Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
1545 results(51 / 62)
Spatial Heterogeneity Of Urban Soils: The Case Of The Beijing Metropolitan Region, China
2015· 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.
BiodiversityClimate changeOrganic cycleUrban–rural linkageThe Agricultural District of Milan (Dam) and the peri-urban agriculture at ‘Parco delle Risaie'
2015Gioia Gibelli · TERRITORIO · Italy (Milan)
Agriculture has long been an important resource for Milan and its surroundings, with its significance increasing in recent years. Agricultural areas near the city can enhance urban metabolism and citizens' quality of life through ecosystem and landscape services, providing cultural and environmental services, and improving urban resilience. In this context, two important initiatives, the Agricultural District of Milan (DAM) and 'Parco delle Risaie', have been underway in Milan since 2008.
Peri-urban agricultureCommunityPolicyBiodiversityClimate changeGlobal assessment of urban and peri-urban agriculture: irrigated and rainfed croplands
2014Anne Thebo, Pay Drechsel, Éric F. Lambin · Environmental Research Letters · Global
This study used spatial overlay analysis of global cropland and urban extent data to estimate the global area of urban and peri-urban irrigated and rainfed croplands. Urban irrigated croplands were estimated at approximately 24 Mha (11.0% of all irrigated croplands) with a cropping intensity of 1.48. Urban rainfed croplands were estimated at about 44 Mha (4.7% of all rainfed croplands) with a cropping intensity of 1.03. Additionally, 60% of all irrigated croplands and 35% of all rainfed croplands were found within 20 km of urban extents.
Urban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changeFarming Cuba: Urban Agriculture From the Ground Up
2014Carey Clouse · · Cuba (Havana)
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Cuba developed a significant urban agriculture initiative. By 1998, Havana alone had over 8,000 urban farms, producing nearly half of the country's vegetables. This grassroots effort evolved into the largest sustainable agriculture program, establishing Cuba as a world leader in urban farming.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyClimate changeResearch on development strategy of urban agriculture based on customer value
2014Long Cheng-zh · Guangdong nongye kexue · Global
This article, based on comprehensive literature research, proposes a framework for an urban agriculture strategic development plan. The framework is rooted in customer value theory, focusing on modern industry competition and strategic theory. It suggests that the strategic approach for urban agriculture should fully activate the entrepreneurial spirit of market participants while maintaining its quasi-public product attributes.
EconomicsPolicyHealthCommunityClimate changeEffets de l’apport de produits résiduaires organiques sur le stockage de carbone, les émissions de gaz à effet de serre et la lixiviation du nitrate dans les sols agricoles périurbains
2014Emmanuelle Vaudour, Christine Aubry, Liliane Bel, Laëtitia Bréchet, Philippe Cambier, Yves Coquet, Karim Dhaouadi, Veronique V. Etievant, Benoît Gabrielle, Jean-Marc J.-M. Gilliot, Jean Christophe Gueudet, Dalila Hadjar, Jonas Hamiache, Sabine Houot, Christophe Labat, Patricia Laville, Raia Silvia Massad, Joël Michelin, Paul Emile Noirot Cosson, Jean-Noël Rampon · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · France
The PROSTOCK project aimed to spatially assess the potential of recycling organic waste (exogenous organic matter, EOM) to improve soil organic carbon stocks (SCS) in peri-urban agricultural areas. It also evaluated the impacts of EOM use on greenhouse gas emissions and nitrate leaching. The Versailles Plain and Alluets Plateau (221 km²) were chosen as the study region, with field and lab measurements collected from over 250 point locations. The project advanced the use of imaging data for estimating topsoil organic carbon content (SOC) from soil reflectance spectra, but found that medium spatial resolution multispectral satellite images do not discriminate changes in SOC resulting from EOM applications.
Organic cycleCompostClimate changePeri-urban agricultureMission San Jose Well Initiative
2014Mary Foran, Nonda Kozas, Daniel Lafranchi · Scholar Commons (Santa Clara University) · United States (California)
The Mission San Jose Well Initiative is a community-based project in Fremont, California, aiming to develop a sustainable irrigation system for a community garden. The system will utilize one of three wells on the Dominican Sisters' Convent property, employing a submersible solar-powered pump to deliver water to a storage tank, which then supplies the garden and other areas via a timer. The project focuses on environmental and water resource design, balancing budget, functionality, and location.
CommunityClimate changeOrganic cycleCommunity gardens as pathways to community resilience? Reflections on a pilot study in Adelaide, South Australia
2014Melissa Nursey‐Bray, ELEANOR PARNELL, Rachel A. Ankeny, Heather Bray, Dianne Rudd · South Australian Geographical Journal · Australia (Adelaide)
This paper discusses the role of community gardens in enhancing community resilience, using a case study in Adelaide, South Australia. The study concludes that community gardens offer the possibility of building community resilience and social cohesion, in addition to providing urban green space, amidst increasing challenges from urbanization, pollution, and climate change.
CommunityClimate changeBiodiversityUrban Environmental Quality and Sustainable Food Sourcing: A Spatial Approach Using Italian Provincial Data
2014Massimiliano Agovino, Antonio Garofalo, Angela Mariani · RIVISTA DI STUDI SULLA SOSTENIBILITA · Italy
This paper assessed and compared the urban environmental quality performance of Italian provinces using the Legambiente Index and the Local Moran Transition Probability Matrix. The results revealed a persistent dualism between Northern and Southern Italy and a lack of positive environmental spillover among neighboring provinces. The study suggests that Southern Italy should prioritize improving sustainable food sourcing for urban development.
HealthPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceClimate change도시농업을 위한 빗물이용시설 최적 설계용량 산정
2014권경호 · 한국생태환경건축학회 학술발표대회 논문집 · South Korea
This study aimed to support the decision of design volume for small rainwater cisterns for urban farming. Using the STORM Rainfall-Runoff Model, a computer simulation was conducted to determine optimal design capacities under specific unit catchment and farming area circumstances. The findings provide guidance for designing rainwater harvesting facilities for urban agriculture.
Climate changeCommunityDIYClimate benefits and environmental challenges related to urban food systems
2014S.J.E. Verzandvoort, G. Mol, Suzanne van der Meulen, Niels van Oostrom · Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) · Global
This literature review collected knowledge on the potential benefits of urban agriculture within local food systems for climate change mitigation and adaptation. It found that the effects of urban agriculture depend on the specific agricultural practice and the difference from previous land use. Certain types of urban agriculture can alter the urban environment, influencing climate adaptation or contributing to mitigation through lower energy inputs.
Climate changeOrganic cycleUrban agricultural typologies and the need to quantify their potential to reduce a city's environmental 'foodprint'
2014Benjamin Goldstein, Morten Birkved, Michael Zwicky Hauschild, John Fernández · · Global
The supply chain supporting urban food consumption currently stresses the environment at planetary, regional, and local scales. Urban agriculture (UA) is claimed to mitigate environmental burdens from urban food needs, but the veracity of these claims remains inconclusive. This study addressed the lack of meaningful systematics by developing a system that categorizes UA into five broad types, optimized for comparing environmental performance.
Climate changeUrban–rural linkageEconomicsEnvironmental Perspective of Urban Agriculture in Debre Markos Town, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia
2014Maru Abebaw Berhanu, Juliet Akola · VNU Journal of Science: Natural Sciences and Technology (Vietnam National University) · Ethiopia
A descriptive study in Debre Markos Town, Ethiopia, involving 152 farmers/enterprises and 8 officials, identified major types of urban agriculture, stakeholders, environmental challenges, and benefits. Findings indicated that animal husbandry is the most common urban agricultural activity, and stakeholders' environmental concern was very low. 55.9% of urban agriculture's environmental challenges, such as waste dumping, soil loss, and biodiversity loss, were attributed to a lack of environmental attention.
CommunityClimate changePOPULAÇÃO-AMBIENTE. DESENVOLVIMENTO E AGRICULTURA URBANA NUM MUNICIPIO DE HAVANA, CUBA
2014Gilberto Javier Cabrera Trimñio · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Cuba (Havana)
In Cuba, urban agriculture is viewed as a movement to produce food in available urban spaces using local resources under sustainable ecological principles. While large cities like Havana cannot achieve food self-sufficiency, implementing agricultural programs there can foster an understanding of the population-environment-development relationship, which is crucial for public policies addressing environmental vulnerability and climate change impacts.
Food sovereignty & justicePolicyClimate changeCommunityPermaculture Design: On the Practice of Radical Imagination
2014Katja Rothe · Scholarworks (University of Massachusetts Amherst) · Global
This article examines permaculture design, developed by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, not only as an application of systems theory but also as a form of figurative, ecological reasoning. Permaculture challenges the division between theory and practice, or rationality and sensibility, inextricably linking these modes of knowledge in explorations of patterns. Specifically, it describes permaculture design thought through three aspects: visual thinking in patterns, the role of radical imagination and speculation, and systems theory thought drawing from the Gaia hypothesis.
DIYCommunityUrban–rural linkageClimate changeClimate action partnership : moving UBC beyond climate neutral
2014Kit Yieng Chan, Michelle Chan, Oi Yan Chan, Thomas Y.K. Chan, Tsz Mei Chan, Sharon B. Chang, Kenrick Chau, Tarik Chelali · cIRcle (University of British Columbia) · Canada
Research at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada, investigated whether rooftop gardens could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and food transportation carbon emissions. While edible landscapes could potentially assist with climate goals, they require careful selection of crops, buildings, and resources. Preliminary calculations indicated that rooftop and community gardens would do very little to reduce the UBC campus's dependency on imported food.
Limited or null effectClimate changeFood miles & supply chainCommunityDIYCity Farmer: Adventures in Urban Food Growing
2014Michael Classens · UnderCurrents Journal of Critical Environmental Studies · Global
This is a review of Lorraine Johnson's book "City Farmer: Adventures in Urban Food Growing" by Michael Classens. Johnson argues that small-scale 'city farmers' are the vanguard of an emerging transformation of the contemporary food system, despite urban farming being more prefigurative than productive in aggregate. The book reveals the potential in interstitial urban spaces for food production and urges a reimagining of our relationship to cities as farms.
DIYCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changeSpatial differentiation of urban agricultural ecosystem services—A case study of Xi’an metropolitan zone
2014Haijian Feng, Zhongxue Zhou · Zhongguo shengtai nongye xuebao · China (Xi'an)
This study analyzed the spatial differentiation of urban agricultural functions in the Xi'an metropolitan zone, China, using ArcGIS grid technology at a 0.5 km × 0.5 km scale. Findings showed that production-economic function increased from southwest to northeast and from near-suburban to mid-far-suburban plains, while employment function was lower in the Qinling mountainous area than in plains. Cultural-leisure function exhibited a concentric spatial structure, and ecological function decreased from the urban periphery to the center, with severe fragmentation of ecological function value distribution areas.
BiodiversityClimate changeUrban–rural linkageEffects of climate change on a peri-urban farming community in Lagos, Nigeria
2014Taibat Lawanson, Olabode Orelaja, Michael Simire · African Journal of Science Technology Innovation and Development · Nigeria (Lagos)
This case study investigated the effects of climate change on agricultural activities in the Igbe Farming Community, Lagos, Nigeria, by surveying 161 farmers. The study found that most migrant farmers leased plots annually or biennially and made marginal profits of $200 to $350 per farming cycle. Erratic weather patterns and aggressive urban growth were major challenges, leading 48% of respondents to engage in informal enterprises.
Economic viabilityPeri-urban agricultureClimate changeEconomicsCommunity도시농업의 이론, 패러다임 및 유형 분석을 통한 지속가능한 개발방향에 관한 연구
2014한주형, 장동민 · · Global
This study aimed to propose sustainable development directions for urban agriculture by analyzing its theories, paradigms, and types. It classified urban agriculture definitions into five types, identified four similar concepts, and defined sustainable urban agriculture theory using four keywords: eco-environmentalism, human socialism, high-tech, and capital economy. The study also derived 16 development types for urban agriculture, suggesting its evolution into a "new 6th industry" through a feedback linkage from primary to fifth industries.
Urban–rural linkagePolicyEconomicsClimate changeDigital agricultureUrban Farming and Transition Towns Initiatives: Practices and Paths of Urban Regeneration
2014Maurizio Bergamaschi, Marco Castrignanò, Alessandra Landi · Journal of Nutritional Ecology and Food Research · Global
This paper examines community vegetable gardens and Transition Towns initiatives. It finds that these experiences contribute to sustainable urban development, improve environmental health and quality of life, reshape urban image and morphology, and enhance cities as forms of social cohesion.
CommunityClimate changeHealthA MULTIDIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE GREAT GREEN WALL: THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL EFFECTS OF REAFFORESTATION IN SENEGAL
2014Anna Eugenia Alsobrook · · Senegal
This in-progress assessment investigates the Great Green Wall (GGW) reafforestation project in north-central Senegal, which aims to restore degraded land and improve local lives. Using field experiences, interviews, and observations, the study found that young GGW trees decreased land-surface temperatures and solar radiation, improving environmental conditions. While gardening and economic components showed positive village-level impacts, problems with water and grazing areas led to negative perspectives from stakeholders.
CommunityClimate changeBiodiversityComplexity & Urban Agriculture
2014M. Ubarevicius · · United States (New York City)
An architectural project for urban agriculture was developed on the East River waterfront in Manhattan, New York City. Advanced simulation techniques and computational methods were used to optimize building organization and shape for efficient natural resource use, including greenhouses generating energy from river water and a building shape optimized for wind concentration. The building also integrates food production with storage, processing, distribution, education, preparation, and service functions.
DIYFood educationEconomicsClimate changeCurrent State of Development and Strategy Selection of Urban Agriculture in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region
2014Jiang Lu · Nongye jingji yu guanli · China (Beijing)
This study analyzed the current state of urban agriculture development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, focusing on aspects like leading industry and farmers' income. It found that while the urban agriculture layout was basically formed, significant problems exist. These include resource and environmental crises, a lack of integrated regional planning, imperfect municipal systems, and challenges in upgrading the agricultural industry.
Governance failureEconomicsPolicyUrban–rural linkageClimate changeDependency syndrome by communities or insufficient ingestion period by benefactor organizations? The Chirumanzu caritas community gardening project experiencein Zimbabwe
2014Mark Matsa, Beauty Dzawanda · · Zimbabwe
This study assessed the performance of Caritas-initiated and sponsored community gardens in Chaka ward, Chirumanzu District, Zimbabwe, during and after the sponsors' regime. Data was collected using questionnaires, interviews, and direct observations, and analyzed with descriptive statistics and content analysis. Results showed that the gardens flourished during Caritas's presence but quickly shrank and folded after the NGO's departure, indicating a lack of sustainability.
Governance failureCommunityEconomicsClimate changePolicy