Research & reports

Mary Mattingly · Intellect eBooks · Global

This essay shares two research practices stemming from the author's seven-year engagement with extractive supply chains for specific objects. Swale is a floating food forest that uses the common law of the waterways as a loophole to do what was illegal on common land, highlighting governance challenges within existing systems.

Nurul Ain Zafirah Nor Aizi, Kamisah Osman · International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development · Malaysia

This study evaluated the hydroponics knowledge of 200 Year 6 primary school students in Malaysia, with 100 from an urban school in Kuala Lumpur and 100 from a rural school in Negeri Sembilan. Using a 10-item Likert-scale questionnaire, urban students scored slightly higher (min = 2.97) than rural students (min = 2.70), indicating a comparable knowledge level. No significant correlation was found between hydroponic knowledge and parents' socioeconomic status.

Xiu-li LUO, Xiaobin Jin, Xiaojie Liu, Su-shu ZHANG, Su-chen YING, Yinkang Zhou · 自然资源学报 · Global

This study, based on symbiosis theory, proposes a mechanism and model of comprehensive land consolidation to promote integrated urban and rural development in peri-urban areas. It showed that main obstacles to symbiotic peri-urban systems are non-equilibrium development in symbiotic units, unequal mobility of elements in the symbiotic environment, and asymmetry and non-reciprocity of symbiotic models. Comprehensive land consolidation reshapes the symbiotic environment through element flow, reconstructs symbiotic units through spatial reconstruction, and drives the symbiotic model through functional promotion, leading to symmetric and reciprocal benefits in urban-rural systems.

Jessica Ann Diehl · · Global

This chapter investigates urban agriculture in Singapore through a political ecology lens, examining food security from the perspective of traditional commercial farmers. Growing urban food demand and risks inherent in reliance on the global food system have spurred city governments to implement diversified strategies for integrating urban agriculture at different scales; Singapore, a high-earning city-state that imports 90% of its food, has set a target of raising domestic food production to 30% under its Singapore Green Plan 2030 "30 by 30" Grow Local target. The chapter questions whether this level of food independence is achievable if food production shifts away from traditional farming toward high-tech operations such as rooftop or vertical farms. Semi-structured qualitative interviews covered four topics: general farm practices, social networks, benefits and barriers, and livelihood alternatives. Findings were examined in the context of a rising generation of high-tech entrepreneurial farmers facing the challenge of meeting consumer demand against land and labor scarcity. The in-depth case study demonstrates that technology is only one driver, among many, of the sustainability of the local food system in Singapore, and traditional commercial farmers face pressure on their livelihoods as policy shifts toward high-tech production.

Jennifer C. Franco, Saturnino M. Borras · Oxford University Press eBooks · Global

This chapter examines the dominant convention in critical agrarian studies and agrarian movements — that land struggles are best captured by an agrarian-reform framework of expropriating land from large private monopolies for redistribution to landless and near-landless working classes. It argues that while this type of struggle remains important, it does not fully capture the range of land struggles of working people across rural and urban, agricultural and nonagricultural spaces. Over recent decades the working classes have fragmented, as the numbers of people combining agricultural/nonagricultural and rural/urban livelihoods have vastly expanded, decentering working people's land struggles from the classical treatment tied to agriculture and capitalism. Land struggles today are dispersed and multisited, with political leadership and power that are polycentric rather than unified, and span multiple scales.

Héctor Ávila Sánchez · Investigaciones Geográficas Boletín del Instituto de Geografía · Global

This conceptual article examines periurbanization as one of the most dynamic territorial expressions in contemporary society, discussing the reconfiguration of food-production spaces in peri-urban areas that form part of metropolitan systems as a social and territorial process. It addresses proximity, the consolidation of short supply circuits, and new territorial forms such as city-region food systems and "agrarian parks" (parques agrarios) — a form found mainly in Europe that the article frames as a territorial innovation countering the disarticulation of peri-urban agrarian space under growing metropolization. It discusses the spread of cooperative-based forms (food hubs, cooperative supermarkets, shared workshops) and the roles of social movements, producer organizations, and public institutions in shaping peri-urban territorial governance, framed through solidarity economy and social justice.

CapitaLand · CapitaLand · Singapore

The rooftop of Singapore's Funan mixed-use development hosts an approximately 18,000-square-foot urban farm operated by Edible Garden City, growing more than 50 types of fruits and vegetables including mushrooms, edible flowers, and watermelon. CapitaLand frames this and its other greened properties as delivering functional benefits — reduced energy consumption, improved air quality, and enhanced employee wellness — beyond aesthetic appeal.

· Wikipedia · Singapore

According to the English Wikipedia article 'Vertical farming', Sky Greens Farms opened the world's first commercial vertical farm in Singapore in 2012. It is three stories high and currently has over 100 nine-metre-tall towers. It is cited as the starting point of commercialized urban vertical farming.

· LCR Diario Digital · Argentina

A regional Argentine newspaper report on the national Ministry of Human Capital's March 2024 discontinuation of ProHuerta, the national program providing free seed kits for household gardens. In the Villa Regina area of Río Negro province, the local Comisión de Fomento of Valle Azul stepped in to purchase and freely distribute 100 seed kits for the spring-summer season, while INTA (the national agricultural technology institute), though no longer funded to buy seeds, continues to offer free technical advice on soil improvement and pest control.

Setyardi Pratika Mulya, Heru Purboyo Hidayat Putro, Delik Hudalah · Geography and sustainability · Global

This 2023 global systematic literature review examined peri-urban agriculture (PUA) as an ecosystem service, focusing on urbanization pressures and governance. The review found that PUA is crucial for urban areas in terms of food supply, ecology, biodiversity preservation, disaster mitigation, and recreation. However, massive urban expansion is a primary cause of PUA loss, and sociocultural biases have led to institutional constraints on peri-urban management within existing political and regulatory frameworks.

Alicia Papanek, Catherine Campbell, Hannah Wooten · EDIS · Global

This April 2023 publication by Alicia Papanek, Catherine G. Campbell, and Hannah Wooten, from the UF/IFAS Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, discusses the definition of urban agriculture. It covers common characteristics, types of food produced, frequently used production methods, and the purposes of various urban agriculture operations.

Claudia Rochael Oliveira, Eneida Maria Souza Mendonça · Geografia (Rio Claro) · Global

This article aimed to map authors discussing environmental aesthetics in urban agriculture research, inspired by Porteous's work. Using a bibliographic survey and visual representations, the study found no publications intersecting urban agriculture and environmental aesthetics. Research on urban agriculture and landscape was notably greater than on urban agriculture and aesthetics, and studies applying aesthetic theory to urban agriculture were very limited, especially in high-tech contexts like vertical farms.

M. S. Aduah, Saviour Mantey · South African Journal of Geomatics · Ghana

This study used geospatial techniques, multi-temporal land use maps, and population data to estimate urban land use efficiency (LUE), changes in built-up area per capita, and urban sprawl speed (SS) in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan area of Ghana. While LUE generally improved from 2002 to 2016, it deteriorated slightly between 2016 and 2021. Critically, agricultural land or grassland in the city has been converted to built-up land, posing a challenge for urban agriculture.

Herbert Mandigo, Teddious Mhizha, Terence Darlington Mushore · Applied Sciences · Zimbabwe (Harare)

This study investigated the implications of urban growth on maize yield in Harare metropolitan city, Zimbabwe, from 1984 to 2018 using Landsat data. Cropland area was reduced from 11,120 ha in 1984 to 2631 ha in 2018. Consequently, the estimated average maize yield decreased significantly from 52,264 tons in 1984 to 12,366 tons in 2018, demonstrating that urban growth has the potential to compromise food security.

Iyad Ghazal, Reema Mansour, Marie Davidová · Sustainability · Palestine (Nablus)

This research investigated the potential of farming on facades and roofs across an entire neighborhood. A case study of 22 multi-floor residential buildings in Nablus, Palestine, was conducted using developed parametric tools. Findings indicated that existing facades could provide 28,500 m2 of farming area, with half of facades and all roofs suitable for daylight-based farming. The study found that facades could fulfill 350% of tomato and 237% of cucumber consumption, while roofs could produce over 315 times the local sweet pepper consumption. A modular facade system was designed with an average system cost of $55.2/m2 and a total cost of $1.7M.

Institut de Gestion des Techniques Urbaines, Université Larbi Ben M’hidi, MERIEM BENLAHRECHE, Saïd Mazouz, Département d’architecture, Université Larbi Ben M’hidi · Revue Roumaine de Géographie / Romanian Journal of Geography · Algeria

This article aims to explain urban phenomena in Hamma Bouziane, Algeria, a city known for its fertile land. The study indicates that the peri-urban agriculture of Hamma Bouziane is suffering negative repercussions due to unbridled urban expansion and socio-economic changes.

Divyam Jindal · International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR) · Global

This research introduces an AI-based model that uses satellite imaging, machine learning, and demographic projections to optimize urban agriculture. The model integrates soil analysis, water availability prediction, crop recommendations, and population growth projections for informed decision-making. It aims to optimize land use and balance urbanization, food security, and environmental sustainability.

Sadika Parvin, Md. Shahidul Islam · Khulna University Studies · Bangladesh

This descriptive quantitative study assessed the social acceptance of rooftop gardens among city dwellers in Bangladesh, surveying 475 participants online. While approximately three-quarters of respondents showed positive attitudes towards rooftop gardening, about one-third had negative attitudes, indicating unwillingness, with similar trends observed for behavioral perceptions. The study revealed that one-third of respondents still held negative attitudes and just over one-third had negative behavioral perceptions towards rooftop gardening.

· Middle East Journal of Applied Sciences · Egypt (Giza)

An experiment was conducted in a rooftop garden in Giza, Egypt, during the summer seasons of 2021 and 2022 to determine the most suitable substrate mixture for producing hot pepper in pots. Four mixtures—perlite:coco peat, sand:rice husk, sand:coco peat, and sand:coco peat:rice husk—were evaluated for growth and yield. The perlite:coco peat mixture recorded the highest values for plant height, leaf number, fresh and dry weights of aerial parts, root fresh and dry weights, and yield per m². The sand:rice husk mixture showed close results, leading to both being considered suitable for pot-system hot pepper production.

Rachael Maysels, Apolinar Figueroa Casas, Juan Diego Otero Sarmiento, Shiomara Mileydi Zuñiga Meneses · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Colombia

This study analyzed the dynamics of the local food system in the Andean region of Cauca, Colombia, and explored how it can be conceptualized as an Alternative Food Network (AFN) within the Global South context. Transdisciplinary research, utilizing SWOT analysis during stakeholder workshops and reflexive thematic analysis, was conducted. Results showed the coexistence of both traditional and conventional food system dynamics; participants valued traditional food systems and agroecological production more, but economic insecurity and socio-political unrest hindered a robust transition from the conventional food system.

Luíza Malvessi Lagemann, Luciana Turatti, Rodrigo Spinelli · Revista Destaques Acadêmicos · Global

This paper conducted a literature review of architecture and urban planning projects to find alternatives to mitigate problems of the current food system, such as processed foods, reduced access for small producers, and high environmental pollution. Ten projects focusing on urban agriculture and healthier food production were analyzed. Ultimately, it was observed that it is possible to construct architectural and urban planning projects that contribute to more sustainable food production, especially in urban areas and with the use of urban agriculture.

Ana María Bertolini, Patrícia Constante Jaime, Gabriela Marques Di Giulio · Saúde e Sociedade · Global

A critical literature review discussed the evolution of food and nutrition security (FNS) and the contributions of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA). The review found that institutional responses to FNS are concentrated in times of crisis, which favors the maintenance of globalized and unsustainable food systems. UPA practices show peaks of rise and decline, evolving with the FNS agenda.

Radenka Kolarov, Mirjana Ljubojević, JOVANA SUCUR ELEZ, Mirjana Adakalić, BILJANA LAZOVIC, Dejan Prvulović, Sezai Erċışlı, DJORDJE MALENCIC · TURKISH JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY · Serbia

This study compared bioactive compounds in pomegranate genotypes from a continental region (Sremski Karlovci, Serbia) and a Mediterranean urban region (Bar, Montenegro). Analysis of phenolics, tannins, flavonoids, proanthocyanidins, pigments, vitamin C, acidity, pH, and sugars, along with DPPH and ABTS antioxidant tests, revealed that pomegranates grown in the continental area had significantly higher amounts of biochemically active compounds than those from the Mediterranean urban region. This suggests adaptation to continental conditions, with continental samples showing greater antioxidant potential and proanthocyanidins content.

Joshua Zeunert, Tanya Court · Elsevier eBooks · Global

Public urban agriculture (PUA) in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia faces challenges, including aesthetics and negative perceptions of its spatial presence and visual performance. In these contexts, PUA often remains limited to allotments, community gardens, education gardens, and street verge gardens, which frequently suffer from negative aesthetic perceptions in highly visible public settings. This chapter explores how eight distinctive rural food production practices could be translated into urban contexts to address aesthetic shortcomings in PUA design.

Michael Tuffour · Journal of Regional and City Planning · Ghana

This study investigated how urban farmers in Ghana cope with land scarcity amidst rapid urbanization and the factors influencing their mobility for farmland. Responses from 251 farmers were analyzed using both Tobit and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), revealing that land situation factors such as land ownership type, land scarcity challenges, and land size were associated with farmers' mobility. Farm characteristics like market benefits, intensity of vegetable production, and technology level, along with personal characteristics such as age, education level, farmer engagement, and marital status, also played a role in mobility.