José A. Puppim de Oliveira · Environmental Management · Brazil (Florianópolis)
This study used pattern matching to contrast identity theory with original data from 7 individuals participating in waste management and urban agriculture collaboration in Florianópolis, Brazil. Findings showed that as the collaboration evolved, individual participants in municipal government transitioned between roles, affecting their influence based on "integrator" or "segmenter" styles. The success of the collaboration after institutionalization depended on individual transition style and the power of municipal agents to influence it.
CommunityPolicyCommunityCommunity gardens as a response to the contradictions of sustainable urban policy: Insights from the Swiss cities of Zurich and Lausanne
2022Ingrid Jahrl, Olivier Ejderyan, Joëlle Salomon Cavin · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Switzerland
An analysis of policy documents in the Swiss cities of Lausanne and Zurich confirmed that community gardens better accommodate the tensions created by compact and green city discourses compared to other types of food gardening. Policies are oriented towards favoring community gardening through four frames, citing their modest, flexible, and multifunctional design, their role as a new benchmark, fostering diversity, and their cost-efficient management with active citizen participation.
CommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageIntegration of Urban Farming into City Infrastructure Development
2022Ayobami Abayomi Popoola, Bolanle Wahab, Hangwelani Hope Magidimisha, Lovemore Chipungu · CSID Journal of Infrastructure Development · Nigeria (Ibadan)
This mixed-methods study in Ibadan, Nigeria, surveyed 236 urban farmers across five local government areas to determine patterns of integrating urban farming into city infrastructure development. Findings indicated that old age limited farmers' travel distance and farm produce theft was detected, highlighting challenges in current urban farming practices and infrastructure.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceIs a vegetable garden essential? Toronto gardens as culinary infrastructure
2022Sarah Elton, Donald C. Cole · Food Culture & Society · Canada (Toronto)
This paper analyzes mixed methods data from Toronto, Canada, generated pre-pandemic, to understand the role of urban agriculture in gardeners' lives. It found that gardening supported health and wellbeing and provided an important, often culturally significant, food source for participants. The study argues that gardens are essential and should be viewed as part of culinary infrastructure, prompting policy decisions that support nonmarket food sources during crises.
CommunityHealthPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceExploring the Sustainability of Urban Leisure Agriculture in Shanghai
2022Jianyun Nie, Akira Kiminami, Hironori Yagi · Sustainability · China (Shanghai)
This study analyzed the sustainability status of 22 urban leisure farms in Shanghai using the IDEA method. Farms' average sustainability scores were 25.72 on the agroecological scale, 32.5 on the socioterritorial scale, and 46.5 on the economic scale. This analysis revealed that while urban leisure agriculture in Shanghai has high sustainability at the economic scale, its overall sustainability was low, indicating a need for further strengthening.
Limited or null effectEconomicsPolicyOrganic cycleCommunitymultifuncionalidad de los huertos urbanos en la Ciudad de México
2022Nehiby Alcántara Nieves, Rosa María Larroa Torres · Espiral estudios sobre Estado y sociedad · Mexico (Mexico City)
This article investigates the functions of urban gardens in Mexico City two years after the implementation of the Food Sustainability System and the Urban Garden Law. A qualitative study found that public officials tend to prioritize the environmental functions of urban gardens, while for users, the sociocultural functions are the most relevant. The research suggests that urban gardens possess environmental, economic, and sociocultural multifunctionality.
PolicyCommunityEconomicsBiodiversityDeterminants Affecting Public Intention to Use Micro-Vertical Farming: A Survey Investigation
2022Yiming Shao, Zhugen Wang, Zhiwei Zhou, Haojing Chen, Yuanlong Cui, Zhenghuan Zhou · Sustainability · Global
Vertical farming faces challenges such as high energy consumption, costs, and a lack of social acceptance. This study investigated public acceptance of micro-vertical farming using a deconstructed theory of planned behavior model. Results showed that the overall mean of public behavioral intentions to use vertical farming was 3.9, which is above neutral (3.00) but less than positive (4.00).
Economic viabilityDigital agricultureEconomicsCommunityPolicyCultivating Vibrant Gardens in Urban Communities: Success Factors of Community Gardens in Beijing and Shanghai
2022Danning Lu · Journal for Undergraduate Ethnography · China
This research analyzed social and organizational factors influencing the success of community gardens in China, using four case studies of state-sponsored community gardens in Beijing and Shanghai. It found that success factors are multi-faceted and interactive, with resident-government relations being crucial across development stages. Resident involvement and vision are important in the design stage, while leadership, residents' self-governance preparedness, and external recognition are key in the maintenance stage.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsUrban–rural linkageCommunity Perception of Animal-Based Urban Agriculture within City Greenspaces of the Global North: A Survey of Residents near Cornwall Park, New Zealand
2022Shannon Davis, Guanyu Chen · Sustainability · New Zealand (Auckland)
A survey of residents near Cornwall Park in Auckland, New Zealand, examined perceptions of integrating grazing animals into urban greenspaces. The study found that 99% of respondents felt positive about the inclusion of grazing animals as part of the public park. These findings support decision-making for policies enabling animal-based agriculture in public greenspaces in cities of the Global North.
CommunityUrban–rural linkagePolicyUrban Resilience: A Study of Leftover Spaces and Play in Dense City Fabric
2022Alice Covatta, Vedrana Ikalović · Sustainability · Japan (Tokyo)
This paper examines design strategies for transforming leftover urban spaces by integrating creative and playful programs, using Tokyo, Japan, as a case study. Through ethnographic observations and spatial analysis, the study demonstrates how play positively affects everyday life in public spaces and enables extraordinary uses of these spaces. The findings offer guidance for urban planners and designers on how people use playfulness to appropriate and utilize leftover spaces.
CommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageSocial capital in urban agriculture initiatives
2022Luíza Costa Caldas, Tania Pereira Christopoulos · Revista de Gestão · Brazil (São Paulo)
This study investigated urban agriculture in São Paulo, Brazil, from the perspective of social capital, using a literature review and semi-structured interviews with participants in urban agriculture initiatives. It identified sources, effects, and challenges of social capital formation in this context. Findings include that social capital generates human capital, citizenship, engagement, resource access, and information access, but faces challenges related to homophily and the perception of benefits.
CommunityEconomicsPolicyCommunity gardens as feminist spaces: A more‐than‐gendered approach to their transformative potential
2022Maria Teresa Braga Bizarria, Marcela Palomino‐Schalscha, Polly Stupples · Geography Compass · Global
This paper reviews the multi-scalar transformative potential of community gardens for volunteers, informed by a feminist approach. It examines literature on gendered benefits and empowerment women experience in community gardens, individually and collectively. The paper also discusses how community gardens offer opportunities to raise awareness of oppression and envision social change, suggesting they can be conceptualized as feminist spaces.
CommunityWelfarePolicyHealthCIDADES PEQUENAS E AGRICULTURA URBANA NO CONTEXTO DA PANDEMIA COVID-19
2022Ana Maria Girotti Sperandio, Bárbara Bonetto, Tailana Fraga Lima, Jussara Conceição Guarnieri · PIXO - Revista de Arquitetura Cidade e Contemporaneidade · Brazil
This descriptive, qualitative, and exploratory study examines urban farming initiatives in small cities during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on Conchal/SP, Brazil, as an example of healthy city practices. The research aims to identify convergences between urban farming and healthy city premises to address the pandemic's consequences and contribute to urban planning in small cities. It suggests that urban farming and the recovery of urban vacant spaces in community projects can be considered for addressing food insecurity exacerbated by the pandemic within urban planning.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityHealthPolicyFranco Panzini, Coltivare la città. Storia sociale degli orti urbani nel XX secolo
2022Guilherme Mazza Dourado · Cahiers de la recherche architecturale urbaine et paysagère · Global
This abstract introduces a book by Franco Panzini, "Cultivating the City: A Social History of Urban Gardens in the 20th Century." It notes the diverse terminology for urban gardens across different countries, such as "jardin ouvrier" in France, "Schrebergarten" in Germany, "Allotment Garden" in Great Britain, and "Victory Garden" in the United States during world conflicts. The abstract focuses on the linguistic polyphony used to designate urban vegetable gardens.
CommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceLand Take Processes and Challenges for Urban Agriculture: A Spatial Analysis for Novi Sad, Serbia
2022Jelena Živanović Miljković, Vesna Popović, Aleksandra Gajić · Land · Serbia (Novi Sad)
A study conducted in Futog, Novi Sad, Serbia, investigated land take (LT) processes and challenges for urban agriculture, focusing on the role and implications of land use planning. Quantifying LT for 2000–2018 using CORINE Land Cover and Urban Atlas datasets revealed that a significant portion of agricultural land in Futog, registered as a Geographical Indication (GI) for Futog cabbage, was planned for conversion into construction land. The study concluded that current land use planning in Serbia is inadequate to ensure the protection of either urban agriculture or GIs.
Governance failurePolicyUrban–rural linkageEconomicsMuseu de Lisboa (org.) – Hortas de Lisboa: Da Idade Média ao Século XXI = Lisbon Vegetable Gardens: From Middle Ages to the 21st Century [exposição e catálogo]
2022Sandrine Simon · Midas · Portugal (Lisbon)
This exhibition catalogue further synthesizes and analyzes the outcomes of the "Lisbon Vegetable Gardens" exhibition, which took place at the Museu de Lisboa – Palácio Pimenta in Lisbon from October 23, 2020. It includes contributions from a wide range of individuals, including museum professionals, academics, architects, gardeners, consultants in circular sustainable economy, and members of the Working Group for the Development and Promotion of Urban Agriculture in Lisbon.
PolicyCommunityEvaluation of the implementation of Hydroponic Training in Order to Support the Urban Farming program in the City of Surabaya
2022Sri Tjondro Winarno · Nusantara Science and Technology Proceedings · Indonesia (Surabaya)
This study evaluated the effectiveness of hydroponic training implemented in Surabaya City, using descriptive qualitative analysis and a 5-point Likert scale survey for all participants. The evaluation results showed that 94.12% of the implementation met "good" criteria and 5.88% met "very good" criteria. It was concluded that this training is highly effective in supporting the urban farming program in Surabaya.
Food educationCommunityPolicyFrom Temporary Spatial Practices to Permanent Architectural Forms.The Case of “La Terenuri” from Mănăștur Neighborhood, Cluj-Napoca
2022Diana Galos, Silviu Medeşan · sITA · Romania (Cluj-Napoca)
This study examines the case of urban gardening in the "La Terenuri" area of Mănăștur neighborhood, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Residents began gardening in the land between buildings during the 1970s and 1980s, influenced by communist laws encouraging food production and green space care. This phenomenon utilized the skills of rural residents to complete "socialist utopian projects" when resources were insufficient, leading to the creation of strong, lasting community groups.
CommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkage"What we raise ourselves": Growing food sovereignty in the Mississippi Delta
2022Emily A. Holmes, Mary F. Campbell, Ryan Betz · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States
This study used the concept of food sovereignty to assess the level of local control over food production, distribution, and consumption in the Mississippi Delta. Research involved site visits, participant observation, focus groups, and surveys of communities affiliated with the Delta EATS public school garden program. Findings demonstrated low levels of food sovereignty, though high levels of agency and ingenuity in accessing desired foods were observed.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityFood educationPolicyUrban Agriculture in Latin America: A Green Culture Beyond Growing and Feeding
2022Fabiana Castellarini · Frontiers in Sustainable Cities · Latin America
Urban agriculture (UA) in Latin American countries was analyzed using an ecosystem services framework. From plant production, 17 ecosystem services, 6 benefits, 6 assets, and 6 indirect drivers were recognized. Strengths of UA were related to ecosystem services, benefits, and beneficiaries; weaknesses were related to the misuse of inputs, and human and environmental health; and threats were related to regulation, governance, and land tenure issues.
CommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justicePolicyFood aid and neoliberalism: an alliance built on shared interests?
2022Maddy Power · Policy Press eBooks · United Kingdom
In the UK, food banks and other food aid providers expanded significantly in parallel with welfare reforms and benefit cuts initiated after 2010. This contemporary phenomenon occurred within a historical context of long-standing community-based responses to poverty and hunger in the UK.
Equity & displacementWelfareCommunityPolicyContinuity and Change: Socio-Spatial Practices in Bamberg's World Heritage Urban Horticulture
2022Heike 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.
CommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceReaping the Fruits of Informal Urbanism: An Ethnography of Tactical Gardening in Limassol, Cyprus
2022Theodoros Kouros · Built Environment · Cyprus (Limassol)
This ethnographic study in Limassol, Cyprus, examines tactical gardening as a form of informal urbanism. It found that, contrary to common perceptions of guerrilla gardening as community-building, these interventions by home and business owners often serve private gain by expanding into public spaces and can exclude other community members from using those public spaces. The research highlights a negative aspect of tactical gardening, where it contributes to the privatization of public areas.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicySustainability Recommendations and Practices in School Feeding: A Systematic Review
2022Emanuele Batistela dos Santos, Dayanne da Costa Maynard, Renata Puppin Zandonadi, António Raposo, Raquel Braz Assunção Botelho · Foods · Global
This systematic review, including 50 studies, examined sustainability recommendations in school feeding policies and practices adopted in schools globally. Frequently cited practices included school gardens and sustainability education activities. Recommendations often focused on purchasing sustainable food, nutrition education, and reducing food waste, highlighting the need for managers to prioritize sustainability education in curricula.
Food educationCommunityPolicyClimate change