Research & reports

Meliz Akyol, Hayriye Eşbah Tunçay · · Turkey (Istanbul)

This study explores the role of productive landscapes, specifically urban agriculture, in creating resilient cities. Istanbul, Turkey, is presented as a case study, noting the historical influence of food on the city's image and traces of agricultural uses along the Theodosian Walls and in old neighborhoods. Despite agricultural lands being transformed into settlement areas due to rapid urbanization, the study suggests that combining agriculture with new technology, architectural trends, and sustainable master plans will encourage urban agriculture and create more resilient urban environments.

马杰提卡·波特尔克, 怀尔德·维特森 · 公共艺术 · Netherlands (Amsterdam)

This project was implemented in 2009 in Nieuw-West, Amsterdam, Netherlands, by artists Majetika Poterke and Wilder Vitsen. It utilized a community garden and community kitchen as its medium, incorporating building materials, energy infrastructure, and a plant garden.

Jemma Hawkins, Jenny Mercer, Katie Thirlaway, Deborah A. Clayton · Ecopsychology · United Kingdom (Wales)

This study investigated the perceived health and well-being benefits of allotment gardening for community-dwelling older adults in Wales, UK, with a focus on stress recovery. Using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, the study found that participants valued both the active "doing" of gardening and the passive "being" at the allotment site. These aspects were reported to provide a wide range of benefits to their health and well-being, including links to stress reduction.

Mucig Charlotte · · France

A survey on rainwater harvesting in community gardens in France indicates that while this practice has been ongoing for years, it is poorly documented and faces challenges in adapting to new French regulations. The findings highlight public health issues for both garden users and consumers of fruits and vegetables, as well as environmental and operational concerns.

OECD · OECD eBooks · Italy

This chapter presents three Italian case studies: "Custody of the Territory" in Tuscany, a community garden in Campania, and mountain pastures in Aosta Valley. These cases discuss agri-environmental public goods provided by collective action, factors affecting outcomes in collective action, and policy measures supporting collective action, through environmental services by local government agencies and farmers' agreements, collaborative green spaces converted from degraded sites, and collective management of mountain pastures with regional support.

María Antonia Fernández Nieto, Jorge Gallego Sánchez-Torija · Hábitat y Sociedad · Spain (Madrid)

An academic research group and a neighborhood association initiated a citizen participation process to recover a degraded urban space in the peripheral neighborhood of Puerta Bonita in Carabanchel, Madrid. This initiative aimed to convert the space into an urban community garden. The project seeks to reincorporate agriculture into the city with environmental sustainability criteria, influence local economies, regenerate neighborhood relations, and develop environmental education.

Angie Dazé · VIUSpace (Vancouver Island University Library) · United Kingdom

This research project, conducted as part of a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies, aimed to understand what people value about community gardens. It involved a series of interviews with volunteers at Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses in South London, using an Appreciative Inquiry approach to explore their experiences. The study focuses on the garden as an educational and social resource, run primarily by volunteers.

Schram-Bijkerk He, Dirven-van Breemen Em, Otte Pf · Rivm (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment) · Europe

This report identifies self-reported local and shared success factors for introducing green space and urban agriculture in several European cities to mitigate climate change effects. Key factors include national legislation promoting nature conservation, strong cooperation between local authorities and the public, and incorporating minimum green space requirements into zoning plans and housing projects. Urban agriculture has been adopted as part of green policy in cities like Manchester, Lyon, and Paris to ensure a supply of healthy food.

Michael Koch, Martin Köhler · · Germany (Hamburg)

This paper discusses how new types of open spaces, beyond officially designated ones, are gaining focus in urban planning discussions in Hamburg, Germany, particularly concerning urban densification and new partnerships for maintaining urban open spaces. These spaces, including traffic junctions, railway embankments, industrial fallow land, and private gardens, serve as venues for trends like urban gardening and urban explorations. The study, presented in four volumes for Hamburg, explores the actual and potential contributions of these spaces to the open space provision for the entire urban population, not just in inner-city areas or by young urban milieus.

Paula Nahmías, Yvon Le · Environnement urbain · France

This paper attempts to define "urban agriculture" given the diversity of its forms and representations. Based on field observations in Brittany, France, it concludes that beyond its proximity to the city, the urban character of agriculture is defined by its functionalities and its integration into the agglomeration project.

Vittori Antisari, Livia; Dipartimento Di Scienze E Tecnologie Agroambientali, University Of Bologna, Bologna, Serena Carbone, Ferronato, Chiara; Dipartimento Di Scienze E Tecnologie Agroambientali, University Of Bologna, Bologna, Simoni, Andrea; Dipartimento Di Scienze E Tecnologie Agroambientali, University Of Bologna, Bologna, Vianello, Gilmo; Dipartimento Di Scienze E Tecnologie Agroambientali, University Of Bologna, Bologna · Archivio istituzionale della ricerca (Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna) · Italy (Bologna)

Concentrations of heavy metals (Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, V, Zn) were determined in topsoil, plants, and moss tissues in the suburban area of Bologna, Italy, due to an urban waste incinerator and other atmospheric emission sources. No correlation was found between metal content and the incinerator plant's distance. The pollution load index (PLI) for soil and moss indicated low environmental pollution, but the highest values in sites downwind of the incinerator and in a craft area indicated moderate pollution.

Beste Karakaya, Tuğba Kiper · DergiPark (Istanbul University) · Turkey (Edirne)

This study conducted physical, cultural, and current situation analyses of 10 elementary school playgrounds in the city center of Edirne. The current situation of these elementary school gardens was determined according to landscape design principles, and proposals were made to solve existing problems.

Veguita de Graná · · Spain (Granada)

Rosa Felix explored urban gardens in metropolitan Granada, Spain, in 2013, linking them to employment opportunities. She noted that such experiences have a long history in many countries. Felix concluded that urban gardens would be successful if public administrations supported their creation.

Elisa Marraccini, Sylvie Lardon · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · Italy (Pisa)

The first Spring School on "Agricultural management in periurban areas," held in Pisa from May 20-27, 2013, aimed to introduce participants to key concepts and methods in Landscape and Territory Agronomy for analyzing and supporting land planning in peri-urban agriculture. This case study took place in the urban region of Pisa, Central Italy, where main spatial issues were identified and action proposals discussed.

Isabelle Anguelovski · City and Community · Spain (Barcelona), United States (Boston), Cuba

The role of place attachment in environmental mobilization among local activists improving degraded spaces, such as urban farms and community gardens, was investigated in three marginalized neighborhoods in Barcelona, Spain; Boston, USA; and Havana, Cuba. Activists in all three locations used environmental projects to express grief over community loss, fear of erasure, and emotional connection to their neighborhoods. They aimed to construct "safe havens" and remake places for residents to address environmental trauma.

Isabel de Felipe Boente, Teresa Briz · · Spain

This paper describes the impact of urban agriculture (UA) in political, socioeconomic, and environmental scenarios, and analyzes its situation in Spain, where it is mainly located on roofs, walls, indoors, and ground places. It discusses local regulations, barriers, and opportunities for UA, as well as the role of stakeholders and neighbor communities. The paper suggests actions to improve UA, including urban planning and education.

Marco Luca Stanchieri · X Jornadas de Sociología · Spain (Barcelona)

This paper explores the concept of "urban voids" in contemporary cities, focusing on abandoned plots resulting from unfulfilled urban reform projects. It argues that despite being defined as "voids," these spaces are sites of active human social practices, serving for common appropriation, self-management, conflict, and negotiation, fostering neighborhood cohesion and community action. Based on ethnographic data from Barcelona, the paper aims to expose the misleading nature of urbanistic language that defines socially vibrant spaces as "voids," questioning the social exclusion mechanisms supported by such definitions.

Tim Cook · · United Kingdom (Yorkshire)

The gardening charity RHS Yorkshire in Bloom launched a £100,000 fund to offer more support for community gardeners. For the first time, people across Yorkshire and the Humber can apply for these funds.

Giovanni Attili · IRIS Research product catalog (Sapienza University of Rome) · Italy (Rome)

This study focused on community gardens in Rome, Italy, which largely result from informal appropriation practices. While these gardens can enhance environmental and social quality of life, they require institutional support and present a crucial challenge for urban planning. The study highlights the need to explore tensions between social practices and institutional powers, and questions how public policy can legitimize these self-guiding societal expressions.

Daniele La Rosa, Francesco Martinico, Riccardo Privitera · TERRITORIO · Italy

This study discusses how non-urbanized areas in metropolitan contexts can be reconsidered for new land uses, combining peripheral urban agricultural production with environmental protection for climate change adaptation and ecosystem service production. Through a review of urban planning instruments in Mascalucia, a new land-use scenario for non-urbanized areas was proposed using a land suitability model that combined land cover and fragmentation analysis.

Ruud Abma, U. Kirchholtes, J.E. Jansma, M.P. Vijn · Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) · Europe

Urban agriculture is a subject of societal interest, seen as a promising contributor to sustainable urban development. It offers alternatives for agricultural professionals, accessible locations for urban residents to relax and learn, and often improves the physical and social environment of neighborhoods.

Jill L. Edmondson, Zoe G. Davies, Sarah A. McCormack, Kevin J. Gaston, Jonathan R. Leake · The Science of The Total Environment · Europe

A study of Leicester, a mid-sized city in the United Kingdom (73 km², 56% greenspace), analyzing how land-cover type (herbaceous, shrub or tree cover) affects soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. Topsoil SOC was measured in domestic gardens and non-domestic greenspaces and compared with surrounding extra-urban agricultural land, then mapped citywide. Average SOC storage across the city's greenspace was 9.9 kg/m² to 21 cm depth; SOC under trees and shrubs in domestic gardens exceeded all other land-cover types, with median total storage of 13.5 kg/m² to 21 cm depth — more than 3 kg/m² higher than any other land-cover class in domestic or non-domestic greenspace, and 5 kg/m² higher than arable land. Land-cover did not significantly affect SOC in non-domestic greenspace overall, though values under trees were higher than under pasture and arable land, while shrub and herbaceous cover were higher only than arable land. The study concludes that greenspace management affects SOC stocks, that trees only marginally increase stocks in non-domestic greenspaces but may enhance them in domestic gardens, and that greenspace topsoils hold substantial SOC stores requiring protection from further expansion of artificial surfaces such as patios and driveways.

Paz Sastre Domínguez · Revista de Estudios de Juventud · Spain

A Spanish essay reconsidering the industrial revolutions through the growth of advertising and design, examining social practices that apply New Institutional Economics organizational models—originating from the free-software movement—to material goods such as food, DIY 3D printers, open wear, open design, urban gardens, DIY biology, DIY drones, open-source hardware, non-GMO seeds, waste, bartering, social currencies and Bitcoin. It frames these projects as new forms of social contract, moral machines floating outside the state and market, but draws a parallel with current generic-drug monopolies to argue the post-patent world may not turn out as imagined.

Raúl Puente Asuero · Revista de estudios regionales · Spain

Based on 30 interviews conducted between May and November 2011 with farmers, farming associations, irrigation associations, the University of Granada, business associations, local councils, political parties and citizen platforms such as Salvemos la Vega, this study examined La Vega de Granada, the agrarian landscape along the River Genil in central Granada province, Spain. It shows that this once-unified agrarian landscape has, in recent decades, become a fragmented and discontinuous aggregation, and reports that in the absence of administrative coordination, social movements have taken the lead in protecting and revalorizing its agrarian heritage.

Michael Koch, Martin Köhler · · Germany

Against the backdrop of debates on densifying German cities to meet housing demand and searching for new partnerships between citizens, businesses and municipalities, a study focuses on "new open spaces" beyond officially recorded green and open areas — traffic junctions, rail embankments, industrial brownfields, parking lots, streets, sidewalks, private gardens, schoolyards, corporate green areas, delivery zones, courtyards, rubble sites, quays, allotment gardens, dikes, drainage channels, retention basins, bridges, building setback areas, and driveways. These spaces host trends such as urban gardening, urban exploration and parkour, and across four volumes on Hamburg the study examines their actual and potential contribution to open-space provision for the whole urban population, not only the inner city or young urban milieus.