Research & reports

Cai Xin-y · Beijing Linye Daxue xuebao · China (Beijing)

This study investigated the factors influencing residents' willingness to participate in allot gardens in Beijing. A survey of 872 Beijing residents was conducted from August to October 2012, and the data was analyzed using a binary dependent variable logistic regression model and maximum likelihood method. The findings revealed that cognitive status, marital status, education level, age, income, and occupation significantly influence residents' participation willingness.

남윤철 · · South Korea

The Ecovillage 'Sanneoul' in Seocheon-gun, South Korea, was developed for urban dwellers returning to rural areas and to prevent rural population decline. The village incorporates ecological elements such as rainwater recycling, rooftop gardens, and ecological sewage disposal plants, and residents utilize sunlight and solar heat systems, garbage recycling, and pellet boilers. While residents are content with the village's ecological elements, significant dissimilarities among residents in age, profession, and previous living environments pose an obstacle to community maintenance.

WU De-hu · Anhui nongye kexue · China (Zhengzhou)

This study elaborated on the significance of developing characteristic agriculture in China's Central Economic Zone, using Zhengzhou urban agriculture as an example. It identified existing problems in urban agriculture development, including understanding deviation, extensive development, market confusion, short industrial chains, low specialization, and harsh environments. The research proposed countermeasures such as strengthening government macro-control, perfecting compensation mechanisms, and promoting scientific innovation and industrialization.

吕艳 · 农业工程技术：温室园艺 · China (Beijing)

The 3rd International Urban Agricultural Science and Technology Festival was held in Tongzhou, Beijing, from September 12 to 13, 2013. Over 300 representatives from national agencies, local governments, agricultural research institutions, domestic and international agricultural enterprises, and foreign embassies in China attended the event at the Tongzhou Beijing International Urban Agricultural Science and Technology Park. China Agricultural University hosted this conference.

Prem José Vazhacharickal, Martina Předotová, D. Chandrasekharam, Sharit K. Bhowmik, Buerkert, Andreas · Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Tropics and Subtropics (University of Kassel) · India (Mumbai)

A study surveyed 38 railway gardeners to characterize urban and peri-urban agricultural production along railway tracks in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Irrigation water contained nutrients but also heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, and mercury, and pathogens like Escherichia coli. Heavy metal levels exceeded critical thresholds in surface soils for chromium, nickel, and strontium, and in produce for lead, cadmium, and strontium.

Heng Shi, Ya Jun Shi, Guang Cai Xu · Applied Mechanics and Materials · China (Beijing)

This study proposes a non-weight agricultural information index model based on the analytic hierarchy process, developed in the context of Beijing's agricultural information development. It suggests that agricultural information promotes the economic growth of urban agriculture, particularly peri-urban agriculture, by facilitating the transition from traditional to modern agriculture.

Akosua Owusu-Bonsu, Yaa Afua, Kofi Agyeiwa, Bright Emmanuel Owusu · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · India (Mumbai)

This study investigated market access and economic benefits of greenhouse hydroponics among urban farmers in Mumbai's coastal slums and Ghana's agricultural hubs. Using a mixed-methods approach, data showed that hydroponic greenhouse production led to a 45% increase in vegetable yields compared to traditional farming methods, with over 70% of producers reporting higher income from market sales. Market access was significantly improved through partnerships with local NGOs and government initiatives.

K.G. Rosin, Ravinder Kaur, Sushma Singh, Prabhat Kumar Singh, Digvijay Dubey · Procedia Environmental Sciences · India

A study was conducted in peri-urban agricultural sites around Faridabad, Haryana, India, to assess groundwater contamination and the contribution of salt/trace metal-laden irrigation waters. Mean EC, Cl, and F concentrations in root zone leachates were found to be far beyond permissible limits, and some trace metals posed a threat to deep percolating waters. However, due to existing cropping patterns and deeper water table depths, the groundwaters were not yet vulnerable to these salts/trace metals, and the presence of salts in the groundwaters was primarily geogenic.

Annisya Noer Wiyanti · · Indonesia (Surabaya)

A descriptive qualitative study investigated the implementation of an urban farming program for the Sumber Trisno Alami group in Bulak District, Surabaya City, which began in 2011. The program aimed to meet food needs, improve nutrition, and boost the economy for 6000 poor households. However, the program's implementation was not considered successful in achieving its poverty reduction goal, with some suggesting its discontinuation.

Zhu Shi-non · Chinese Horticulture Abstracts · China

This study discusses an innovative horticultural teaching method for cultivating talents in urban agriculture, using teachers' science and technology projects, students' science and technology innovation projects, and graduation projects as carriers. The first step of this practice was carried out and yielded good results.

舒显奇梁建琼官智茹陈丽 · 农村经济 · China (Chengdu)

This study briefly outlines the advantages and current status of urban agriculture development in Qionglai, a major agricultural county in Chengdu's outer suburbs. It discusses the problems encountered in developing urban agriculture and proposes countermeasures for Qionglai to advance its "Urban Agriculture Demonstration Project." The research is based on an understanding of urban agriculture's connotations, functions, and development status at home and abroad.

冉淑青, 周潮 · Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Sunyatseni · China

This study explores the guiding significance of the "Garden City" theory for the development and construction of new development zones in China. Addressing issues of sprawling urban expansion and urban-rural separation, it discusses the ideal composition of development zones guided by the Garden City concept. This includes urban clusters, urban complexes, urban green space systems and urban agriculture, rapid transportation systems, and development strategies for urban construction, industrial development, urban-rural integration, social management, and policy formulation.

Jaap Evers · · Vietnam (Hanoi)

This paper discusses the transfer of international commitments on green sustainable growth to local levels, focusing on integrated urban wastewater management in Hanoi, Vietnam. It highlights the substantial potential of urban and peri-urban agriculture to reuse urban wastewater for nutrient recovery and to serve as environmental service providers within urban sanitation systems. However, it notes that many local policymakers are unaware of the significance and opportunities of this practice.

Chen Hui-fan · Anhui nongye kexue · China (Zhengzhou)

This article analyzes the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model in Zhengzhou and proposes a new Chinese-style CSA model, "daughter-in-law in the city, her husband outside the city," inspired by roof vegetable gardens. This model is presented as beneficial for organic agriculture development and urban roof greening, offering a mutually beneficial practice for combining roof greening and agriculture. It is described as a green economy approach that promotes ecological environment protection and urban-rural economic development.

Cortnee Martin · · United States (Indianapolis)

This piece about a refugee-tended urban farm on the west side of Indianapolis, primarily sourced from an interview with the farm's creator, highlights how it helps a marginalized community maintain their culture and traditions while integrating into a new home. The project is described as an effort to assist a vulnerable population.

Zhao Shu-ji · Tianjin Agricultural Sciences · China (Tianjin)

In Tianjin, the demand characteristics for financial support for urban agriculture development were investigated. The results showed that peasant households and agricultural zones had multiple needs for agricultural techniques, and urban agriculture development required significant support from government fiscal and monetary resources.

Senoaji Widianto, Cahyadi Nugraha, Khuria Amila · · Indonesia (Bandung)

This study presents an Agent Based Modeling & Simulation method to model the urban farming activities of the Bandung Berkebun Community in Bandung, Indonesia. The model shows the effect of system parameters such as the intensity of community programs, campaigns, and the availability of land for gardening on the growth of these activities. The output of the simulation model suggests that these activities can help to increase the supply of vegetables for the people of Bandung.

LI Rui-fen · Journal of Beijing University of Agriculture · China (Beijing)

This paper aimed to recognize the comprehensive level and scale of the agricultural structure in Beijing, China. It also sought to identify developing differences within Beijing's agricultural sector.

김효정 · 한국여성학 · South Korea

Through in-depth interviews and participant observation research targeting women's activist organizations established since 2010, the characteristics of urban agriculture cases led or participated in by unmarried women in their 20s and 30s were analyzed. Unmarried women activists met the growing demand for safe and healthy food among single-person households through community farming in urban areas, practicing agriculture not only for food production but also as a lifestyle pursuit and recreational culture. However, their practices face limitations such as urban space constraints, difficulties for unmarried women to relocate to rural areas, excessive ecological value attribution, and a lack of solidarity with rural communities.

Ran Shu · Journal of Huaiyin Institute of Technology · China

This study examined the guiding significance of the over 100-year-old Garden City theory for the construction of new development zones in China. Addressing issues like continuous development and urban-rural separation in Chinese cities, the research analyzed the core ideas of the Garden City theory and its relevance for development zone construction. It discussed the ideal composition of development zones, including city groups, urban complexes, urban green space systems, urban agriculture, and rapid transit systems, as well as development tactics encompassing city construction, industrial development, urban-rural integration, social management, and policy formulation.

I‐Jin Choi, Hyuk-Hyun Kwon, Hanho Lee, Hyoung-Gi Son, Sang-Kil Hong, Jong-Woon Kang, Yu-Soon Park · 한국자원식물학회지 · South Korea

In a South Korean laboratory and field study, ethanol and water extracts of eight plant species were tested for insecticidal activity against diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) larvae on Korean radish and Korean cabbage using a leaf-disc spray method. Capsicum annuum (chili seed) extract gave the highest activity, 83.3% at 1500 mg/L after 48 hours; in field trials with twelve applications before harvest, Coptis japonica (goldthread) and C. annuum extracts reached control efficacies of 87.4% and 83.7% on Korean radish, and 74.3% and 69.3% (with Chelidonium majus) on Korean cabbage, with no phytotoxic effect on seed germination or seedling growth observed.

Hyunjin An, 박현영 · 국토계획 · South Korea

Overseas cases of "temporary uses" and "tactical urbanism" — including community gardens, Site Pre-Vitalization, Pop-up Town Hall and Temporary Urbanism Initiatives in Washington, D.C. — are reviewed to draw implications for treating vacant real estate as productive rather than useless in Korean urban regeneration. Amid stalled regeneration projects during Korea's economic recession, such small-scale, bottom-up, trial-and-error temporary uses are argued to serve as a first step toward lasting change.

Zhenshan Yang · 自然资源学报 · China (Beijing)

A study modeling city food footprint using supply-and-demand data, applied to Beijing over time. Beijing's food footprint grew from 11,800 km2 in 1993 to 29,400 km2 in 2010, about 1.8 times the city's territorial area, while per-capita food footprint stayed roughly stable at 0.127 hectares. The paper concludes that continuing population growth and shrinking arable land will force Beijing's food footprint further outward, and argues the city needs a different development strategy that strengthens local food supply through urban and peri-urban agriculture.

Luo Qing-gu · Zhongguo liutong jingji · China

A Chinese paper arguing that high logistics costs are the main driver of the exorbitantly priced agricultural products criticized by urban residents, caused by the many distribution links and losses inherent to agricultural products. It proposes shareholding leisure agriculture—drawing on advantages in production scale, capital, technology and information—as a carrier for integrating rural logistics resources and directly linking agricultural production with sales.

秦疏影 · Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Sunyatseni · China

A bibliometric analysis of Chinese research literature on urban agriculture indexed in the CNKI database from 1991 to 2012 examined five dimensions: the distribution of publications by year, by researcher, by research institution, by academic influence, and by discipline. The analysis found that dominant resources for urban agriculture research were concentrated in Beijing and the developed eastern coastal provinces and cities, that research institutions were mainly universities, and that research hotspots were concentrated in agricultural economics. The study recommends increasing resource allocation and research effort in western China to promote urban agriculture research there.