Research & reports

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.

Ana Lucrecia Nadal Fuentes · Temes de disseny · Global

This article discusses the historical relationship between cities and agriculture, noting that while agriculture was central to ancient civilizations, it was excluded from modern 20th-century urban plans. The study highlights that current and projected demographic growth in urban areas has increased the value of urban agriculture.

Pai Liu · TigerPrints (Clemson University) · United States (Atlanta)

This study explored how urban agriculture can be effective in cities by comparing and evaluating eight U.S. case studies against six criteria: locality, experience, economy, health, community engagement, and resources. The research aimed to develop a new model for sustainable urban agriculture to improve urban living environments. Results indicated how these six criteria interact to form an integrated framework for a "perma-urban farm," with a design application along Atlanta's Beltline as an example.

Angela Y. Y. Kong, Cynthia Rosenzweig, Joshua Arky · HortScience · United States

This study evaluated the effects of organic and inorganic nitrogen (N) inputs on N dynamics within substrate typically used on rooftop farms during an 8-week greenhouse experiment in the United States. Substrate without added N inputs (control) was compared with synthetic fertilizer and three organic N inputs: composted poultry manure, municipal green waste compost, and vermicompost. Few differences in N cycling and yields were found among treatments receiving organic N inputs, despite differences in carbon-to-nitrogen ratios. Crop yields from the synthetic fertilizer and municipal green waste compost treatments were higher than other organic N input treatments. Inorganic N levels in the synthetic fertilizer treatment decreased from 129 mg N/L to 113 mg N/L, while control and organic N input treatments showed nearly 10-fold decreases from 79.5–117.8 mg N/L to 12.8–16.6 mg N/L over 8 weeks. The greatest losses of ammonium and nitrate via leachate were measured from the synthetic fertilizer treatment.

Pay Drechsel, Keraita, Bernard N. · CGSPace A Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) · Global

A CGIAR (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) perspective piece on food and water challenges at the urban-rural interface amid global urbanization. It states that in low-income countries, investments in waste management and sanitation are not keeping pace with population growth, so the urban "return flow" of waste is not adequately managed. Where polluted water is used for irrigation to feed cities, food safety becomes a crucial component of food security. The piece explicitly states that urban and peri-urban farming systems — often run by the informal sector — are the systems most affected by this resource competition and pollution. It describes CGIAR's Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) research program as working at the interface of agriculture and sanitation to address these urbanization-related challenges and opportunities.

Shoujun Chen, Nikolay Popov · Unitec Research Bank (Unitec Institute of Technology) · Global

This 2015 paper, addressing projected population growth in Auckland, New Zealand, surveys planning concepts for peri-urban agricultural development. It notes that while Auckland is the country's largest customer of food markets, its fossil-fuel-based agricultural system is vulnerable to urban growth and climate change. The paper reviews various peri-urban agriculture planning concepts and evaluates their applicability to a specific site, the Special Housing Areas (SHAs) in Belmont.

Gabriela Civeira Hermida · · Argentina

Peri-urban agroforestry — combining agricultural and forestry species on small urban plots — was evaluated for its potential to sequester carbon and produce electrical and thermal energy at the municipal level across the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA), Argentina. Carbon sequestration was estimated between 200 and 400,000 tonnes per year, thermal energy between 0.5 and 200 MJ depending on the hectares in each municipality, and electrical energy between 10 and 15,000 kW, leading to the conclusion that agroforestry can generate jobs, food, and bioenergy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Alejandra S. Coronel, 1 Climatología, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias Universidad Nacional de Rosario (FCA-UNR), Rosario, Argentina;, Susana R. Feldman, Emliano Jozami, Kehoe Facundo, Rubén D. Piacentini, Marielle Dubbeling, Francisco J. Escobedo · AIMS environmental science · Brazil

Using digital sensors at eight sites in Rosario, Argentina, from September 2013 to August 2014 — three unvegetated sites in the city center, one city-center site with street trees, one urban agriculture site, one public park, and two peri-urban agricultural sites — this study measured air temperature and, defining a comfort range of 18–24°C, analyzed how different green areas used for urban and peri-urban agriculture and forestry (UPAF) affect daily temperature and cooling/heating requirements. Air temperature in the unvegetated city center was higher than at other vegetated sites during both day and night, except at the city-center site with street trees. Temperature effects in the roughly 0.2-hectare urban agriculture garden were similar to those of the larger, 2–3-hectare parks and gardens. Based on cooling degree days, three UPAF types were classified with progressively lower cooling demand — (1) treeless city center, (2) city center with street trees and public parks, and (3) urban and peri-urban agriculture areas — with the opposite ranking found for heating degree days. The authors state the results can inform the integration of UPAF measures into climate-change mitigation and urban planning policy in medium-sized cities in the developing world.

Charlotte Flink, Jenny Persson · · Europe

This thesis examines whether Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), as an alternative food production model, can promote sustainable urban and rural development in Sweden, using a Triple Bottom Line (economic, environmental, social) framework across two parts: a literature review and a quantitative participant survey at the CSA farm Stackvallen. The literature review indicated CSA operations can contribute to sustainable societal development through economic stimulus and environmentally sound food supply, while the participant survey found respondents rated the social aspects low and valued the health and environmental aspects more highly.

Andreas Wesener · Journal of Urbanism International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability · New Zealand

In Christchurch, New Zealand — struck by a series of major earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 — community gardens, urban agriculture, art installations, event venues, cafés and pocket parks emerged as temporary uses on vacant post-earthquake sites. Through a review and analysis of exemplary transitional community-initiated open spaces alongside related literature, this paper examines how the post-disaster urban context shaped particular aspects of temporary urbanism compared with case studies in non-disaster settings. Focusing on the anticipated benefits of community-initiated open spaces, it discusses their relevance to urban sustainability in relation to community resilience, while raising unresolved questions about their possible long-term value.

Flavio Lupia, Giuseppe Pulighe · Agriculture and Agricultural Science Procedia · Italy

Using a 2014 Italian Institute of Agricultural Economics (INEA) inventory of roughly 2,700 residential kitchen-garden parcels around Rome, Italy, mapped by photointerpretation of high-resolution Google Earth imagery and field validation, this study estimated irrigation water demand for the April-September growing season under different land uses and two irrigation systems, using average climatic data from 1950-2000, and evaluated a rainwater-harvesting scenario as an alternative or supplement to current water sources, which in Rome include municipal supply as well as legal and illegal well, canal and river abstraction.

Municipality of Milan · Milan Urban Food Policy Pact · Global

The Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP), launched by the Municipality of Milan in 2015, is an international agreement among cities to develop sustainable, inclusive, resilient and diverse food systems. According to the official site, 330 cities have signed the pact, covering an estimated 550 million residents.

Anne 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.

Carey 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.

Long 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.

Emmanuelle 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.

Mary 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.

Melissa 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.

Massimiliano 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.

권경호 · 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.

S.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.

Benjamin 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.

Maru 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.

Gilberto 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.