Research & reports

N. Hooton, Diana Lee-Smith, Nasinyama, G., D.L. Romney, Gertrude Atukunda, Margaret Azuba, Maria Kaweesa, A. Lubowa, Muwanga, J., Mary Njenga, Young, J. · CGSPace A Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) · Uganda

This working paper analyzes the actors, events, and influences affecting policy changes on urban agriculture in Kampala, Uganda, from 1990 to 2006. It reviews how and why these policy and institutional changes occurred, utilizing a combined methodology of episode studies, case study analysis, and outcome mapping.

Alfred Geresom Musamali · · Uganda (Kampala)

The Kampala Urban Agriculture Team networked and toured various project sites during the Third World Urban Forum (WUF3).

Toure Sylla Mamadou, Mamoudou Diop · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Senegal (Dakar)

This three-year study in Dakar, Senegal, investigated urban food security systems through surveys and interviews with community garden participants. It found that 75% of participants reported increased engagement in urban agriculture, driven by government subsidies for materials and equipment. The study validates previous findings on community garden participation, noting a significant increase due to subsidized resources, and highlights the effectiveness of targeted interventions.

Anna Jørgensen, Marian Tylecote · Landscape Research · Global

This paper explores the origins of ambivalent responses to contemporary urban landscapes, proposing that post-modern wilderness can be found in urban interstices. These include woodlands, abandoned allotments, river corridors, and derelict sites where spontaneous vegetation growth occurs. Such interstitial wilderness landscapes are identified as having important functions and being rich in meaning, with implications for understanding nature-human relationships and for urban landscape planning.

Innocent Nhapi · Water and Environment Journal · Zimbabwe (Harare)

This paper investigated the sustainability of urban water cycle practices in relation to water quantity and quality management in the Chivero catchment, the main water supply for greater Harare, Zimbabwe. Data on population, water supply, water and wastewater treatment, and river flows were collected from urban councils and government departments to assess consumption, wastewater generation, treatment, disposal, river flow trends, raw water abstractions, and demand patterns. Results showed that the current situation is unsustainable, with water quantity soon to be a problem at current consumption levels and water quality already problematic, especially regarding nutrient levels.

Rosalía Rodríguez López · Revista General de Derecho Romano - ISSN 1697-3046 · Global

This is a historical and legal study of the garden (hortus) in Rome during the third and second centuries BC, examined in terms of the development of urban building practice. In the "Italic house," the garden formed part of the dwelling's architecture, with the compluvium-impluvium serving as a cistern supplying water to both the house and the garden. The ager publicus assigned to veterans often consisted of such small plots that it was effectively an intensive urban vegetable garden attached to a house. Cato's agronomic treatise distinguishes between the suburban garden and the garden attached to the villa (a farming estate), marking a further step in the development of the concept of the hortus.

Tacoli, C. (ed.) · Routledge / IIED · Global

A landmark edited collection on rural-urban interaction in the developing world, analyzing—through many cases—the flows of people, goods, capital and information and the asymmetric power relations between countryside and city.

Stephanie Buechler, Gayathri Devi Mekala, B. Keraita · Victoria University Research Repository (Victoria University) · Global

This 2006 global study from Victoria University discusses wastewater use in urban and peri-urban agriculture for crop production and aquaculture, noting its role in generating livelihoods and providing cheap produce. However, the study emphasizes that clear policy guidelines and careful research are needed to prevent potential negative impacts on human health and the environment from wastewater reuse.

R. van Veenhuizen · Issue Lab (Candid) · Global

This publication defines urban agriculture as growing plants and raising animals for food within and around cities, along with related processing and marketing. It notes increased attention from development organizations and authorities in developing countries due to urban agriculture's role in poverty alleviation, food security, waste management, and greening. The work presents the "state of the art" of sustainable urban agriculture development, indicating progress since earlier major publications.

Wang Lijuan · · Global

This paper examines urban agriculture (UA) as a phenomenon linked to urban development, noting significant differences between developed and less developed nations due to economic development stages. It classifies these differences into five aspects based on UA theory and practice. The paper concludes by proposing countermeasures for achieving sustainable UA, specifically considering the status of UA in China.

Marielle Dubbeling, Gunther Merzthal, R. van Veenhuizen · · Global

Urban agriculture is a dynamic concept encompassing diverse production, processing, and marketing systems for food and non-food products. It operates within varied resource situations, including both scarce and abundant land or water, and under policy environments that can either hinder or support its development.

장동헌, 소순열, 유찬주 · 지역사회연구 · Global

This study investigated urban residents' perceptions of urban agriculture and their willingness to pay for its conservation. Residents prioritized urban agriculture's value as a landscape green zone and for intergenerational inheritance. Regarding conservation, more respondents favored using urban agriculture for other purposes through external expansion, preferring environmentally friendly development via experience programs. The willingness to pay a fund for urban agriculture conservation was 39.6%, with an estimated monthly average of 2,623 won per household.

Paule Moustier, George Danso · Agritrop (Cirad) · Global

This report discusses urban agriculture's role in addressing social, economic, and environmental challenges of rapid urban growth in developing countries. It notes that while urban agriculture attracts attention, its viability and need for political support remain debated. The report highlights arguments against targeting scarce public resources towards urban agriculture, citing high land costs in urban areas and insufficient evidence of its economic viability.

Marcelo Salgado, Sabrina Cáceres, Marta Basuino, Nora Gancedo, Claudio Vizia, Sebastián Rodríguez, Laura Gurría · Revista INVI · Argentina (Rosario)

This paper focuses on social housing projects connected with productive undertakings for low-income sectors in Rosario, Argentina, developed through the articulation of various social actors. Productive initiatives, supported by municipal organisms, emerged to alleviate unemployment due to the past decade's crisis and poverty in slums. The research is oriented to formulate recommendations for the participating management of social housing and its articulation with productive undertakings.

James T Larson · Arboricultural Journal · Global

This comparative study explores the benefits and key features of German allotment gardens and American community gardens, with a view to their possible implementation into inner city derelict and brownfield regeneration in the UK and other countries. The study considers whether community gardens have a role in helping to create sustainable communities that positively impact the negative social, economic, and environmental issues associated with derelict sites in inner city neighborhoods.

HU Yue-xiao · Nongye xiandaihua yanjiu · Global

This study on the industry orientation of urban agriculture, including trade, marketing, business model, and organizing orientations, identified problems such as industry parking, blurred functional orientation, and a lack of overall planning during urban agriculture orienting programs.

최영애, Deamim Oh, Youjin Jang, 윤수희, 허북구 · · Global

This study aimed to develop a leader training program for activating community gardens, which are seen as an alternative to contemporary societal issues. While community gardens have been successfully utilized in Germany, the U.K., and the U.S.A., attempts at settlement in Korea have failed. The developed program focuses on horticultural information and practical experience, recognizing participation and conversation as key factors for success.

Yang Shu-bi · Sci-Tech Information Development & Economy · Global

This paper discusses the significant role of urban agriculture in the construction of the urban environment. Based on the location of urban agriculture, it explores harmonious development modes for urban agriculture and the urban environment in both near and outer suburbs, and puts forward concrete suggestions for the planning and practice of urban agriculture.

Carol Skinner · Urban Policy and Research · Australia

While favorable aspects of denser urban development are recognized in Australia and elsewhere, this study also highlights its negative impacts on a city's climate and hydrology. It summarizes the appealing aspects of denser cities and provides examples of adverse effects. Strategies to minimize these negative impacts are proposed, including the widespread use of rooftop gardens.

Duk‐Byeong Park, Sang-Duk Lee, Hye-Hyun Lee, Min‐Soo Lee, Myun-Ju Jang · Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning · Global

This study explored the situation and implications of allotment gardens through case studies of Kleingarten in Germany, Dacha in Russia, and Civic Garden in Japan. Allotment gardens were shown to be important for urban residents to gain recreation and health from agricultural activities. While allotment gardens in the three countries developed according to their historical and social contexts, their basic rationales were to provide recreation areas for supporting people's health and preserving green spaces in urban areas.

Mengjie Xu · Urban Problems · Global

This paper summarizes the types and characteristics of urban agriculture (UA) in less developed countries (LDCs), distinguishing it from UA in developed countries. It elucidates both the positive and negative effects of UA in LDCs, including impediments arising from its negative impacts. The study discusses the necessity of developing UA in LDCs and details measures to regulate its development, highlighting governance challenges.

Ree Ho Kim, Jin‐Woo Jeong, Sang Ho Lee, Chai Sung Gee · Materials science forum · Global

This laboratory-scale study tested incorporating bauxite minerals — red waste from alumina refineries — into a specialized soil layer for rooftop gardens, aiming to address the release of pollutants in urban stormwater runoff, a known issue with green roofs, against a backdrop of declining green-planted surfaces in urban areas. Bauxite minerals were noted for their high trapping capacity for trace metals and other soluble species and ease of integration into rooftop garden systems. Based on equilibrium adsorption capacity, an optimum amount of bauxite minerals was proposed, and rainwater runoff characteristics and pollutant release were compared between standard and modified rooftop gardens at laboratory scale. The green roof system with the bauxite layer was found to reduce heavy metal concentrations, and the technique is suggested as applicable to other green surfaces in housing complexes.

MA Jun-wei · Chinese Journal of Population Resources and Environment · Global

This theoretical study addresses the "rurban fringe," the transitional zone connecting city and countryside, discussing rural landscape ecological features and landscape functions before setting out the content of landscape ecological construction. It proposes six elements: (1) rural landscape planning based on landscape ecological principles aimed at protecting regional traditions; (2) seeking optimal patterns for coordinated development between city and countryside; (3) developing tourism agriculture and urban agriculture in place of low-efficiency agriculture; (4) developing local rural landscape resources to promote eco-rurban tourism; (5) green landscape construction; and (6) building landscape corridors and networks for biodiversity protection, concluding by identifying trends in rurban fringe development.

Heather Mair · Leisure/Loisir · Global

This theoretical paper examines the potential for community development to serve as a vehicle for politics, resistance, and social change, arguing that change-oriented efforts — from community-led initiatives limiting "big box store" encroachment to community-supported agriculture and new forms of media — create important opportunities for public dialogue about, and expression of, power, equality, and democracy. It explores reconsidering the spaces where politically oriented leisure activities occur through the concepts of deep democracy, social learning, empowerment, and resistance. Drawing on Shaw (2000), the author argues that examining these community-led struggles counters the view of leisure as increasingly bound up in individualized, consumption-oriented activity, and can deepen leisure studies by recognizing, understanding, and validating its political nature.

Peter Houston · Geographical Research · Australia

This study used Agricultural Census data to calculate the economic value of agricultural production in Australia's peri-urban regions. The analysis suggests these regions in the five mainland States produce almost 25% of Australia's total gross value of agricultural production, though other evidence indicates this may be an underestimate. The study notes that peri-urban agriculture is poorly served by the Agricultural Census and often overlooked in public policy deliberations.