Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
193 results(5 / 8)
Farm Diversification and Sustainability of Multifunctional Peri-Urban Agriculture: Entrepreneurial Attributes of Advanced Diversification in Japan
2019Yoshida S., Yagi H., Kiminami A., Garrod G. · Sustainability 11(10):2887 · Japan
The study analyzes the sustainability of multifunctional peri-urban agriculture through the lens of farm diversification and farmers' entrepreneurial attributes. It identifies the characteristics of advanced, highly diversified farm businesses and discusses factors supporting the persistence of peri-urban agriculture in Japan.
EconomicsPolicyCommunity都市と緑・農が共生するまちづくり 優良取組事例集
2019国土交通省 都市局 公園緑地・景観課 · 国土交通省（MLIT）報告書 · Japan
A Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism casebook compiled to advance both compact urban structure and the 'coexistence of cities with green and agriculture'. It catalogues urban-farming and green-space initiatives — including resident-participation rooftop gardens, allotments and farming-led town-making by private developers and municipalities — and provides the policy backdrop for developer cases.
PolicyCommunityBiodiversityFood education低未利用空間の暫定活用 事例集
2019国土交通省 · 国土交通省 都市局 · Japan
A national casebook organising interim uses of low-/under-used land (event space, gardens, greenery) until development advances, including cases like Kawasaki's planned-road 'Kisetsu-no-komichi' and Yokohama's soil-storage reuse.
PolicyCommunityEconomics「ブランズ練馬中村南」竣工
2019東急不動産株式会社 · 東急不動産 プレスリリース資料 · Japan
Completion materials for Tokyu Fudosan's Branz Nerima Nakamura Minami condominium, planning resident-only 'Hagukumi Garden', a kitchen lounge, and compost-chair food-waste cycling in partnership with Agrimedia for food education and garden community.
CommunityHealthEconomics世田谷区農業振興計画
2019世田谷区 · 世田谷区 農業振興計画 · Japan
Setagaya's ten-year agricultural promotion plan adopted in 2019, setting basic policies and concrete measures for municipal urban agriculture including citizen farms and contact farms using the Urban Farmland Lease Facilitation Act, agriculture-welfare collaboration and sixth-industry support.
PolicyCommunityFood educationEconomics横浜都市農業推進プラン
2019横浜市 環境創造局 · 横浜市 都市農業推進計画 · Japan
Yokohama's urban agriculture promotion plan, linked to the Midori Up programme, organising policies and results for publicly supported citizen farming infrastructure including diverse citizen farms, cultivation experience farms, harvest farms and Megumi-no-Sato districts.
PolicyCommunityFood educationBiodiversity農の風景育成計画（練馬区南大泉地区）
2019練馬区, 東京都都市整備局 · 練馬区 農の風景育成地区計画 · Japan
Nerima's landscape conservation plan for Minami-Oizumi and Takamatsu under Tokyo's Agricultural Landscape Conservation District system, positioning ward allotments, experience farms, farm stands and food-education events as integrated public farmland conservation and revitalisation.
PolicyBiodiversityCommunityFood educationA Study on the Operation of the Sustainability of Community Garden
2019In Sook Jo, Jung Min Choi · Residential Environment Institute Of Korea · South Korea; Japan
A case study investigated 8 community gardens in South Korea and Japan through field surveys and in-depth interviews with managers to develop a sustainable community garden management program. Findings indicated that active participant involvement is crucial, spatial layout and management should foster community, and different elements are important at each management stage. Early planning should consider maintenance elements, and governance should be participation-based, with measures needed to attract new participants due to aging populations.
CommunityPolicy地域景観としての生活景の発見と評価方法に関する研究
2019ハジメ イシカワ, Hajime Ishikawa, 初 石川 · KeiO Associated Repository of Academic Resources (Keio University) · Japan (Tokamachi, Uji, Kamiyama)
This research aimed to establish a method for discovering, verbalizing, visualizing, and evaluating the "living scene" created by residents as a base for local identity and a local resource, and to clarify its sharing method. In 2020, in collaboration with local residents in Tokamachi City, Niigata Prefecture, and Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture, the study practiced verbalizing and sharing regional landscape elements through the production of landscape field guides. In Tokamachi City, private house gardens were measured and field guides created, while in Uji City, open spaces, green areas, and waterways were mapped, and community garden designs were proposed. In Kamiyama Town, fieldwork was abandoned due to COVID-19 countermeasures, and interview surveys were conducted using media such as telephone and email.
CommunityPolicyBiodiversityGrowth and Sustaining Strategies of Urban Agriculture Based on Interaction with Urban Residents: The Case of Kodaira City, Tokyo Metropolis
2019Ryo Iizuka, Kei Ota, Toshio Kikuchi · Journal of Geography (Chigaku Zasshi) · Japan (Kodaira City)
This study explored the growth and sustaining strategies of urban agriculture based on diversified agricultural management and interactions with urban residents, using Kodaira City, Tokyo Metropolis, as a case study. Analysis of previous literature, public survey data on the spatial distribution and classification of agricultural management patterns, and interviews with farmers revealed interactions between farmers and urban residents. In Kodaira City, interactions exist between farms and urban residents based on agricultural management, with distinct patterns influenced by local characteristics. These interaction styles prevent excessive competition, attract stable customers, and enable sustainable management.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsUrban–rural linkageCurrent Status and Future Perspectives of Research about Urban Farming in Tokyo
2019Mitsuhito HOSAKA, Takeshi Sato · JOURNAL OF RURAL PLANNING ASSOCIATION · Japan
This paper reviewed research trends on urban farming in Tokyo, focusing on public benefits of Tokyo's agriculture and farmland, agricultural business management, and the effects of urban farmland policies like the Amendment of Productive Green Land Act. The research identified the necessity for sustainable academic research, improved databases for quantitative analysis, and economic evaluation of intensive agricultural production technology.
PolicyEconomicsUrban–rural linkageCommunityFood Waste Recovery with Takakura Portable Compost Boxes in Offices and Working Places
2018Jiménez-Antillón, J., Calleja-Amador, C., Romero-Esquivel, L. G. · Resources (MDPI), 7(4):84 · Global (Costa Rica; Japan-origin method)
A field study placing the Kitakyushu-origin 'Takakura' composting method—widely diffused in Surabaya, Indonesia—as small portable boxes in university offices and workplaces in Costa Rica. Processing food waste from 45 staff over six months, it shows that low-cost, citizen/workplace-scale fermentation composting is viable.
CompostFood lossOrganic cycleCommunity都市農地の貸借の円滑化に関する法律の概要
2018· 農林水産省 · Japan
Official explanation of the 2018 Urban Farmland Lease Facilitation Act, which lets motivated urban farmers, companies, and NPOs lease productive greenland to cultivate or open community farms, excludes statutory lease renewal, and preserves the inheritance-tax deferral after leasing.
PolicyEconomicsCommunityResilience with Mixed Agricultural and Urban Land Uses in Tokyo, Japan
2018Sioen G.B., Terada T., Sekiyama M., Yokohari M. · Sustainability 10(2):435 · Japan
Using GIS grid-cell analysis, the study quantified vegetable-weight and key-nutrient self-sufficiency for each land-use pattern in Tokyo, showing how mixed agricultural and urban land uses contribute to resilience. Tokyo's fruit-and-vegetable self-sufficiency was estimated at 4.27% currently with a potential of 11.73%.
PolicyEconomicsCommunity低未利用土地利用促進協定
2018国土交通省 · 国土交通省 · Japan
Under the Urban Renaissance Act, municipalities and owners of low-/under-used land can agree to develop and manage it temporarily as plazas, community gardens and greenery — part of Japan's response to urban 'sponging'.
PolicyCommunity大都市郊外住宅地の再生における民間企業の参画に関する研究 －企業・住民・行政へのインタビュー調査を中心に－
2018平江 良成, 小泉 秀樹, 後藤 智香子 · 都市計画報告集 17巻2号 pp.195-201 · Japan
With an author from Tokyu Corporation, this interview-based study analyzes how private firms participate in suburban housing-area regeneration and the conditions required, arguing that developers must engage through composite services including community facilities and new business formats.
CommunityPolicyEconomics空家活用等による「東京クラインガルテン」実現方策検討調査 報告書
2018国土交通省 都市局, 八王子市「東京クラインガルテン」検討協議会 · 国土交通省 都市と緑・農が共生するまちづくりに関する調査 · Japan
Using Hachioji as a case, this MLIT report examines leveraging private vitality for vacant homes, farmland, and green space, including site visits and interviews on corporate kitchen gardens and business simulations for rental gardens around housing areas and danchi.
PolicyCommunityEconomics農業経営・交流の両面からみた農業体験農園の役割─東京都練馬区農業体験農園を事例として─
2018藤井 至, 稲葉 修武, 藤田 武弘 · 農業市場研究 27巻1号 pp.12- · Japan
Based on hearings with all Nerima experience-farm operators and user surveys, this paper analyzes how publicly subsidised experience farms support farm management and community exchange, empirically showing effects on profitability, successors and local understanding.
CommunityEconomicsFood educationPolicyElderly名古屋市農業振興基本方針 なごやアグリライフプラン
2018名古屋市 · 名古屋市 農業振興基本方針 · Japan
Nagoya's basic urban agriculture policy positioning publicly operated citizen farms — Nogomi, community and Minori gardens — and resident-farmer connections as core pillars of municipal support.
PolicyCommunityFood educationEconomicsH29年度 都市と農・緑が共生するまちづくりに関する調査 都市部未利用地のコミュニティ農園活用方策検討調査 報告書
2018特定非営利活動法人 Co.to.hana, 金田 康孝 · 国土交通省 都市と農・緑が共生するまちづくりに関する調査（平成29年度） · Japan (Osaka)
Co.to.hana's second-year MLIT study codifying how to reproduce Minna-no-uen's effects — activity data analysis since 2011, international comparables, intermediary-organisation needs, trial social-impact metrics, published as this report and at minnanouen.jp/research.
PolicyCommunityEconomicsDIYBiodiversityThe Role and Significance of Coordinators for Community-Supported Agriculture
2018Kota OGUCHI · The Annals of Japan Association for Urban Sociology · Japan (Saitama City)
This article studies the impact of coordinators for Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs, using the Kome Mame project in Saitama City, Japan, as a case study. The Kome Mame project is a collaborative effort involving organic farms, a for-profit company, and an NPO, where the NPO coordinates matchmaking between farmers and companies, builds mechanisms for distribution channel development, and facilitates human-resource exchanges and stakeholder relationships. The study suggests that the coordinator's role as a manager of the relationship between food and agriculture will become increasingly important, and the challenge is whether this role can be established as a socially recognized profession.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityUrban–rural linkage都市農業地域の6次産業化におけるソーシャル・キャピタルの重要性 : 愛知県長久手町（現長久手市）の取り組みを事例として
2018Ryo Kawabe, Hiroshi Sakazume · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan (Nagakute City)
This paper analyzes the importance of social capital in the sixth industrialization of urban agricultural areas, using a case study from Nagakute-cho (now Nagakute City), Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The study found that the sixth industry is an efficient strategy for managing and demonstrating the multiple functions of urban agriculture, farm villages, and agriculture itself, with social capital being a crucial driving force. Nagakute City's initiatives, based on the "Countryside Valley Initiative," were successful, leading to the emergence of an integrated form of social capital combining government-led bonding with bridging among various local residents.
EconomicsCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageABITARE NISHI-TOKYO. SCENARIO PROGETTUALEPER UN QUARTIERE AGRICOLO.
2018Mattia Scarpellino · · Japan (Tokyo)
This architectural design thesis proposes a redesign of a peripheral area of Tokyo, specifically Nishi-Tokyo, which exhibits both urban and rural characteristics. The study explored how to integrate agri-food production activities in a large metropolitan suburb, its potential social role, and the dynamics generated in relation to contemporary living. Through literature review on living, urbanization, functional nomadism, and digitalization, analysis of urban agriculture aspects focusing on community gardens, and participation in a Tokyo workshop, design scenarios were simulated.
Urban–rural linkageCommunityPolicy東京における改修による菜園付きオープンスペースで経験される都市空間の質
2018グエン トラン イェン カン, 涼 村田 · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan (Tokyo)
This study clarifies users' roles in urban space creation by examining two renovated open spaces with urban gardening (OSUG) in Tokyo. Through a mixed survey, the spatial settings and user experiences were analyzed, revealing quality parameters such as "usage," "space affordance," and "image of identity." These factors illustrate seven OSUG scenarios, from private resting spots to public playgrounds and community gardens.
CommunityDIYHealthHealth Benefits of Urban Allotment Gardening: Improved Physical and Psychological Well-Being and Social Integration
2017Soga M., Cox D.T.C., Yamaura Y., Gaston K.J., Kurisu K., Hanaki K. · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(1):71 · Japan
A questionnaire survey of 332 allotment gardeners and non-gardeners in Tokyo compared five self-reported outcomes: perceived general health, physical complaints, BMI, mental health and social cohesion. Allotment gardeners reported better general health, fewer complaints, better mental health and greater social cohesion, indicating that urban allotment gardening can improve residents' physical and mental health and community ties.
HealthCommunityWelfare