Research & reports

Yang Hai-juan · Nongye xiandaihua yanjiu · Global

This paper argues that urban agriculture has its own distinct resource base and functional requirements, and that the key to its development lies in harmonizing urban agricultural and non-agricultural activities in resource use and functional design. It outlines cultural, legal, technical and district-level harmonizing mechanisms intended to let urban agriculture make the best use of urban resources and meet city needs.

Mark Francis · Landscape Journal · United States (California)

Village Homes in California, United States, designed and developed by Michael and Judy Corbett in the 1970s, is a widely cited example of sustainable community design and landscape architecture, consisting of 242 single- and multi-family residences on sixty acres. Homes are planned as energy-conserving buildings arranged around common open space with play areas and shared gardens, and a sizable portion of the development is devoted to community open space, including orchards and vineyards, managed largely as edible landscape by residents themselves. Initially viewed by local planners and bankers as high-risk, the development is today one of the most desirable and economically successful in California. Following the Landscape Architecture Foundation's case-study format, the paper offers a critical review of the project's successes and limitations.

Elena G. Irwin · Land Economics 78(4): 465-480 · United States (central Maryland)

Applies a hedonic pricing model to home sales in central Maryland and finds a price premium for permanently preserved open space relative to developable agricultural and forested land. Uses instrumental-variables estimation to address endogenous land-use spillovers and spatial correlation, and supports the hypothesis that open space is valued mainly for guaranteeing the absence of future development rather than for a specific bundle of amenities.

· Wikipédia (français) · France

This French Wikipedia article on shared/community gardens (jardin partagé) notes that Paris's first jardin partagé appeared in 2002, after which the City of Paris institutionalized the "Main Verte" (Green Hand) program, networking and supporting charter-signing garden associations under a unified framework. It also cites that, as of 2018, the national federation (FNJFC) united over 200 associations and 20,000 gardening families.

Haney D. H. · Journal of Architectural Education, 54(3), 149-157 · Germany

Examines Migge's designs for Weimar-era Siedlungen of small flats and row houses with adjacent garden plots, arguing that landscape was central to competing visions of interwar modernity and that productive gardens were integral to modern housing.

· Water International · Global

Describes a spectrum of drip systems keyed to income and farm size (beginning with a US$5 bucket kit for home gardens) as a means to alleviate hunger and poverty among poor farmers.

· Agricultural Water Management · Global

Presents buried, unglazed porous clay pot irrigation, in which water seeps through the pot wall at a plant-driven rate, as a highly efficient low-cost traditional method well suited to small farmers.

John Ferris, Carol Norman, Joe Sempik · Social Policy and Administration · USA

This article reports on research and experience from the USA regarding community gardens and their role in the social dimension of sustainable development. It explores how the use of urban green spaces for gardens links to health, education, community development, and food security. The article concludes that using urban open spaces for parks and gardens is closely associated with environmental justice and equity.

E. Mensah, Philip Amoah, Pay Drechsel, Robert Clement Abaidoo · CABI Publishing eBooks · Sub-Saharan Africa

This work, presented as case studies from Accra and Kumasi, addresses environmental concerns of urban and peri-urban agriculture. It focuses on waste composting for urban and peri-urban agriculture, aiming to close the rural-urban nutrient cycle in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Rachel Slater · Development Southern Africa · South Africa

This study examined urban agriculture (UA) in Cape Town, South Africa, focusing on its contribution to low-income households. It found that UA's contribution to income generation and expenditure substitution is limited. However, UA is important to women in low-income households in ways less directly related to monetary gain, being used for empowerment, establishing social networks, symbolizing a sense of security, and encouraging community development.

E. Mensah, Philip Amoah, Robert Clement Abaidoo, Pay Drechsel · CGSPace A Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) · Ghana

This document presents case studies on environmental concerns related to urban and peri-urban vegetable production in Kumasi and Accra, Ghana. It is part of a larger work on waste composting for urban and peri-urban agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Haile Meskel Balcha · Food and Nutrition Bulletin · Ethiopia

World Vision Ethiopia launched a Micronutrient Program in October 1998 to improve the micronutrient status of mothers and children, promoting vitamin A–rich food production. By 1999, 11,708 backyard gardens, 275 school gardens, and 77 community gardens were developed, contributing to household food security and income. The program found that vitamin A–rich vegetable production was well accepted, sustainable, and cost-effective, but faced challenges with the availability and cost of imported seeds.

I. Etuah-Jackson, W. P. Klaassen, J. A. Awuye · CABI Publishing eBooks · Ghana (Accra)

This paper reports on solid waste management in Accra, Ghana, examining the experiences of two compost plants, Teshie-Nungua and Ashiedu Keteke (AKCPP), with urban waste composting. It also describes the urban farming systems in Accra and identifies current and potential users of the produced compost.

G. F. Backhaus, H. Balder · Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants (Julius Kühn-Institut) · Germany

The International Symposium on Plant Health in Urban Horticulture, held in Braunschweig, Germany, from May 22 to 25, 2000, served as a platform to discuss deficits in the care and development of urban greenery and propose integrated concepts. Urban horticulture comprises diverse elements characterizing urban life, but many stress factors damage these components, and integrated concepts for maintaining and preserving urban green areas are lacking. The symposium aimed to jointly prepare future needs for action for the health preservation of urban green at an international level.

Sarah Edwards · The English Journal · United States

This article describes how the author's eighth-grade language arts inquiry-based instruction evolved into student-based community learning. Students brought the community to school with an art exhibit on tolerance, volunteered at a nearby elementary school, created community gardens to fulfill a neighborhood need, and established a new desert habitat community park, connecting the school and neighborhood.

Shira Brynjegard · Dominican Scholar (Dominican University of California) · United States

This study explored the reasons for gardens and natural spaces on school campuses and their effects on students. Blending case studies, observational data, and personal experience, it discussed the impacts of a garden on participating students, using the balance of administrative, teacher, parent, and student involvement to determine lasting effects on student attitudes toward environmental concerns. Evidence of increased environmental awareness in students was discussed.

E. Pena, M. V. Carrion · · Cuba

Four experiments were conducted at INIFAT experimental plots on organoponicos (horticulture on organic substrates) in Cuban urban agriculture. The study investigated substrate preparation methods, sources and proportions, fertility maintenance with organic fertilizers, and earthworm inoculation. Key findings indicated that substrates should be mixed homogeneously, and many crops showed better yields with 75% Cachaza mixtures. Decreases in nutrient and organic matter content led to a gradual decline in yield, while earthworm humus application and direct inoculation maintained fertility and increased yields.

Rodomiro 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.

Weiguo Gao · · China (Yuxi)

This abstract proposes that agricultural production activities in Yuxi should be integrated with urban economic activities centered in Kunming. The goal is to occupy the market, serve more people, establish regional comparative advantages, and build foundational elements for urbanization.

Hilda E. Kurtz · Urban Geography · United States (Minneapolis)

This paper examines the variations among community gardens in Minneapolis, Minnesota, suggesting they reflect differing interpretations of "community" and "garden" in urban settings. While community gardens are seen as responses to urban decay, the study highlights that issues of enclosure, inclusion, and exclusion are central to their function. Decisions regarding garden enclosure shape their role in urban neighborhoods, indicating potential limitations related to equity.

Huei-Hsuan Lin · Syracuse University Libraries (Syracuse University) · United States

This three-year qualitative study of an urban community garden in a mid-size city in upstate New York, United States, examined how women community gardeners perceive their participation. It found that the community garden, intended as a space for social change, paradoxically became a site of internal struggles among participants. Emancipatory efforts to build a less unequal society did not automatically result in an egalitarian space, as the process of community building by individuals with various social positions required arduous efforts and involved negotiation and confrontations, rather than simple unity.

Zhao Shu-mao · 系统科学与系统工程学报(英文版) · China (Kaifeng)

This paper discusses the structure and efficiency of agricultural land use in Kaifeng Suburban, China, based on system theory. It reveals current problems such as benefit deviation from resource allocation and distinguished unemployment. The study advances resolution measures for sustainable development, including farmland protection, ecological agriculture, sustainable land use, and decreased input of synthetic matter.

Gan Jin-tian · · Global

Urban agriculture originates from and develops within suburban agriculture. This study argues that important inner links and transition points exist between urban and suburban agriculture, such as growth regions, functions, and industrial layouts.

B. Jankiewicz, B. Ptaszyński, Michael Wieczorek · Polish Journal of Environmental Studies · Poland (Lodz)

This study presents the results of lead determination in the soils of six allotment gardens located in various parts of Lodz. Lead was measured spectrophotometrically in the form of pink lead(II) dithizonate.

Camillus J. Sawio, Lori A. Spies, Djibril Doucouré · CABI Publishing eBooks · Africa

This chapter provides an overview of international efforts and initiatives to strengthen urban and periurban agriculture, with special reference to related networks in Africa.