Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
2091 results(70 / 84)
Socio-economic characterization of integrated cropping systems in urban and peri-urban agriculture of Faisalabad, Pakistan
2013Shoaib Ur Rehman, Martina Předotová, Iqar Ahmad Khan, Eva Schlecht, Buerkert, Andreas · GoeScholar The Publication Server of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) · Pakistan
A baseline survey conducted in Faisalabad, Pakistan, from 2009–2010 studied 140 households to characterize urban and peri-urban agricultural (UPA) systems. Findings showed 96% of households relied on agriculture, with 70% of heads having primary education. Farmers cultivated 35 species, predominantly vegetables (65%), and faced major problems including scarcity of high-quality irrigation water and inadequate mineral fertilizers. Half of the respondents earned less than US$1.25 daily.
EconomicsUrban–rural linkageCommunityHUERTA URBANA Y SALUD MENTAL: SUS EFECTOS EN LA SUBJETIVIDAD DE NIÑOS Y ADOLESCENTES
2013Fabiana Naiman, Juan José Calzetta · V Congreso Internacional de Investigación y Práctica Profesional en Psicología XX Jornadas de Investigación Noveno Encuentro de Investigadores en Psicología del MERCOSUR · Argentina
This study is based on a University Extension Program titled "The Urban Orchard: A Tool for Inclusion of Children and Adolescents," conducted under the UBANEX Programme 2012/2013 by the University of Buenos Aires. The program aimed to develop children's and adolescents' ability to generate and produce a self-managed urban garden. Program implementation showed that the urban orchard produced positive effects at both inter- and intra-subjective levels, fostering curiosity, creativity, responsibility, self-confidence, self-esteem, self-criticism, teamwork, and the quality of links between subjects.
Food educationHealthCommunityWelfareDefining the skycourt and skygarden
2013Jason Pomeroy · · Egypt
The ancient Egyptian city of Fustat, now part of Old Cairo, incorporated skygardens. Archaeological findings indicate its importance as a trade hub and production center. Historical accounts describe 14-storey residential buildings with rooftop gardens irrigated by ox-drawn water wheels.
CommunityDIYGrowing Language Awareness in the Classroom Garden
2013Patricia Paugh, Mary Jane Moran · Language Arts · Global
For four years, Pat Paugh and Mary Moran conducted action research on literacy development linked to a third-grade community gardening and urban farming curriculum. They used Critical Pedagogy of Place and Systemic Functional Linguistics frameworks to integrate explicit language instruction with student-centered curriculum. This article illustrates how functional grammar aspects, genre and register, supported linguistic growth and connected literacy learning to community involvement.
Food educationCommunityREAL School Gardens Program: Learning Gardens and Teacher Training to Improve Student Engagement and Academic Performance in Low-Performing Elementary Schools
2013Jeanne McCarty · Journal of Applied Research on Children Informing Policy for Children at Risk · Global
The REAL School Gardens Program builds learning gardens and provides teacher training in 92 low-income elementary schools to enhance student engagement and academic performance. Preliminary findings indicate that 84% of students participating in hands-on lessons in these gardens report high engagement, particularly in math and science. Additionally, partner schools showed, on average, 5.5% higher standardized science test pass rates compared to non-partner schools.
Food educationWelfareCommunityFood and Green Space in Cities: A Resilience Lens on Gardens and Urban Environmental Movements
2013Stephan Barthel, John N. Parker, Henrik Ernstson · Urban Studies · Global
This article examined the role of urban gardens during historical collapses in urban food supply lines and identified social processes needed to protect open green spaces and the collective memory of food production during crises. Over the past 50 years, urban dependence on global food systems has increased, eroding collective memory of food production and losing suitable urban gardening spaces, heightening the potential for food shortages during crises. Urban gardening is effective during crises, and allotment gardens transmit social-ecological memories of food production. Urban environmental movements protect urban green space, and urban gardening and social movements can build local response capacity against food supply collapses.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changePolicyAnalysis and comparison of vacant land resources for urban food production
2013Benjamin Kerrick · The Knowledge Bank (The Ohio State University) · Global
This research aimed to understand how vacant land resources vary by ownership and urbanization, studying over one hundred sites in seven central Ohio counties around Columbus. GIS-based classification identified publicly and privately owned vacant land suitable for vegetable production. No appreciable differences were found between publicly and privately owned land in terms of parcel size, perimeter-area ratio, or quality; however, privately owned land was more prevalent and, when present, tended to occur in greater quantities.
Urban–rural linkageEconomicsCommunitySchools, teachers and community: cultivating the conditions for engaged student learning
2013Ian Hardy, Peter Grootenboer · Journal of Curriculum Studies · Australia (south-east Queensland)
This paper investigated the efforts of teachers and associated school personnel to engage poor and refugee students through a community garden located in a school in a low socio-economic urban area in south-east Queensland, Australia. Drawing on interview data with teachers, other school staff, and community members, it revealed the interrelating actions, discussions, and relationships involved in developing and using the garden for academic and non-academic purposes. By understanding these interrelationships as "practice architectures," the paper shows how teachers facilitate learning practices for marginalized students.
CommunityFood educationWelfareEvaluación de dos variedades de tomate: Chonto Santa Cruz y Río Grande (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) mediante técnicas de agricultura urbana en el municipio de Istmina, Chocó, Colombia
2013Mirla Perea Murillo · Revista Bioetnia · Colombia (Istmina)
In Istmina, Colombia, the agronomic yield of two tomato varieties (Chonto Santa Cruz and Río Grande) was evaluated using urban farming techniques (bed and chorizo systems). Water and nutrient solution were used for plant hydration, and 12 beds and 12 chorizos were used for the study. As a result, the Río Grande variety cultivated in the bed planting system with added nutrient solution showed a higher yield, producing 134 tomatoes (16.76 kg), compared to the Chonto Santa Cruz variety, which produced 78 tomatoes (1.7 kg) using the same system and nutrient solution.
DIYFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityLa agricultura urbana y el cultivo de sí. Los huertos de ocio a la luz de las dinámicas neorrurales. (Urban agriculture and the growing of the self. Leisure gardening in light of new-rural dynamics)
2013Fernando Richter · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Global
Urban agriculture is currently expanding on rooftops, balconies, and abandoned plots. Historically, its main function was food production, but now its practice as a recreational activity and leisure experience is emphasized. This phenomenon converges with symbolic dynamics related to new-ruralism, consumption, and a nostalgic search for authenticity, with leisure studies offering a useful perspective for understanding its complexity.
CommunityDIYUrban–rural linkageUrban gardening
2013Àngels Viladomiu Canela · AusArt · Global
This article reviews artistic interventions that address specific uses of urban territory and forms of cultivation. These actions, through planting and cultivating, create spaces for the expression of artistic, political, and social identities in the interstices of cities, such as abandoned lots, undeveloped areas, riverbanks, and highway verges.
CommunityPolicyDIYLe jardin participatif du CPAS d'Etterbeek attrapera-t-il le train de l'emploi ?
2013Catherine Closson · · Belgium (Brussels)
A study assessed the job creation potential of urban agriculture in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. Etterbeek residents are struggling to transition from theory to practice. While professional integration has not yet been achieved, the social dynamic around the vegetable gardens is proving effective.
Economic viabilityCommunityEconomicsWelfareRoutes Choice of Urban Agriculture,Ecotourism and Cultural Innovation Fusion
2013Zhu Qi-jiu · Anhui nongye kexue · Global
This paper discusses the fusion of urban agriculture, ecotourism, and cultural innovation as a necessary approach for industrial upgrading, value creation, and income improvement in suburban areas. It outlines four methods for this fusion: government-led corporate development, market-guided corporate management with government support, market and policy-guided collective development, and individual development with villager participation based on government-provided infrastructure. The paper suggests that different villages and towns should adopt the most suitable route based on local conditions.
EconomicsPeri-urban agricultureCommunityCommon Ownership and Equality of Autonomy
2013Anna di Robilant · McGill Law Journal · Global
Common ownership regimes, such as community gardens and co-operatives in the US, Canada, and Europe, require limiting individual co-owners' ability to freely use resources and exit arrangements to achieve their goals. This creates difficult trade-offs in their design. The article argues that common ownership can foster "equality of autonomy" by providing more equitable access to the means for individual autonomy, but this often necessitates privileging equality of autonomy over full negative freedom.
Governance failureCommunityGreener growing: assessing the influence of gardening practices on the ecological viability of community gardens in South East Queensland, Australia
2013Daniela Guitart, Jason Byrne, Catherine Marina Pickering · Journal of Environmental Planning and Management · Australia (South East Queensland)
This study investigated gardening practices in 50 community gardens in Brisbane and Gold Coast cities, Australia, aiming to understand how these practices affect the ecological viability of community gardens. Factors examined included garden bio-physical characteristics, operators’ motivations, gardeners’ socio-demographic backgrounds, garden facilities, and types of plants grown. Two broad types were identified: permaculture (21 gardens) and non-permaculture (29 gardens), with permaculture gardens utilizing lower-impact gardening practices.
CommunityBiodiversityOrganic cyclePolicyDonegal Garden GNOMES
2013Getting Together Killybegs (MHI) · · Ireland (Donegal Town)
The Donegal Garden G.N.O.M.E.S is a community garden group in Donegal Town, Ireland, that organically grows fruit and vegetables. The group meets weekly on Thursdays from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the Bluestack Foundation building. It is partly funded by Donegal Local Development and partners with Mental Health Ireland.
CommunityDIYHealthFood educationBorrowed Ground: Evaluating the Potential Role of Usufruct in Neighborhood-Scale Foodsheds
2013Benjamin Carl Kerrick · OhioLink ETD Center (Ohio Library and Information Network) · Global
Urban growth in the 20th and 21st centuries has increased urban food demand while diminishing agricultural production areas around cities. Urban agriculture can expand food access, engage urban dwellers in food production, and utilize unused urban lots. Idle or vacant land, both public and private, represents an important resource for this purpose.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyUrban–rural linkageCommunity Garden Information Systems: Analyzing and Strengthening Community-Based Resource Sharing Networks
2013Kristen Loria · Journal of Extension · Global
This paper discusses the potential utility of information system analysis as an analytical tool for Extension efforts in community garden projects, given the importance of interpersonal networks in providing informational, material, and human resources. The reported evaluation can be used to inform Extension and other community-based programming to articulate and strengthen such community garden networks.
CommunityPolicySustained and integrated promotion of local, traditional food systems for nutrition security
2013Kelly Donati, Christopher Taylor, Craig J. Pearson · · Australia (Melbourne)
Australian policy initiatives address threats to food production from climate change and petrochemical dependency, as well as socio-economic disadvantage. In Victoria, natural disasters like droughts, bushfires, and floods have increased food costs for low-income households. This case study explores farmers markets and community gardens in Melbourne as potential localized food systems, collecting data between 2009 and 2010 using GIS-based land use descriptions and interviews with local producers.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyHealthPlanning the unplanned: incorporating agriculture as an urban land use into the Dar es Salaam master plan and beyond
2013Afton Halloran, Jakob Magid · Environment and Urbanization · Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)
Urban agriculture in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, has received little political support from central and local governments over the past 30 years due to its informal status, leading to land insecurity for many urban farmers. The incorporation of urban agriculture into the Dar es Salaam 2012-2032 Master Plan (unapproved as of June 2013) and its legitimization processes were examined. It was noted that legitimization through policy could also further marginalize urban farmers cultivating open spaces within the city.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityLa agricultura urbana y el cultivo de sí: los huertos de ocio a la luz de las dinámicas neorrurales
2013Fernando Richter · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Global
This article examines the current boom in urban agriculture, noting a shift from its historical function of food production to a focus on recreational and leisure activities. It suggests that symbolic dynamics associated with new-ruralism, consumption, and a nostalgic search for authenticity converge in this phenomenon. The study proposes that Leisure Studies offer a valuable perspective for understanding the complexity of urban agriculture as a leisure experience.
CommunityDIYHealthUrban–rural linkageExploration of Architectural Style for Modern Urban Agriculture Park
2013Zhang Qiu-lin · Modern Agricultural Science and Technology · Global
This study summarized the design features of modern urban agriculture park architecture by analyzing specific examples. The aim was to explore architectural forms that better align with the style and features of agricultural parks.
CommunityPolicyMapping and Theorising the Spatiality, Scale and Functionality of Urban Agriculture in Ghana
2013Heather Mackay Niittylä · · Ghana
This thesis mapped and investigated the form and function of urban agriculture in two intermediate-sized cities in Ghana. It examined the contribution to farming households' food security.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsHomem Ocidental - Homem Oriental: Community Supported agriculture como escultura social
2013Hermann Pohlmann · Palíndromo · Global
This abstract considers the possibility of transforming the space depicted by 19th-century landscape painters in a plastic-social way, making it a global work of art that can be experienced. It aims not for a space to escape urban centers, but to achieve a true global work of art.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityImpact of illegal urban agricultural activities on bio-diversity of Emakhandeni high density suburb of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
2013Patrick F. Banga · · Zimbabwe
Unsanctioned urban agricultural activities in Emakhandeni High Density Suburb of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, negatively impact biodiversity. Researchers interviewed 100 people and conducted field visits, finding that the majority of cultivators operate outside existing laws and guidelines. This leads to progressive land degradation, massive deforestation, soil erosion, dried wetlands, lowered water table, and compromised groundwater quality due to pesticides and inorganic fertilizers.
Environmental trade-offsCommunityBiodiversityPolicyClimate change