Research & reports

A.J. Visser, J.E. Jansma, A.J.G. Dekking, M.J.M. Klieverik · Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling · Europe (Netherlands)

A guide compiling the experiences, learning moments, and tips of those involved in urban agriculture initiatives in the Netherlands, along with an indication of what is needed to further develop urban agriculture in the country.

Arjan van Timmeren, Daniel Sidler, Marleen Kaptein · Journal of Green Building · Europe

This paper is a case study of the integration of a combined wastewater/energy system into a semi-public building, the EVA Centre, within EVA Lanxmeer, a "deep green" district in Culemborg, the Netherlands, consisting of 250 houses, offices, and a City farm. The district lies in an ecologically sensitive drinking-water extraction and retention area, and the approach centres on closing nutrient, water, and carbon cycles and integrating energy generation with waste management using the concept of exergy. The core system is based on anaerobic digestion (treating black wastewater and garden/park waste) combined with Combined Heat and Power generation, alongside a four-storey double-skin-façade closed greenhouse with vertical "hanging gardens" that incorporates wastewater treatment based on the Living Machine concept for educational purposes, recovering surplus CO2 from the biogas plant and storing heat/cold in an underlying aquifer. This "Sustainable Implant" concept is described as connecting the residential district and the EVA Centre, and its inhabitants and visitors.

Peter Groenewegen, A.E. van den Berg, S. de Vries, Robert Verheij · BMC Public Health · Netherlands

This article discusses the design of a research program in the Netherlands on the effects of green space in the living environment on health, well-being, and social safety. The program consists of three observational studies at different scales: macro (national data), intermediate (urban green space effects), and micro (allotment gardens). It combines existing land use and health interview survey data with new data collected via questionnaires and interviews, to be analyzed using multilevel analysis and GIS techniques.

Paul Gough · International Journal of Heritage Studies · United Kingdom (London)

This paper examines in detail two community gardens in central London. These gardens owe their origins to radical local agendas set within the political climate of the Cold War of the 1980s and grand visions for world peace. Twenty years after their creation, the author explores their current condition and examines their value as sites of political value and heritage.

Paola Branduini · Virtual Community of Pathological Anatomy (University of Castilla La Mancha) · Italy

Projects for the valorization of agriculture in Italian metropolitan areas have primarily originated from initiatives within peri-urban parks. The second national Conference on Protected Areas in 2002 confirmed the idea that peri-urban agricultural areas can bridge rural and urban cultures through new management models. Italy presents several plans already realized or in progress that are significant for their concept of peri-urban agriculture, ongoing actions, and the role played by stakeholders.

Samuel Martín, Nathalie Bertrand, Nicole Rousier · Géographie Économie Société · France (Rhône-Alpes)

This paper examines spatial planning documents in two Rhône-Alpes city regions, France, as a tool for regulating land use conflicts in peri-urban agricultural areas under urbanization pressure. The analysis highlights rising tensions between local actors and suggests that agriculture is instrumentalized by spatial planning policies at the inter-communal level. At the communal level, local plans manage neighborhood and land ownership conflicts.

Kim Geun Ho, Tongbuhm Cho, 김미향 · Journal of the Korean housing association · Europe

Seven eco-villages in Germany, Denmark, and the UK were selected for field surveys of settlement background, social and economic aspects, architectural specifications, recycled energy, and landscape characteristics of external spaces, analyzing the landscape characteristics of community gardens and common spaces and the ecological symbolism of landscapes created by residents. The eco-village landscapes were found to intend neither a return to primitive society nor control of nature through technology but rather coexistence with nature, with primitive nature symbolically restored and residents who share this outlook intending to cultivate this common sense together, landscape creation playing an important role in establishing a shared relationship between human living and nature.

김근호, 조동범, 김미향 · · Europe

A field survey of seven eco-villages in Germany, Denmark, and the UK examined each settlement's background, social and economic aspects, architectural specifications, recycled energy use, and the landscape characteristics of external spaces, analyzing the ecological symbolism of the landscapes residents created. It concluded that eco-village landscapes were oriented neither toward returning to primitive society nor toward controlling nature through technology, but toward coexistence with nature, with primitive nature symbolically restored and community garden landscape design expressing a meaningful relationship between human life and nature.

Jones P., Comfort D., Hillier D., Eastwood I. · British Food Journal · United Kingdom

Analyzes CSR reporting by the UK's leading food retailers, finding support for local food producers, healthy eating, charitable donations, and local community initiatives as principal CSR themes promoted in stores.

C. Paul Nathanail, Caroline McCaffrey, Naomi Earl, Neil D. Foster, A. G. Gillett, Richard Ogden · Human and Ecological Risk Assessment An International Journal · United Kingdom

This paper describes a deterministic method for deriving Site-Specific Assessment Criteria (SSAC) in the UK for human health risks from chronic exposure to heavy metals, metalloids, and organic substances in soil. The SSAC indicates soil concentrations above which unacceptable health risks may occur, considering standard and non-standard land uses and various exposure pathways. The method is not intended to generate or replace UK Soil Guideline Values, as this is the responsibility of UK authoritative bodies.

André Viljoen, Katrin Bohn · University of Brighton Repository (University of Brighton) · United Kingdom (London)

This paper, from a U.K. perspective, discusses urban agriculture using London as an example. While the benefits of urban agriculture for food security and income have often focused on the Global South, its integration into a multifunctional land use strategy could significantly reduce a city's ecological footprint, raising questions about its wider implementation.

A Swedish, Case Study, Petter Åkerblom · · Europe

Experiences from Swedish research on school gardening and greening school grounds were reflected upon. A process-orientated case study in two Swedish cities discussed future workshops as a platform for situated capacity building in interaction between in-school and external stakeholders (e.g., school ground planners, administrators). The case study indicates that using future workshops as a research method involves stakeholders as subjects in the collaborative production of new knowledge.

B. Jankiewicz, B. Ptaszyński · Polish Journal of Environmental Studies · Poland

This study determined the levels of bioavailable and total chromium (III) and chromium (VI) in the soil of an allotment garden located in the center of Łódź, Poland. Chromium was measured using the spectrophotometric method and atomic absorption spectrometry. The research also examined the effects of iron and copper ions on the determination results.

Peter M. Philippi (Green Roof Service, LLC) · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · Germany

This paper, hosted by the U.S. EPA, introduces the German non-profit FLL's (founded 1975) 'Guideline for the Planning, Execution and Upkeep of Green-Roof Sites' (latest edition January 2002, English version 2004) to the American market. The guideline draws on the experience of roughly one billion square feet of green roofs built in Germany, and includes specific standards such as organic matter content limits for growing media (e.g. 6.0% by dry mass or less for intensive green roof media above a given density) and a root-penetration resistance test (revised to a two-year protocol in 1995, with about 70 membranes having passed it so far).

Hough R., Breward N., Young S., Crout N., Tye A., Moir A., Thornton I. · Environmental Health Perspectives · United Kingdom

The study modeled uptake of cadmium, copper, nickel, lead, and zinc into home-produced vegetables and assessed the heavy-metal exposure risk to urban populations from eating homegrown food.

Leigh Holland · Local Environment · United Kingdom

This 2004 study in the United Kingdom analyzed the community garden movement through questionnaires and in-depth interviews. It found that community gardens, often in inner-city areas, serve diverse purposes including vegetation growing, permaculture, organic methods, health, education, and training. These gardens are strongly characterized by community participation and involvement, suggesting the movement could model local social, economic, and environmental policy implementation.

Anne C. Bellows · Food and Foodways · Poland

Polish allotment gardeners collectively represent the largest land managers in Poland, with a formalized urban allotment food production system dating back to 1997. This system, combining local and national government policy with NGO management and private use, provides a model for food security and urban open space. However, this arrangement also creates ongoing tension among stakeholders and a contentious debate regarding the private and public uses of urban land.

Tanja Pless‐Mulloli, Vivienne S. Air, Catherine Vizard, Ian Singleton, D. L. Rimmer, Philip Hartley · Epidemiology · United Kingdom

A study in an urban, industrial allotment site in the UK's northeast assessed the potential for public health impact related to soil contamination by taking 86 soil samples and analyzing vegetables and eggs. All 18 initial soil samples exceeded UK guidelines for lead (median 869 mg/kg) and arsenic (median 40 mg/kg), and widespread contamination with PCDD/F was also found. Despite high soil contamination, the uptake of lead and arsenic into vegetables and eggs was low, and these were not deemed major exposure pathways.

Marc Lavergne · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · Europe

While urbanization and agriculture often appear contradictory, the existence of urban agriculture (intra-urban and peri-urban) in the Mediterranean basin demonstrates that their relationship is not as clear-cut. Urban growth consumes agricultural land, and urban and rural worlds seem radically opposed in lifestyles and values. However, urban agriculture has forged complex relationships with the urban environment, involving both antagonisms and complementarities.

Clare Rishbeth · Journal of Urban Design · United Kingdom (London)

This paper investigates how urban greenspace can be designed and managed to reflect ethnic diversity and how this is perceived by users, using two case studies of community gardens in London. It found some differences in the response to the gardens by people from different ethnic backgrounds. The use of obvious symbolism was not necessarily a primary means of encouraging users from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, though appreciated for educational and design strengths. Concern is expressed about aspects of the physical and psychological containment of ethnic groups in fixed places and identities leading to the perpetuation of stereotypes.

Arjan van Timmeren, Wiek Röling, Marleen Kaptein · · Netherlands (Culemborg)

This paper focuses on an innovation in urban development in the Lanxmeer district of Culemborg, Netherlands. A "Sustainable Implant (SI)" based on permaculture and organic design principles will be built in conjunction with the EVA-Center and an ecological city-farm. The SI functions as an interconnector for three "essential" flows in urban planning, such as wastewater management and energy generation, facilitating both vertical and horizontal integration. It is considered a sustainable hub operating at three scales: the Culemborg region, the Lanxmeer urban district, and the nearby EVA Center.

Jean-Noël Consalès · Mélanges de l École française de Rome Italie et Méditerranée · France (Marseille), Italy (Genoa), Spain (Barcelona)

This comparative analysis traces one hundred years of urban agriculture in the Mediterranean arc, focusing on family gardens in Marseille (France), Genoa (Italy), and Barcelona (Spain). It identifies three major stages: from the 19th century to post-WWII, family gardens developed in France; during the Trente Glorieuses, they declined in France but emerged in Italy and Spain; and since the mid-1970s, the diffusion of ecological values has conferred important territorial functions upon family gardens.

Caitlin DeSilvey · Cultural Geographies · United Kingdom (Edinburgh)

A paper on Scottish allotment gardens examines how the ambiguity pervading allotment practice surfaces as a liability in strategic appeals and draws out the survival of historical forms in contemporary political negotiations, by juxtaposing narratives of involvement in a Scottish Parliament Allotments Inquiry and the history of a single Edinburgh allotment site.

Tanja Pless‐Mulloli, Karen L. Foster, J Bush · Epidemiology · United Kingdom (Newcastle upon Tyne)

Investigations in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, analyzed the extent and consequences of disposing 2000 tons of incinerator ash on over forty allotments. Soil, egg, and vegetable samples (75 soil, 21 egg, 65 vegetable) revealed contamination of footpaths with dioxin/furan (max 9000 ng/kg I-TEQ) and high levels of copper, lead, and zinc. Mean dioxin/furan levels in soil were 38 ng/kg I-TEQ and in eggs were 16.4 ng/kg I-TEQ, indicating significant contamination and potential exposure pathways for allotment gardeners and children.

Pierre Donadieu, André Fleury · Revue de géographie alpine · Europe

This paper discusses the role of agriculture in the "country town" project in Europe. Peri-urban areas, once unpleasant environments despite their essential urban functions, have recently become attractive to new inhabitants seeking countryside amenities. Urban planning supports this concept by creating green belts and integrating agriculture as an essential element of natural spaces.