Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
3144 results(7 / 126)
令和7年度版さいたま市の農業
2025さいたま市 · さいたま市 農業統計・振興報告書 · Japan
Saitama's annual agricultural report summarising publicly supported urban agriculture including the urban agriculture council, land-coordinator programme and 79 public/private citizen farms with supply statistics.
PolicyCommunityFood educationEconomics市民農園開設状況調査の結果について（令和7年3月末時点）
2025農林水産省 · 農林水産省 統計調査 · Japan
MAFF nationwide survey of citizen farm counts, plots, area and operator-type trends, providing baseline statistics on publicly and institutionally supported urban gardening across Japan as of March 2025.
PolicyEconomicsCommunityAssessing the sustainable development potential of rooftop agrivoltaics: A case study of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration
2025Liu Q., Chen T., Zhang N., Lin Z., Ye Z., Jiang K., Gao Y., Guo Y., Weng A. · Energy (Elsevier), 320:135191 · China (Yangtze River Delta)
A quantitative assessment of rooftop agrivoltaics (RAV) — co-locating solar PV and crops on building rooftops — against the SDGs. For the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration (~10,720 km² of rooftops) it estimates ~93.1 TWh/year of electricity (6.3% of regional demand), ~43.6 Mt/year of lettuce, large job creation, and ~127 Mt/year of CO2 reduction, positioning RAV as a multifunctional urban land-use that pairs 'zero food miles' food production with clean energy.
EconomicsPolicyOrganic cycleHow has peri-urban research evolved towards sustainable urban planning in the last five decades: a quantitative analysis and systematic review
2025Mallick S., Paul S., Rout S., Behera R.N. · Frontiers of Urban and Rural Planning (Springer) · Global
A quantitative systematic review of five decades of peri-urban research, mapping its growing integration into urban planning and the diversity of its definitions, and positioning peri-urban agriculture's contribution to sustainable planning as a future direction.
PolicyPeri-Urban Land Transformation in the Global South: Revisiting Conceptual Vectors and Theoretical Perspectives
2025Tesfay S.M., Alem G., Ayele D.G. · Land (MDPI) 14(7), 1483 · Global
Theoretically revisits peri-urban land transformation in the Global South, organizing the change in agricultural land use around three vectors: capital, governance and revival (return to farming).
PolicyContribution of natural capital to quality of life of urban-to-rural migrants in Japan
2025Takahashi Y., Yoshida T., Johnson B.A., Shigeto S., Yamagata Y. · Sustainability Science (Springer) · Japan
Uses structural equation modeling on national survey and geospatial data to demonstrate the relationship between urban-to-rural migrants' quality of life and natural capital (farmland, greenspace), providing evidence for the effectiveness of rural in-migration policy.
HealthPolicyFrom social innovation to institutional governance: Unveiling urban rooftop farming in Dhaka city using YouTube video analysis
2025Ashikuzzaman M., Swapan M.S.H., Zaman A.U., Song Y. · Landscape and Urban Planning · Bangladesh (Dhaka)
Analysis of 187 YouTube videos reveals urban rooftop farming in Dhaka is a growing grassroots movement with fragmented institutional oversight; farmers in mixed land-use neighborhoods show the strongest motivation and seek government policy guidelines.
PolicyCommunityUrban farming: the challenges of hydroponic and vertical farming in Malaysia
2025Yapp E.H.T., Jamil N., Lee L.S.G., Chooi Y.T., Chen C.O. · Cogent Food & Agriculture, Vol. 11, Article 2448601 · Malaysia (Penang, Johor, Sabah)
A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with urban farmers in Penang, Johor, and Sabah found that hydroponic and vertical farm operators face persistent challenges from government regulations, volatile markets, financial constraints, and environmental factors despite existing subsidy programs.
PolicyEconomicsUrban Agriculture for Post-Disaster Food Security: Quantifying the Contributions of Community Gardens
2025Liu Y., Chanse V., Chicca F. · Urban Science (MDPI), Vol. 9, No. 8, Article 305 · New Zealand (Wellington)
This study quantifies Wellington, New Zealand's community gardens' capacity to meet post-disaster vegetable demand in terms of weight and nutrient content, finding current gardens insufficient alone but identifying substantial potential through expanded urban agriculture land use.
CommunityFood educationHealthPolicyExploring compost production potential and its economic benefits and greenhouse gas mitigation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2025Shimelis G., Kim D., Yimer F., Tadesse M. · Science of The Total Environment · Africa (Ethiopia)
2025 study estimating compost production potential from municipal organic waste and human excreta in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with projections through 2050. Quantifies economic benefits (compost sales, fertilizer cost reduction), soil carbon sequestration, and greenhouse gas mitigation. Demonstrates feasibility of organic waste-to-compost systems for urban agriculture in African cities.
CompostOrganic cycleFood educationPolicyUrban food resilience: a bibliometric and systematic literature review of evolution, dimensions, and planning integration
2025Global research network · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Australia, Canada, China
Bibliometric analysis of 710+ articles on urban food resilience, documenting evolution of connections between urban-planning-environment clusters and food-agriculture systems globally.
CommunityPolicyDoes urban agriculture contribute to food security, and how might this be achieved?
2025(Open Research Community) · ResearchGate, Discover Sustainability (Springer Nature) · Global
2025 review article examining urban agriculture's contribution to food security and mechanisms of achievement. Analyzes through empirical evidence the benefits and challenges, income generation effects, and improvements in fresh food access for low-income households.
EconomicsCommunityPolicySustainable transitions in food systems: a case study of an urban agriculture farming training program in Washington, United States
2025Soumya Keefe, Jean Lee · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · United States (Washington)
Using an urban agriculture farmer-training program in Washington, United States, this case study examines how such programs support sustainability transitions in the food system, applying the multi-level perspective and social practice theory. It finds the program creates a space for social learning and shifts graduates' collective practices and narratives, but their capacity to change the broader food regime is curtailed without intentional state and local policy support.
Food educationCommunityPolicyA drop in the bucket: examining practice and policy for water resilient urban agriculture and urban food system resilience
2025Kristida Chhour, Maya Carrasquillo · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · United States (San Francisco East Bay)
This mixed-methods case study of the water-scarce San Francisco East Bay maps 91 urban agriculture sites, interviews 34 stakeholders, and analyzes regional plans to examine water management and urban agriculture's resilience potential. It finds growers were the main water managers while municipalities and utilities were minimally involved, that land access shaped water access, and that institutional support to stabilize long-term land and water access is needed for greater water and food-system resilience.
PolicyCommunityEconomicsMeasuring community power: A scale to measure collective self-determination, Embodied Earth Care, and Ubuntu among urban farmers and gardeners
2025Ashley Gripper, Tori Cowger · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · United States
Using exploratory factor analysis on 363 respondents recruited from U.S.-based agricultural networks, this study developed a survey-based scale to capture what Black- and Brown-led food justice organizations value most about community farming and gardening. The analysis supported a five-factor structure—termed "Agricultural Community Power" (AgCPS), covering collective self-determination, community care, land-based spiritual wellbeing, embodied Earth care, and Ubuntu/interdependence—with adequate reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.93).
CommunityHealthPolicyUnraveling the Interaction and Synergies between Urban Agriculture and Urban–Rural Integration in China: A Case Study of Xi'an
2025· Journal of Urban Planning and Development · China (Xi'an)
Analyzes the interactions and synergies between urban agriculture and urban–rural integration through a case study of Xi'an, China.
PolicyCommunityUrban expansion and the loss of potential crop yield in the North China Plain: implications for regional food security (1980–2020)
2025· Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · China (North China Plain)
Analyzes urban expansion and loss of potential crop yield in the North China Plain (1980–2020) and its implications for regional food security, noting much new urban land came from converted farmland.
PolicyEconomicsCropland Loss Under Different Urban Expansion Patterns in China (1990–2020): Spatiotemporal Characteristics, Driving Factors, and Policy Implications
2025· Land · China
Analyzes cropland loss under leap-frogging, edge-spreading, and interior-filling urban expansion in China (1990–2020), finding a 6.3% cropland reduction with edge-spreading contributing most.
PolicyRenewable-fuelled plant factories ensure large-scale food supply but require low-carbon transition for environmental gains
2025· Nature Food · China
A geospatial analysis of renewable-fuelled plant factories across China's city-level regions. It finds they can secure large-scale vegetable supply but require a low-carbon energy transition to deliver environmental benefits.
PolicyEconomicsLicensed Commoning and the Authoritarian Commons: Governing Participation in China's Community Gardens
2025· Environmental Policy and Governance · China
Analyzes how citizen participation in China's community gardens is governed within state-licensed frameworks, conceptualized as an 'authoritarian commons.' Examines the relationship between participatory greening and governance.
PolicyCommunityHow Democratic Is Just Enough? Critical Reflections on the Transformative Potential of the Berlin Food Policy Council
2025· Urban Planning · Germany (Berlin)
Critically reflects on the transformative potential and democratic character of the Berlin Food Policy Council (Ernährungsrat).
PolicyCommunitySupporting the transformation of urban food systems: The food network of the city of Dortmund
2025Leimkühler · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · Germany (Dortmund)
Examines the food network of the city of Dortmund and how it can support the transformation of urban food systems.
PolicyCommunityUrban Agriculture in Neo-Austerity Times: Reflections on a Contested Policy Domain
2025Ferreira, Mélice Dias, Lopes · International Journal of Urban and Regional Research · Global
International analysis of urban agriculture policy in contexts of austerity. Examines tensions between citizen movements and governance, food sovereignty and self-determination.
CommunityPolicySprawling cities, shrinking farmland: urban expansion and smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
2025· Routledge Online · Sub-Saharan Africa
Analyzes impact of rapid urban sprawl on smallholder farmers and agricultural land in sub-Saharan Africa. Documents threats from agricultural-to-residential/commercial conversion, need for urban planning integration, and food security crisis.
PolicyFuture scenarios for urban agriculture and food security in sub-Saharan Africa: Modelling the urban land-food system in an agent-based approach
2025· ScienceDirect · Sub-Saharan Africa
Uses agent-based modeling to analyze future scenarios of urban land-food systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Examines potential for urban agriculture growth and effectiveness of policy interventions.
Policy