Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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472 results(5 / 19)
Urban Agriculture Approach in The Development of Sustainable Cities: The Case Of Elazığ, Türkiye
2023Fürüzan Aslan, Yaşar Menteş, Oğuz ATEŞ · Kırklareli Üniversitesi Mühendislik ve Fen Bilimleri Dergisi · Turkey (Elazığ)
This study examines the city area of Elazığ province, Türkiye, from the perspective of urban agriculture, which is presented as a tool for sustainable urban development. It offers various suggestions to ensure sustainability in Elazığ, develop insights into regional food supply, and increase the importance of urban aesthetics, land use, urban environmental management, public health, and economic development.
PolicyHealthEconomicsCommunityCollective urban gardens: growing, learning and fostering social engagement
2023Geneviève Cloutier, Émilie Houde-Tremblay, Stéphanie Gaudet · Local Environment · Canada (Québec City), Spain (Madrid)
Case studies of collective gardens in Québec City, Canada, and Madrid, Spain, operating for approximately ten years, showed that urban gardening practices offer learning opportunities extending beyond gardening itself into collective decision-making and social engagement. These gardens are sites of social processes where gardeners develop a strong identity related to alternative lifestyles and a sense of belonging that connects them to nature beyond the garden's boundaries. Gardeners learn that neighborhood-oriented actions have political implications that can help change the city.
CommunityFood educationPolicyUtilisation of green urban space for food sufficiency and the realisation of the sustainable development goals – UK stakeholders perspective
2023Alex Opoku, Anna Duff, Moohammed Wasim Yahia, Samuel Ekung · Geography and sustainability · United Kingdom
This study investigated the use of green urban spaces for food self-sufficiency in the UK, examining how sustainable urban farms could reduce imported produce consumption and contribute to SDGs. A mixed-method approach included a survey of 115 respondents and interviews with 12 stakeholders from four urban farming groups. Findings showed a strong correlation between stakeholders' concerns about food origin/carbon footprint and imported produce, suggesting urban farms could play a vital role in food security and SDG realization.
Food sovereignty & justiceClimate changePolicyCommunityChallenges and Opportunities in Managing Peri-Urban Agriculture: A Case Study of L’Horta de València, Spain
2023J. L. Miralles i Garcia · International Journal of Environmental Impacts · Spain (Valencia)
In L’Horta de València, a historical agricultural area in Valencia, Spain, challenges and opportunities in peri-urban agriculture management were investigated. A semi-structured survey focusing on a SWOT analysis was administered to key specialists involved in the 2018 legislative protection and 2019 management plan. The study aimed to evaluate how newly implemented tools are rectifying identified issues, but the abstract does not present specific findings from the survey.
Peri-urban agriculturePolicyEconomicsHarvesting the Hidden Value of Vacant Lands: A GIS-Based Approach to Urban Agriculture
2023Hüseyin Berk TÜRKER, Murat Akten · Mimarlık Bilimleri ve Uygulamaları Dergisi (MBUD) · Turkey
This study assessed the urban agriculture potential of vacant lands in the city center of Usak, Turkey, and created a GIS-based urban agriculture inventory. The analysis focused on available vacant lands including municipally-owned, foundation, public, forest, and pasture lands. Results showed a significant amount of vacant lands in Usak suitable for urban agriculture, with 7.32 ha highly suitable, 80.58 ha moderately suitable, and 110.94 ha marginally suitable.
CommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageCase Study 1
2023Guillaume Delfesc, Bertug Ozarisoy · · United Kingdom (King's Cross Central)
This project investigated community fragmentation in the Caledonian Road area of London, UK, situated between King's Cross Central and Upper Street. Research indicated that communities in Caledonian Road live separately and do not fully utilize the site's potential, such as existing green spaces. The project aims to create linkages among diverse communities through urban agriculture.
CommunityUrban–rural linkagePolicyDivided City I: East Berlin and the Construction of Socialism (1949–1970)
2023Margaret Haderer · · Germany (Berlin)
This chapter examines East Berlin's reconstruction from 1949 to 1970, focusing on mass housing under socialism. The rebuilding efforts initially balanced national traditions with standardization, but prefabrication, symbolized by the "Platte" concrete tower, ultimately prevailed as a symbol of social equality. Allotment gardens served as a significant counter-space to these standardized housing developments.
CommunityPolicyThe role of urban agriculture in food-energy-water nexus policies: Insights from Europe and the U.S
2023Runrid Fox-Kämper, Caitlin K. Kirby, Kathrin Specht, Nevin Cohen, Rositsa T. Ilieva, Silvio Caputo, Victoria Schoen, Jason K. Hawes, Lidia Poniży, Béatrice Bechet · Landscape and Urban Planning · Europe; United States
The relationship between urban agriculture (UA) and food-energy-water (FEW) nexus policies was analyzed using policy data from five case study cities in Europe and the U.S. (Dortmund, Gorzów Wielkopolski, London, Nantes, and New York City). An analysis of 78 policy documents and a Q-sort ranking by UA policy experts showed that the number, type, and degree of support for nexus policies varied among cities, and few policies (19) incorporated all elements of the nexus. Regulations were considered more effective at ensuring resource-efficient UA than incentives or awareness-raising policies.
Governance failurePolicyClimate changeFood sovereignty & justice“I’m Happy for People to Collaborate, but I Don’t Want to Join in”. Addressing Failure in Community-supported Agriculture Networks
2023Bernd Bonfert · · United Kingdom; Germany
This article investigates "network failure" and collaboration barriers within Community-supported agriculture (CSA) networks in the UK and Germany, using qualitative case studies. The study found that CSA networks function effectively at national and local levels but experience relative failure at the regional level. Regular barriers to collaboration arise from capacity limitations, member differences, and competition, which the networks are actively trying to address.
Governance failureCSA & TeikeiCommunityEconomicsPolicyUnderstanding Social-Ecological Memory in Urban Agriculture: A Case Study from Istanbul
2023Susana Alves, Bahar Bașer Kalyoncuoğlu · Ecopsychology · Turkey (Istanbul)
This study explored the socio-ecological potential of urban agriculture in 10 family-related projects in Istanbul, where Bostans (historical urban vegetable gardens) are culturally significant. Despite their importance and UNESCO recognition, the planning and management of bostans have been hampered by rapid urbanization and a lack of integrative policies. Data from interviews, observations, and fieldwork highlighted the role of kinship in knowledge transfer and how farmers base activities on past-present affordances and future expectations.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceStakeholder Opinions on Urban Agriculture: The Case of Iğdır
2023Enes AKDENİZ, M. Bihter BİNGÜL BULUT, İbrahim HOSAFLIOĞLU, Öner Demirel · Mimarlık Bilimleri ve Uygulamaları Dergisi (MBUD) · Turkey (Iğdır)
This study aimed to determine the place and importance of urban agriculture from the perspective of stakeholders in Iğdır city and its surrounding areas. Semi-structured interview forms were used, with five questions posed to stakeholders, and data were analyzed using descriptive analysis. According to the findings, Iğdır city was concluded to hold significant potential for urban agricultural activities.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsAn Integrated Approach to Sub-Surface Water Pathways for the Sustainable Development of the Architectural Landscape of Agro-Urban Areas
2023Alessandra Como, Albina Cuomo, Luisa Smeragliuolo Perrotta · Sustainability · Italy (Pozzuoli)
In Pozzuoli, Southern Italy, multidisciplinary research addressed sustainability in urban agricultural landscape design. The study presented an integrated solution combining architecture and hydro-geomorphology for water management, accessibility, and use of urban agricultural landscapes. A prototype water and landscape infrastructure was developed, integrating a subsurface water system, cycle–pedestrian paths, and small-scale architecture around water tanks. This integrated system contributes to implementing green transition within cities.
Climate changePolicyUrban–rural linkageUrban Gardens vs. Community Gardens: Tensions and Trajectories for Urban Agriculture in Istanbul
2023Candan Türkkan · Moment Journal · Turkey (Istanbul)
This paper analyzes urban gardening practices in Yedikule Bostanlari and Kuzguncuk Bostani in Istanbul, examining the convoluted relationship between the food movement and urban agriculture. It argues that while urban agriculture initiatives are significant for generating community and proposing alternative uses for urban space, they do relatively little to mitigate the structural problems underlined by the food movement. As such, even though they are examples of urban agriculture in practice, their aspirations do not readily associate with those of the food movement.
Limited or null effectCommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyKnowledge-making and the quest for a sustainable city: Promoting community food-growing in London
2023Jens Lachmund · · United Kingdom (London)
This chapter traces the emergence of initiatives promoting urban agriculture in London, a pioneering city for urban agriculture in Europe, from a history of knowledge perspective. It identifies three formative episodes: open civic experimentation in community projects, city modeling and surveying in food planning scholarship, and government-sponsored knowledge mobilization campaigns. These processes shaped London as a food-system and a space for community engagement.
CommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceLe portage foncier public et sa réception par les agriculteurs. L’exemple du pacte agricole de la région Île-de-France
2023Alioune Badara Dabo · Norois · France (Île-de-France)
This article analyzes how the public land tenure system, introduced in the 2018 "Agricultural Pact" in the Île-de-France region, articulates with local farming systems. Based on a qualitative survey conducted in the Green Belt area, the findings reveal that this land tenure system does not fully align with the strategies of farmers, particularly young people outside family farming who wish to establish themselves in agriculture, as they do not necessarily seek land ownership.
Governance failurePolicyPeri-urban agricultureEconomicsBetween ambitions and actions: how citizens navigate the entrepreneurial process of co-producing sustainable urban food futures
2023Koen van der Gaast, J.E. Jansma, Sigrid Wertheim‐Heck · Agriculture and Human Values · Netherlands
This study explored how residents of Almere Oosterwold, Netherlands, envision and organize urban agriculture futures, where 50% of plots must be used for urban agriculture. Using futuring, it found that residents have diverse future perspectives and can formulate specific actions but struggle to commit to them, attributing this to temporal dissonance. The paper concludes that both planning and entrepreneurship are necessary for realizing urban food futures.
Urban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityPolicyReviving Urban Greening in Post-Industrial Landscapes: The Case of Turin
2023Evinç Doğan, Federico Cuomo, Luca Battisti · Sustainability · Italy (Turin)
This paper explored strategies for reviving urban greening in post-industrial landscapes through nature-based solutions (NbS), using the case of Turin's old FIAT premises in the Mirafiori Sud area. Data were collected through public literature review, interviews, and focus groups with policymakers, volunteers, and inhabitants. Qualitative thematic analysis showed that Mirafiori Sud became a co-creation hub for sustainable solutions, regenerative art in shared spaces was crucial for community engagement, and urban agriculture support could improve alternative food networks.
Peri-urban agricultureCommunityPolicyClimate changeLand sharing between cultivated and wild plants: urban gardens as hotspots for plant diversity in cities
2022Seitz B., Buchholz S., Kowarik I., Herrmann J., Neuerburg L., Wendler J., Winker L., Egerer M. · Urban Ecosystems, 25(3):927-939 · Germany (Berlin)
A survey of cultivated and spontaneously occurring wild plants in 18 community gardens across metropolitan Berlin, classifying each species as native or non-native. It found that gardens host many plant species — especially wild ones, including some endangered natives — regardless of surrounding urbanization, and that more cultivated species co-occur with more wild species (land sharing). The authors argue urban gardens can be sites of 'reconciliation ecology' that combine food production with conservation of native and wild flora.
BiodiversityCommunityPolicyThe role of the common agricultural policy in contributing to jobs and growth in EU's rural areas
2022Grodzicki T., Jankiewicz M. · PLoS ONE (PMC8812895) · Europe
A quantitative analysis of how the EU Common Agricultural Policy affects rural employment, GDP and poverty in the Baltic states, showing that higher rural employment promotes rural economic growth.
PolicyEconomicsThere Grows the City: A Long History of Urban Agriculture in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
2022Michael Carriere, David Schalliol · Journal of Urban History · United States (Milwaukee)
This historical essay documents the history of urban agriculture in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, complicating the "declensionist" narrative of the twentieth-century U.S. city. It argues that food production played a significant and often overlooked role in Milwaukee's economic, social, and spatial development, even during industrial expansion. The authors show that urban agriculture remained a viable tool for urban redevelopment, used by both public- and private-sector actors well into the twenty-first century.
EconomicsCommunityPolicyOpportunities and challenges of food policy councils in pursuit of food system sustainability and food democracy–a comparative case study from the Upper-Rhine region
2022· Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Germany (Upper Rhine)
A comparative case study of food policy councils in the Upper-Rhine region (including Germany), examining opportunities and challenges for food system sustainability and food democracy.
PolicyCommunityThe Development of Sustainable Social Farming in Italy: A Case Studies Analysis
2022· Sustainability · Italy
A case-studies analysis examining the development of sustainable social farming in Italy, addressing social inclusion and the training and employment of disadvantaged people.
WelfarePolicyChallenges and Perspectives of Social Farming in North-Eastern Italy: The Farmers' View
2022· Sustainability · Italy
A study of social farming in North-Eastern Italy from the farmers' perspective, examining challenges and prospects with a focus on the social and work inclusion of disadvantaged people.
WelfarePolicyExploring the need for innovation in greening urban environments: Reflecting on radical practice in Greater Manchester, UK
2022Adelina 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.
CommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceFood 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 & displacementWelfareCommunityPolicy