Research & reports

Curnier, Sonia, Berrada, Reda · ArODES (HES-SO (https://www.hes-so.ch/)) · Netherlands (Amsterdam)

This chapter stated that creating special places in landscape architecture requires investment and investigation. It presented a spectrum of special projects, ranging from the private rooftop garden Groenmarkt in the historic center of Amsterdam, Netherlands, to the public outdoor pool Järvabadet in the multiethnic suburbs of Stockholm, Sweden.

Coosje Dijkstra, Jutka Halberstadt, Jaap Seidell, Arnoud Verhoefff · VU Research Portal · Netherlands (Amsterdam)

In a school garden in Amsterdam-Zuidoost, children were amazed when their teacher pulled a radish from the ground and ate it. Most children followed suit and discovered that their self-harvested salad was tasty without dressing.

Hugo Rochard, Céline Clauzel, Nathalie Blanc · Urban Ecosystems · France (Paris)

The impact of civic-led hedgerow planting on landscape connectivity was assessed in the southern Paris periurban context. A graph modeling methodology was applied to 94 hedgerow sites, revealing that these sites strengthen landscape connectivity. This quantitative assessment was coupled with qualitative data collected from local civic leaders regarding their perception of social-ecological functions associated with hedgerow planting.

Amy Bogaard · Journal of Urban Archaeology · Europe

This paper frames agroecological expectations for different urban forms based on Roland Fletcher’s model of settlement population scale and density. It hypothesizes that low-density urbanism allows labor-intensive land management, while high-density urbanism requires lower inputs per unit area and stress-tolerant crops. The study applies these expectations to early urban forms in western Eurasia, finding that diverse farming strategies in high-density areas and flexible low-density urban agroecology offer lessons for future urban farming.

Rory Coduri · Archaeology Data Service · United Kingdom

An archaeological evaluation at Simon's Cross, Wickham Market, Suffolk, involved excavating 12 trial trenches ahead of housing construction. The evaluation revealed several undated ditches and pits across the site. While historical maps described the land as "arable," later 20th-century mapping shows the site as allotment gardens, suggesting the features may relate to their layout or drainage, though earlier origins are not ruled out.

Mercedes Muriel Sáiz · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Spain (Madrid)

This article examines the phenomenon of urban gardens from a socio-community perspective, based on a methodology combining a literature review and participant observation in the community garden Ensancha el huerto (Alcorcón, Madrid). The analysis shows that urban gardens operate as micro-ecosystems of mutual support and learning, but the study also highlights risks associated with institutionalization, commodification, and legal insecurity surrounding such initiatives.

Christoph Koch, Maria da Glória Arrais Peter · Environmental Challenges · Germany

This citizen science study analyzed inorganic pollutants in private garden soils in central Germany, including front and backyards. Elevated levels of lead and copper were found in one-third of the samples, and zinc in two-thirds. Chromium and nickel concentrations were also elevated in a quarter of the samples, with some readily available substances exceeding limit values.

Corina Başnou, Geovana Mercado, Åsa Ode Sang, Thomas B. Randrup, Verónica Fabio, Adrián Cabezas, Arnau Lluch, Marc Montlleó, Juan Miguel Kanai, Riccardo Saraco, Olívia Bina, Tom Wild · Nature-Based Solutions · Europe

An overview and guidance for air pollution indicators in nature-based solutions (NBS) for urban green planning and public health were provided, using three case studies in Europe and Latin America. The study noted that approaches including multidimensional indicators in research, planning, and policies are limited, and national standards for some air pollutants are missing with little evidence for health effect thresholds. Findings also indicated that knowledge of pollutant uptake in edible plants can suggest potential human exposure risks.

Grzegorz Budzik, Marta Sylla, Catharina J.E. Schulp · Journal of Environmental Management · Europe

The cooling potential of allotments across European Functional Urban Areas (FUAs) was assessed. Allotments provide cooling services to 4.1 million people within FUAs, including 1.7 million in Germany. Each square kilometer of allotments cools an average of 8,221 people, with the cooled area being, on average, 2.8 times larger than the allotment size. Urban agriculture was 23% more efficient than peri-urban agriculture, but only 5% of allotments cooled areas with the highest heat risk.

Grassl, Philipp · reposiTUm (TU Wien) · Europe

The diploma thesis "hydro ponos" at the Vienna University of Technology addresses a new type of agriculture in Vienna's urban context. The project proposes a hydroponic system in a vertical farm, choosing the vacant Flakturm (anti-aircraft tower) in Augarten as the construction site. The study suggests a solution for the city by utilizing the existing Flakturm as a storage and supply element and adding a new timber skeleton structure as an extension.

Laura Sheard, Giorgia Previdoli, Wendy Burton, Rachel Benchekroun, Maddy Power, Bob Doherty, Philip Hadley, Ariadne Beatrice Kapetanaki, Shahid Islam, Sairah Mirza, Claire Cameron, Kate E. Pickett, Angela Hutton, Charlotte Edwards, Maria Bryant · PLoS ONE · United Kingdom

This research protocol describes a mixed-methods study aiming to understand which approaches adopted by community food organizations are most likely to prevent the need for emergency food in two multicultural communities in Bradford and Tower Hamlets, England. The study will create a typology of community food organization approaches through surveys, system mapping workshops, and stakeholder interviews, and will conduct a 12-month ethnographic study in up to 10 organizations and longitudinal qualitative research with up to 35 families.

Mais Jafari, Rolf Morgenstern, Jonas Runte · · Germany

This chapter analyzed the co-creation pathway of Nature-based Solutions (NBS) in the Dortmund Living Lab, focusing on urban gardening, food forests, and biodiversity. It critically illustrated missing dimensions that hinder innovation, such as business opportunities, legal frameworks, and planning conditions. These identified gaps indicate challenges in governance and implementation for social innovation through NBS.

Fereday, George, Tang, Bo · London Met Repository (London Metropolitan University) · United Kingdom

This case study examined the integration of regenerative pedagogy in undergraduate architectural education through annual timber structures workshops at Mudchute City Farm, London, over a six-year period. Second-year students learned regenerative design principles focused on climate change, local ecology, and adaptive timber reuse, fostering circular and regenerative design skills. The program prepares students for future architectural challenges, including reducing carbon emissions and increasing biodiversity.

Juan Diego Torres, Sara R. Jaeger, Patricia Puerta, Amparo Tárrega · Applied Food Research · Spain

This study investigated Spanish consumers' perceptions of five lettuce cultivation systems using explicit and implicit methods with 105 participants. Local/small agriculture was most favorably regarded, while urban community gardens were perceived as less safe for lettuce production. High-tech greenhouses were considered safer but less sustainable, and vertical indoor farming elicited a surprise reaction due to low familiarity.

Grażyna Wiejak-Roy, Jaideep Roy, D. Andrew · Land Use Policy · Poland (Warsaw)

This study examined the market for allotment gardens in Warsaw, Poland, using a mixed-method approach including thematic archival analysis of regulations and hedonic regression modeling on posted offers. The findings indicate a poor transaction framework, pricing sensitive to legal and illegal private investments, and prevalent illegal rent-seeking on land. Additionally, increasing investment in allotment gardens was found to reduce biodiversity.

Dariusz Gruszka, Katarzyna Szopka, Cezary Kabała · Land · Poland (Wroclaw)

This study in Wroclaw, Poland, investigated the quality of constructed technogenic soils in urban gardens located on a reclaimed clay pit. Despite beneficial physicochemical properties and high fertility in the topsoil layers, the soils were seriously contaminated with trace elements, including zinc (up to 1700 mg kg−1), lead (920 mg kg−1), copper (740 mg kg−1), cadmium (5.1 mg kg−1), mercury (7.4 mg kg−1), and arsenic (5.1 mg kg−1). This contamination, likely from industrial and urban waste used for mine infilling, compromises soil quality and poses potential health and ecological risks.

Magdalena Roszczynialska · Przestrzenie Teorii · Poland

This article characterizes the edible landscape, a non-visual approach to landscape, by identifying landscapes where the cultural component is weakened in favor of the environmental one. The author develops a typology of edible landscapes in 21st-century Polish prose, including consumption landscapes, edible mnemotopos, terroir, and urban gardens, interpreting them as practices of "hacking the Anthropocene" and interventions for socio-environmental justice. The edible landscape is presented as a way of literary manifestation of nature and a means of survival in the face of ecological catastrophe.

Julián Briz Escribano, Isabel de Felipe Boente · Revista española de estudios agrosociales y pesqueros/Revista española de estudios agrosociales y pesqueros · Spain

This study addresses various climate change-related functions and climate issues, particularly in urban areas. A holistic analytical method for green infrastructure is proposed as a nature-based solution, based on its structure, behavior, and functioning. Dimensions emerging with climate change and Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), such as urban agriculture and agrifitness, are identified, and the situation in Spain is described.

Chris Blythe, Silvio Caputo, Michael Hardman, Paul Milbourne, Victoria Schoen · Kent Academic Repository (University of Kent) · United Kingdom

This chapter examines the impact of urban food growing on individual, household, and community resilience, well-being, environment, and local food systems in the UK during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing on survey and research data. It discusses the potential role of urban food growing in post-pandemic food security, environment, health, and society, and considers how "crisis gardening" experiences are leading to calls for new approaches to urban food growing in the UK.

Mykola Blyzniak · Naukovì zapiski Nacìonalʹnogo unìversitetu Ostrozʹka akademìâ Serìâ Ìstoričnì nauki · Ukraine

The 1767 inventory of Ostroh contains information about the hereditary part of the city owned by Princess Anna Yablonovska. It describes the state and development of Zamkova Gora and the city's topography at the time (Old Town, New Town, Mokra Volya, Kordyshivka, city farms). The Christian community comprised 160 households (43%), while the Jewish community had 210 households (57%), with Jews traditionally dominating trade and crafts.

Ana María Bartolomé Sualdea, Teresa Briz, Beatriz Urbano · Sustainable Development · Europe

This study analyzed socio-economic variables from 100 European regions to understand how urban agriculture (UA) development within Research and Innovation Smart Specialisation Strategy (RIS3) benefits regions. A binary logistic regression found that a 1% increase in the population over 65 could lead to a 72.75% increase in UA. ANOVA results indicated that regions benefit from UA in RIS3 through active aging, diversification, alleviating urbanization pressure, technology development, and improved governance and social capital.

Dennis Raphael · Policy Press eBooks · Canada; United Kingdom

This chapter documents the growth of charitable non-governmental responses to food insecurity in Canada and the UK, including food banks, food diversion schemes, and community gardens. It is shown that these responses are problematic as they fail to address the economic and political causes of food insecurity. Further failures associated with charitable responses include the experience of stigma and degradation by food bank users and the promulgation of the belief that food insecurity is being addressed.

Mellany N.C. van Bommel, Marthe L. Derkzen, Lenneke Vaandrager · Wellbeing Space and Society · Europe

This mixed-methods study aimed to understand the meanings attributed to green citizen initiatives in the Netherlands by using the concept of sense of place and to investigate which factors predict this sense of place. Surveys (n=130) were used alongside interviews with 38 participants from ten green citizen initiatives. Findings demonstrate a strong sense of place among participants, which was significantly predicted by meaningful experiences, a sense of safety within the initiative, and length of involvement. Participation in green citizen initiatives appears to create meaning across place attachment, place identity, place dependence, and a broader societal meaning of place.

David Caballero Franco, Judith Martín Lucas, Parra Nieto, Gabriel · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Spain (Salamanca)

This work describes the Community School Gardens Network (HecoUSAL) project, a Service-Learning program launched in 2013 at the University of Salamanca, Spain. The program aims to improve university education quality, strengthen social commitment, expand sustainability culture, and develop sustainability skills among students. It proposes new teaching-learning models that integrate sustainability skills through multi-sensory, nature-based educational experiences within school environments.

University of Liège, Reframe.food, ASTREDHOR · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Europe

This catalogue presents over 30 innovative Urban Agriculture initiatives from across Europe. These projects were selected for their originality, relevance, maturity, and potential to address urban challenges, demonstrating several years of successful operation. It provides an comprehensive overview of diverse urban farming systems and their potential to transform cities into more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient places.