Research & reports

Henderson S. R. · Peter Lang (Studies in Modern European History, vol. 64) · Germany

A comprehensive history of Ernst May's New Frankfurt initiative within the Weimar context, covering housing settlements, construction and material innovations, the parks-and-garden-colony program, the Frankfurt Kitchen, and reforms in schools and medical facilities.

Jaquand C. · In Situ. Revue des patrimoines, no. 21 · Germany

Examines Migge's landscape designs for urban extensions in Berlin, Frankfurt and Dessau and his organic city-garden relationship based on recycling water and urban waste, including the evolving self-sufficient settlement system of his 1932 book.

Yves Cabannes, Isabel María Raposo · City · Europe

This paper conducted a comparative analysis of peri-urban agriculture in Lisbon and London to assess its contribution to migrant social inclusion and urban biodiversity. The study found that social inclusion patterns are city-specific; for example, Cape Verdean urban farming communities in Lisbon strengthen community bonds but do not necessarily lead to better integration into wider Portuguese society. Migrant urban farmers contribute to broadening biodiversity, primarily in Lisbon and to a lesser extent in London.

Pierluigi Musarò, Roberta Bartoletti · Archivio istituzionale della ricerca (Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna) · United States (New York City), Italy, Europe

This study maps urban gardening in New York City and Italy, tracing the evolution of urban gardens from 19th-century worker gardens to the 1970s community garden movement. It notes that contemporary urban horticulture in Italy, while influenced by the US movement, primarily focuses on social, cultural, and civic-political values, with economic and productive potential not being central or sometimes excluded.

Marit Rosol · Antipode · Germany (Berlin)

Documents how Berlin's municipal policy of promoting community gardening was an attempt to outsource public green-space maintenance to unpaid volunteers under 'roll-back'/'roll-out' neoliberalism. Based on empirical research, it shows the outsourcing strategy largely FAILED (volunteers could not sustain provision) while opening space for other private interests.

Kate Metcalf, Julia Minnear, Tabitha Kleinert, Victoria Tedder · Local Economy The Journal of the Local Economy Policy Unit · United Kingdom (East London)

This practitioner's perspective discusses how the Women’s Environmental Network organizes support and training for community gardens in East London. It considers how these efforts contribute to local resilience against economic and cultural pressures and create greater access to green spaces.

J. McLean · · United Kingdom

This research focused on the re-imagining of identity through volunteer work at Spitalfields Community Farm in Tower Hamlets, London. It specifically investigated how Bangladeshi-Londoni diaspora volunteers contributed to creating this urban rural space and how, through their imagining of this space, they consciously sought to remember their homeland while establishing a new sense of identity in London.

Chris Firth, Damian Maye, David Pearson · Local Environment · United Kingdom (Nottingham)

This paper presents an exploratory investigation of two community gardens in Nottingham, UK, examining the nature of "community" and its benefits. Case-study results indicate that community gardens foster cohesion and vitality, generating bonding, bridging, and linking social capital. The study identifies two categories: "place-based" gardens, which are territorially embedded, and "interest-based" gardens, which may span diverse communities.

Nerea Morán Alonso, Agustín Hernández Aja · · Europe

This historical review traces the functions and characteristics of urban agriculture (UA) in Western cities. It notes that UA flourished during economic and energy crises for self-sufficiency, serving subsistence, hygiene, and social control in the 19th century and patriotic functions during 20th-century world wars. Since the 1970s, UA projects have focused on local development, social integration, and environmental education, led by community and ecological organizations.

Elizabeth Day · Crossings Journal of Migration and Culture · United Kingdom

This visual essay reflects on the ideas and processes of migration, mutation, and transplantation. Inspired by Robert Smithson's work, the author's art practice is intimately connected to the earth, exploring deterritorialization and reterritorialization in the creation of earthworks. The author examines Tasmanians' special connection to the earth through two photographic series: depictions of their own earthworks and a series created with women in a women's prison centered on the theme of a 'community garden'.

Haney D. H. · Routledge · Germany

The first book to fully document Migge's life and work, presenting him as a central figure across garden reform, urban planning, the Siedlungen housing movement, and organic architecture and planning, with extensive archival illustrations.

Van den Berg A. E., Van Winsum-Westra M., De Vries S., Van Dillen S. M. E. · Environmental Health · Netherlands

Comparative survey of Dutch allotment gardeners and non-gardening neighbors finding gardeners, especially older adults, scored better on health, wellbeing, physical activity, and social contacts, evidencing welfare benefits of shared urban gardening.

Zoia Komirenko, D.M. Hoermann, Komirenko, Z., Hoermann, D.M. · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Ukraine (Kyiv)

This study surveyed 240 Kyiv households with urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in 2005 using a standardized questionnaire. Data collected covered production, inputs, sales, and the importance of plots for self-sufficiency, recreation, and leisure. Cluster analysis identified four groups of UPA users, revealing that the importance of UPA shifts from livelihood necessity to recreational resource, or combines both, depending on the plot type.

Silverman D. P. · Central European History, Vol. 3, No. 1–2, pp. 112–139 · Germany

Examines the Weimar constitution's pledge of adequate housing (Article 155) and how chronic shortages and postwar upheaval left it unrealized, providing the institutional backdrop to settlement and housing policy.