Research & reports

Lubna Taj, Tahira Yasmeen, Waqas Haidar, Qasim Ali, Muhammad Arif · Soil & Environment · Pakistan

A two-year study (2016-2017) in Pakistan's peri-urban agricultural areas investigated the impact of seasonal variations in wastewater irrigation on sugarcane. Sugarcane irrigated with wastewater showed increased antioxidant activities compared to freshwater-irrigated plants, suggesting biochemical adjustments to contaminants. Significant seasonal differences in plant mineral content were also observed, indicating that wastewater irrigation can alter plant physiology and affect agricultural output.

J. V., Juan M. Corchado, Diana M. Giraldo, Sara Rodríguez-González, Fernando De la Prieta · Internet of Things · Global

This paper presents an Internet of Things (IoT) platform for monitoring urban gardens, aiming to mitigate hunger and promote food sovereignty. The platform includes a social design layer for knowledge transfer and a recommendation system based on evolutionary computation to optimize urban orchard productivity. Experiments in urban gardens validated the models, showing an increase in urban lettuce orchard productivity between 25% and 45%.

Xiu-li LUO, Xiaobin Jin, Xiaojie Liu, Su-shu ZHANG, Su-chen YING, Yinkang Zhou · 自然资源学报 · Global

This study, based on symbiosis theory, proposes a mechanism and model of comprehensive land consolidation to promote integrated urban and rural development in peri-urban areas. It showed that main obstacles to symbiotic peri-urban systems are non-equilibrium development in symbiotic units, unequal mobility of elements in the symbiotic environment, and asymmetry and non-reciprocity of symbiotic models. Comprehensive land consolidation reshapes the symbiotic environment through element flow, reconstructs symbiotic units through spatial reconstruction, and drives the symbiotic model through functional promotion, leading to symmetric and reciprocal benefits in urban-rural systems.

كريمة على حسن محمد, سوزان يوسف أبو الفضل, عزه أحمد صادق على · Journal of Educational Sciences - Qena Faculty of Education · Global

A study using a descriptive approach identified obstacles to the educational role of community education schools. Findings revealed obstacles across educational (e.g., low student achievement), social (e.g., low encouragement of community initiatives), cultural (e.g., low cultural level of staff), technological (e.g., lack of computer teachers), economic (e.g., weak family economic level), health (e.g., weak attention to a healthy school environment), and recreational roles (e.g., lack of school gardens).

Lena Katharina Mietz, Bárbara Civit, Alejandro Pablo Arena · Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems · Global

This review focuses on the present state and methodology of life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the sustainability of urban agriculture. It notes that while urban agriculture is seen as a potential alternative for a resilient food system, existing case studies are mostly incomplete and lack diversity. Further research is needed, especially the integration of social and economic perspectives, to achieve a comprehensive scientific understanding.

Amirul Asyraf Zhahir, Mohd Ilias M Shuhud, Siti Munirah Mohd, S.K. Kamarudin, Azuan Ahmad, Rossly Salleh, Norita Md Norwawi · Computer Science and Information Technologies · Global

This study proposes a conceptual model for technology adoption in smart urban farming, building upon a previous systematic literature review. The model is founded on Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) and incorporates factors from other technology adoption models. The research aims to provide insights into the components influencing technology adoption in smart urban farming, offering a framework for future studies and applications.

Yu Huan, Steffen Nijhuis, Nico Tillie · Urban forestry & urban greening · Global

This systematic literature review analyzed 70 empirical research articles on urban agriculture, ecosystem services, and design research to identify gaps in design knowledge. The review found that while "research for design" is prevalent and offers abundant design knowledge, the infrequent use of "research through design" hinders the transition from implicit to explicit design knowledge, leading to a shortage of operational guidelines. The study proposes a framework for systematic design knowledge of urban agriculture to address these gaps and facilitate knowledge transformation.

Mayank Kaushal · · Global

This study investigates the relationship between urban form, perceptions of safety and security, and their influence on the utilization of public open spaces, including community gardens. It employs qualitative and quantitative methodologies, such as interviews, surveys, and observational analysis, to collect data on individuals' perceptions, experiences, and usage patterns. The research explores factors contributing to perceived safety and security and investigates strategies like urban design modifications and community engagement to improve these perceptions and enhance urban livability.

Mohd Nazrul Hisham Daud, Mohd Lip Jabit, Norhasni Ramli, Nur Syafini Ghazali, Joanna Cho Lee Ying, Azirah Omar · Bioresources and Environment · Malaysia

This study evaluated the nutritional quality of various vegetables from established Malaysian urban community farming. Analysis measured sugar content, gross energy, vitamin A, vitamin C, and twelve minerals (Al, B, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, S, Zn) using HPLC, calorimeter bomb analyzer, and ICP-OES. Results showed all vegetables contained at least two common sugars, with five possessing all targeted sugars, and gross energy ranged from 2900 to 3800 joule/g. Pak choy and sawi exhibited the highest vitamin A and C content respectively, while spinach showed the largest number of highest mineral types including boron, potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus.

Emmanuel Frimpong Boamah · Urban agriculture · Global

This chapter examines alternative governance visions for urban agriculture, or urban food commons (UFCs), through the lens of polycentric governance. It argues that UFCs require a mix of institutional arrangements, including centralized, decentralized, market, cooperative, and command-and-control models, rather than a single approach. Four institutional design parameters are outlined to guide this polycentric vision: multiple decision centers, cross-scale and cross-sector interactions, an overarching rule system, and rule adaptability, exemplified by Chicago's NeighborSpace.

Noga Pitowsky‐Nave, Michal Almog‐Bar, Hillel Schmid · Social Work in Mental Health · Global

This paper presents a case study of a community garden in Israel that emerged from a collaboration between a Social Service Nonprofit Organization (SSNO) providing mental health rehabilitation services and a real-estate business firm. Based on interviews with key figures, onsite observations, and document analysis, it examined the inter-organizational dynamics of this collaboration and its benefits and challenges for the SSNO and its service users. The results show that collaborating with a business can offer SSNOs benefits in financial resources and volunteers, but also involves difficulties, which were intensified in the context of a mental-health-focused SSNO.

Yunus Kara · Journal of Turkish Therapeutic Horticulture · Global

A 2024 literature review examines the relationship between horticultural therapy and ecological activism. It positions horticultural therapy as a means of ecological activism that can enhance individuals' environmental awareness while relating to improvements in mental and physical health, describing it as a practice that raises quality of life through interaction with plants and immersion in nature and supports understanding of ecosystems and the adoption of sustainable lifestyles. It identifies future research directions including examining effects across different age groups and communities, long-term impacts, and applications within community gardens.

Erin Ingram, Patricia Wonch Hill, Dena Harshbarger, Jenny Keshwani · Education Sciences · Global

A 2024 study examines the impact of the "Garden TOOLS" garden-based technology integration program on science teaching self-efficacy among 39 elementary pre-service teachers (PSTs) enrolled in a 300-level science methods course in the rural Midwest, US. Using the STEBI-B instrument to measure change in personal science teaching efficacy (PSTE) and science teaching outcome expectancy (STOE) before and after the intervention, it found that participants in the Garden TOOLS professional development workshops showed a statistically significant increase in PSTE from pre- to post-workshop, and that participants who also implemented the Garden TOOLS lesson in practicum showed increases in both PSTE and STOE.

Matthijs T. Wessels, Shaaban M. Mgana · Urban Forum · Tanzania

Based on ethnographic research in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — one of the fastest-urbanizing cities in sub-Saharan Africa — this study examines how farmers configure their day-to-day agricultural practices amid urban change. Contrary to narratives that present agriculture as passive in the face of urban growth, it describes farmers building networks of provision through informal access to land and water, supplying food and employment while actively co-shaping the city. Farmers adapt their strategies in response to land pressure and water resource degradation. The paper argues that better representation of urban farmers and irrigated agriculture in urban planning and governance would reduce uncertainty and risk for both farmers and the wider city.

Ada Górna · · Global

This chapter summarizes research conducted for a book comparing urban agriculture in three cities — Havana, Singapore, and Kigali. It presents a structured comparative analysis identifying similarities and differences among these Global South cities across four facets: distribution characteristics, internal structural/production and organizational/technical features, distribution methods, and functions fulfilled. It also identifies universal attributes of urban agriculture that recur independently of spatial, socioeconomic, political, and environmental conditions, along with distinctive mechanisms shaping its development, and discusses verification of the study's hypotheses, methodological challenges specific to each city, and directions for future research.

Agnès Fargue‐Lelièvre, Jason K. Hawes, Benjamin Goldstein, Lidia Poniży, Erica Dorr · Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists · Global

This 2024 essay in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists states that urban agriculture brings many benefits to its participants but is not guaranteed to be more climate-friendly than conventional agriculture. It adds that there are some specific steps urban farmers can take to cut carbon emissions.

Jill L. Edmondson · Plants People Planet · Global

This special collection introduction on urban horticulture — the growing of fruits and vegetables in cities, a food source for millions worldwide — frames the interdisciplinary scientific, engineering and socio-cultural challenges that must be resolved to integrate food growing more widely into cities and towns. It sets out the rationale for the collection and identifies remaining knowledge gaps rather than presenting new empirical results.

Mónica G. Rocha-Bravo, Polina Golovátina‐Mora · Qualitative Inquiry · Global

This article offers a diffractive reading of two practices — a curricular environmental education project in Colombian schools and walking through Colombian volcanic rainforest (selva) — to revisit theory as differential becoming, treating both the classroom and the process of academic writing as ecosystems. It frames living knowledge as co-created and emergent rather than purely practical or instrumental, and argues that decolonizing inquiry requires inner decolonization at the level of the person, the field and academia.

Oscar Wang, Rosalind Deaker, Floris van Ogtrop · Agricultural Systems · Global

A systematic review using the PRISMA protocol searched for literature on food-waste based hydroponic fertilisers (FWBHF), identifying 6,840 papers with search terms combining "food-waste," "hydroponic," "fertiliser" and "organic," narrowing to 308 papers by title and abstract relevance and ultimately including 37 papers in the final review. The review sought to identify major challenges limiting yield outcomes in food-waste based hydroponic systems, explore conventional and non-conventional improvements, and propose a standardized reporting framework for future research, framed against a backdrop of an estimated 931 million tonnes of food wasted globally in 2018.

Shan He, Primož Poredoš, Hao Qü, Xinge Yang, Mengjuan Zhou, Lulu Bai, Jiadong Shi, Wenshuai Chen, R.Z. Wang, Swee Ching Tan · Advanced Functional Materials · Global

A composite adsorbent combining manganese(II)-ethanolamine complexes with a hierarchical, interconnected polypyrrole-doped matrix was developed to reduce vapor diffusion resistance, a key factor limiting scale-up kinetics, achieving water uptake of 2.54 g per gram at 90% relative humidity with 62% of the water released within 30 minutes, enabling multiple daily capture-release cycles. A hybrid desorption mode combining photovoltaic electrical heating and solar heating achieved stable, high-yield water production, and simulation and feasibility verification showed that an atmospheric-water-irrigated rooftop farm could produce 879.9 g of water per square meter of sorbent per day and 1.28 kg of food per square meter of device within 14 days, without human intervention and independent of external water inputs.

Richard Morris, Shannon Davis, Gwen‐Aëlle Grelet, Pablo Gregorini · Land · Global

Applying a GIS-based model (ESMAX), this study tests a spatial method called "Agroecology for the City," aimed at maximizing ecosystem services (ES) in outwardly expanding peri-urban development. Agroecological farm system (AFS) parcels of 1 ha and 4 ha were configured within a real-world 200 ha peri-urban residential development to identify arrangements maximizing the supply of three regulating ecosystem services the local community identified as critical, plus multifunctional performance across them. Configurations with AFS parcels interspersed evenly among built-up areas provided the best multifunctionality across the four ecosystem services tested.

Akpınar, Musab Talha, Korkut, Cem · Munich Personal RePEc Archive (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich) · Global

This chapter surveys how the basic sciences -- physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics -- contribute to Sustainable Smart Cities. It states that physics underlies energy efficiency and structural design, chemistry drives sustainable materials and pollution control, biology supports green space, biodiversity and ecosystem services including urban agriculture, and mathematics/data science enable real-time monitoring and resource allocation, arguing for continued interdisciplinary investment in research and education.

Albin Mathew -, Sanu K Thekkath -, N Sneha · International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research · Global

This paper is a review that surveys various forms and definitions of urban farming and discusses its role in implementing circular economy strategies and strengthening urban food security. Drawing on case studies within institutions such as schools and Anganwadi centres, it argues that urban farming initiatives can promote sustainability, community engagement and equitable participation, that urban farming and neighbourhood development are interconnected in ways that support an inclusive society and sustainable urban design principles, and advocates positioning urban farming as central to urban planning.

Arturs Kempelis, Inese Poļaka, Andrejs Romānovs, Antons Patļins · Future Internet · Global

A study on microclimate monitoring for urban agriculture (region unspecified) evaluated convolutional neural networks (CNNs) forecasting relative air humidity, soil moisture, and light intensity sensor readings from thermal images. Forecasts for relative humidity and soil moisture achieved higher accuracy, with Mean Absolute Percentage Errors of 10-12%, attributed to their strong dependency on thermal patterns captured by the CNNs, while light intensity forecasting was less accurate due to more complex and variable urban factors. The authors acknowledge that implementing these technologies in urban agricultural models still poses challenges.

Victoria Dietze, Amna Alhashemi, Peter H. Feindt · Food Security · Global

Using the Urban Food Production Innovation System (UFoPrInS) concept, a 2024 study analyzed the urban contexts and enabling and impeding factors for implementing controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) in three contrasting locations — London, Nairobi and Singapore — based on document analysis and semi-structured expert interviews. Findings show Singapore as a favorable location because public policies support CEA implementation to reduce food import dependency and enhance the resilience of food supply. In London, high food import dependency is increasingly seen as problematic, but CEA implementation has been hampered by other policy priorities. In Nairobi, where over half the population lives in informal settlements without adequate food, water and sanitation, CEA is unlikely to make an economically efficient contribution to food security. The study concludes that CEA implementation is likely to be suitable in locations with ample capital and knowledge, stable political, social and infrastructure conditions, and limited space, where its value can be linked to hospitality and tourism and supported by favorable pricing for resource savings.