Research & reports

Xiomara Asunción, Moreno Lorenzo, Reynier Rodríguez Rico, Eduardo San, Marful Orbis · · Cuba (Cienfuegos)

This study aimed to characterize urban agriculture in Cienfuegos city, Cuba, and identify strategic axes for the further implementation of its land use and urban plan. Through SWOT analysis and variable identification and spatial analysis using GIS, the positive and negative impacts of urban agriculture on the urban, environmental, economic, and social spheres were determined, leading to the enunciation of strategic priorities for urban planning. This article reports on this experience.

Marzieh Rezaei Qaleh, Hossein Medi, Mahdi Sheybani · Cumhuriyet Science Journal · Iran (Qazvin City)

This study investigated the role of urban agriculture in sustaining the urban environment, using Qazvin City, Iran, as a case study. Qazvin City, historically surrounded by traditional gardens that created a favorable urban environment, is now experiencing the destruction of these garden environments due to development processes, posing a risk of breaking the chain of environmental sustainability. The research, based on content analysis through observation and document study, proposed solutions considering environmental concerns, including preserving old irrigation methods, restoring native plant species, and focusing on existing water resources.

Abdoul-Ramane Abdoulaye, Aboudou Yacoubou Mama Aboudou Ramanou · Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection · Benin (Parakou)

This study examined urban market-gardening in Parakou, Benin, as a solution for rural farmers migrating to the city, given the city's population growth and 65% poverty rate. Using documentary research, interviews, and field observation, the study found that market-gardening areas have evolved, reducing food insecurity through consistent produce availability. It also contributes to environmental protection by draining urban areas and preserving vegetable diversity, while increasing farmers' household incomes and creating employment.

Silene Maciel dos Santos, Samuel Ferreira da Fonseca, Luiz Andrei Gonçalves Pereira · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Brazil (Pirapora-MG)

This study analyzed the spatial distribution of urban agricultural activities in the Sagrada Família neighborhood, Pirapora-MG, Brazil, through a literature review. It examined urban agriculture practices, their socio-economic role, and the problems and challenges faced by urban agriculture actors in the neighborhood. The study concluded that the identified issues suggest urban agriculture as an emancipatory process.

Dominique Juhé-Beaulaton · · Benin

This study explores the history of urban agriculture in the ancient kingdom of Dahomey (present-day Benin) since the 17th century, using European traveler narratives and oral information. It reveals that cities like Abomey, Cana, and Ouidah were centers of agricultural innovation and plant preservation, with farming present in interstitial spaces. Early European contact fostered truck-farming, and colonial administration introduced agricultural stations and new town planning, yet local and European agricultural models coexisted without competition.

徐晶, 吴聪 · 中国土地 · China (Wuhan)

This paper analyzes the practice and problems of "multi-plan integration" in Wuhu Street, Huangpi District, Wuhan City, a rapidly urbanizing area dominated by modern urban agriculture. Wuhu Street faces issues such as the disorderly sprawl of construction land and low land use efficiency. The study proposes targeted policy recommendations based on these findings.

Haoluan Wang, Brent Swallow · 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California · Canada (Edmonton)

This research aims to assess the multiple values of agricultural land in the Alberta Capital Region, Canada, where significant agricultural land conversion has occurred. The study's objectives are to estimate residents' values for conserving land in different agricultural uses, explore links between these values and residents' affinity for ecosystem goods and services, and identify public interest areas for agricultural conservation. The methodology began with focus group discussions.

Ursula Lang · ENLIGHTEN (Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam) · Global

This article argues that existing alternatives to factory foods often rely on nostalgic models of rural purity, limiting the incorporation of new urban farming methods. Cultural associations with rural purity and urban pollution have led to an oversight of cities' potential to provide fresh, seasonal, and local foods by focusing on standard, horizontal spatial relationships.

V. Ernesto Mendez, Christopher M. Bacon, Roseann Cohen, Stephen R. Gliessman · Agroecology · United States

This chapter discusses the rise of movements for just and sustainable food systems in the United States over the last 15 years, encompassing areas like urban agriculture and food sovereignty. It notes that while most practitioners in US alternative agrifood movements do not use the term "agroecology," they share similar principles. The chapter also describes the evolution of agroecology from a farm-scale focus to a systems-based, transdisciplinary approach for sustainable food systems.

Mohd Yazid Mohd Yunos, Neda Jafari, Utaberta Nangkula, Nor Atiah Ismail, Sumarni Ismail, Nastaran Jafari · · Malaysia

This study examined high-rise building residents' preferences for rooftop gardens to promote urban agriculture in condominiums in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Malaysia. A quantitative survey questionnaire revealed that most participants showed a positive correlation with having a rooftop garden in their living area. Rooftop gardens were found to reduce environmental problems and contribute to microclimate improvement.

胡卿 · 江西农业 · China (Nanchang)

In recent years, Nanchang City, China, has actively promoted the transformation of conventional agriculture into modern urban agriculture, focusing on developing urban modern agriculture. In 2014, the city added one "Beautiful China Farmland," one national-level leisure agriculture demonstration site, nine national leisure agriculture star enterprises, and six provincial-level leisure agriculture demonstration sites.

· Urban Ecology · China (Beijing)

This article discusses the pivotal role of soil in urban green spaces (UGS) for maintaining urban ecosystem services, including food production, in the Beijing Metropolitan Region. Urban soils serve as large pools of carbon, nitrogen, and other elements, supporting plant growth and biogeochemical cycles. Quantifying soil properties and understanding soil conditions are essential for assessing UGS ecosystem services and detecting pollution.

FU Jun-hon · Tianjin Agricultural Sciences · China (Tianjin)

Using a survey method, this article analyzed the situation and problems of the processing industry of origin for six main agricultural products—grain and oil, vegetables, meat, dairy products, aquatic products, and fruit—in Tianjin during the twelfth five-year plan. The paper presents key development tasks and concrete countermeasures for Tianjin's agricultural product origin processing industry.

Giuseppe Cinà, Francesco Di Iacovo · PORTO Publications Open Repository TOrino (Politecnico di Torino) · Italy

This paper examines urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in Italy, identifying challenges in its planning, including the traditional exclusion of agricultural areas from territorial planning and the lack of local agricultural policy. The study highlights a disconnect between top-down policies and bottom-up practices, noting that numerous autonomous initiatives have emerged due to insufficient regional and local planning solutions. The authors conclude that overcoming the limitations of the top-down planning system, particularly in governance and inclusiveness, is a primary challenge for Italy.

Daniele La Rosa, Riccardo Privitera · Acta Geobalcanica · Italy (Catania)

This paper evaluates the provision of Ecosystem Services (ES) along three urban-rural transects in the metropolitan area of Catania, southern Italy. Land-use categories were assessed using GIS spatial analysis for their potential ES provision. Results indicate that agricultural lands are the most important landscape features for providing ES, both in terms of their spatial extension and the number of services offered.

Valerio Moretti, Adele Sateriano, Marco Zitti, Luca Salvati · · Europe

This article discusses the relationship between landscape and peri-urban agriculture and its implications for rural area management in the northern Mediterranean basin. It proposes a framework to evaluate the links between agro-forest systems and expanding urban settlements. The study advocates for a sustainable land management perspective in policies to preserve fringe land from excessive settlement scattering and landscape fragmentation, contributing to systemic and multi-scale approaches for territorial policies and integrated management of peri-urban agricultural landscapes.

Wojciech Sroka, Bernd Pölling · Zeszyty Naukowe SGGW w Warszawie - Problemy Rolnictwa Światowego · Europe

This paper evaluated the potential and importance of agriculture in the Ruhr Metropolis and the Upper Silesian Metropolis, two large European metropolitan areas. Urban agriculture was shown to be an important spatial component, with almost 40% of these areas consisting of agricultural land. Analysis revealed that their agricultural potential is comparable to the overall regions in terms of average farm size, employment ratio, and intensity of animal and plant production. The study concluded that agriculture in the Ruhr Metropolis has significantly higher production potential than in the Upper Silesian Metropolis, despite similar natural environments.

Emanuele Blasi, Clara Cicatiello, Barbara Pancino, Silvio Franco · Agricultural and Food Economics · Italy

Peri-urban agriculture is exposed to pressures toward diversification and multifunctionality, developing differently depending on territorial features. A paper studies the case of Trentino, an Italian Alpine region where the ratio of urban to rural domain is heavily skewed toward the latter and farms face environmental problems that jeopardize their competitiveness in mainstream markets, comparing the development of alternative food chains there with other Italian peri-urban areas. The mountain environment makes it difficult for farms to standardize products to large retailers' requirements, but alternative food chains endorse and communicate to the market the typicality of products and farmers' savoir-faire, the two main factors of added value. Survey data from short food chain consumers show they are inherently more attentive to these product cues, as a result of a lifestyle more attached to identity and origins, and prouder of their territory. These findings confirm that, given its structural and cultural traits, alternative food markets in the Trentino area are meaningful for the survival and development of the local agricultural sector.

André Viljoen, Johannes Schlesinger, Katrin Bohn, Alex Drescher · University of Brighton Repository (University of Brighton) · Global

A refereed book chapter commissioned by the international RUAF Foundation and the international Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems, supported by the FAO and the CGIAR research consortium, appears in a book conceived as a decennial "state of the art" publication on international developments in urban agriculture. It presents an overview of developments and drivers affecting intra- and peri-urban agriculture, drawing on the authors' research on integrating agriculture into urban and city-region land use planning and urban space design. Citing examples from the Global North and South and themes from an international Arts and Humanities Research Network led by Viljoen and Bohn, it offers an international perspective on spatial and policy impacts in this rapidly transforming practice.

惠子 重冨, Keiko Shigetomi · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Global

This paper examines the transformation of the integrated harmony system in the indigenous Andean worldview of the Central Andes — combining "harmony with nature" and "harmony among communities," historically centered on llama caravans — as it erodes under modernization, urbanization, industrialization and mass consumerism. As the market economy gains importance, indigenous peasants are converted into agricultural producers, and mutual relations among rural communities give way to an increasingly invisible relationship between producers and consumers; yet the paper also identifies an emerging tendency toward solidarity between producers and consumers that values both ecological and social sustainability while using the market. It cites Ecological Agriculture promoted by the Asociación de Organizaciones de Productores Ecológicos de Bolivia (AOPEB) and Urban Agriculture promoted by the FAO as examples of this new trend toward harmonic integration.

Luisa Pedrazzini · TERRITORIO · Europe

This dossier compiles contributions from an international workshop, "Spatial and Landscape Planning and Design in EU and Lombardy," held at Politecnico di Milano in June 2013. It presents experiences from the EU, Île-de-France, Lombardy, and the United States, highlighting the distinctive features of peri-urban space and landscape and the potential of peri-urban agriculture.

Mélissa Jean · Refugee Survey Quarterly · United States

A qualitative study using participant observation and in-depth interviews examined the role of farming activities in the place-making processes of 30 refugees participating in a local urban farming program in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, after resettlement. Seventeen of the participants, from Burundi, Sudan, Bhutan, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad and Cuba, took part in in-depth interviews, which showed farming activities embodying both assimilation and resistance post-transition, leading to the conclusion that continued access to agricultural activity carries material and emotional benefits for refugees with agrarian backgrounds.

Beatriz Giobellina, Yuliana Céliz · Repositorio Digital de la UNC (National University of Cordoba) · Europe

This paper was presented at the International Seminar on Territorial Development and Innovation Policy, held in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina, and Valencia, Spain, in 2015. The available abstract provides only this presentation context, with no further detail on content or findings.

Melanie Clark · Educational Media Reviews Online · United States

This is a review of Growing Cities, a 2013 documentary film (92 minutes) directed by Dan Susman and produced by Susman, Andrew Monbouquette, and Dana Altman. The film follows the two filmmakers' journey from their hometown of Omaha across the United States—to San Francisco, Detroit, New York, New Orleans, and Austin—surveying urban farms, noting that U.S. urban farming culture traces to World War II Victory Gardens, when 40 percent of the country's vegetables were produced in home and community gardens; it profiles New York's rooftop farms as adaptive reuse, a Detroit farm in an area where healthy food is hard to obtain, farms employing people who would otherwise struggle to find work, and a New Orleans farm functioning as a program for at-risk youth, closing with the filmmakers' own mobile garden project and the message to "grow where you are."

CBC News · CBC News · Canada

This 2 October 2015 CBC News article reports that Common Roots Urban Farm, in its fourth year on the site of the former Queen Elizabeth High School in Halifax (obtained through a land swap with the former Capital Health Authority), offers 175 community garden plots and a 'nibble garden' open to anyone, and grows food for the Parker Street Food Bank. Facing a funding shortfall as traditional revenue streams dried up, the farm launched a fundraising drive—including a contemplative guided walk and a 1 November harvest party—aiming to raise $8,000 CAD by the end of October.