Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
3402 results(72 / 137)
Emergence and diffusion of social innovation through practice fields
2019Maria Rabadjieva, Anna Butzin · European Planning Studies · Global
This paper analyzes how social innovations diffuse, proposing that they spread through "travelling elements" of material, competence, and meaning, rather than solely social interaction. This perspective explains the global emergence of similar social innovations, such as urban gardening initiatives, without direct interaction between actors. The research argues that "practice fields," defined as bundles of similar social innovation initiatives, facilitate this diffusion.
CommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageA REVIEW OF URBAN FARMING ACTIVITIES: TAXONOMY, CHALLENGES, RECOMMENDATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH
2019Siti Aisyah Salim, Zawiyah Mohammad Yusof, Laili Farhana Md Ibharim, Siti Hajar Salim · Journal of Building Performance · Southeast Asia
This structured literature review examines urban farming activities, technology applications, and smallholder farming in Southeast Asia, where urban farming is limited and dispersed. The study selected 88 articles from ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Scopus to provide a taxonomy and future research directions. It identifies the benefits, challenges, and recommendations for improving the acceptance and use of urban farming applications in the region.
Urban–rural linkageDigital agricultureEconomicsPolicyTemporary urban landscapes and urban gardening
2019Sofia Nikolaidou · Manchester University Press eBooks · Europe
This chapter examines new forms of urban gardening, often involving informal and temporary reuse of vacant land, and their impact on urban green space governance and planning practices. Using examples from Greece and Switzerland, it highlights differences and similarities in practices, social and institutional contexts, and collaborative governance patterns. The study calls attention to the critical role of the temporary nature of these initiatives, which affects new configurations of urban green areas and public space, and related planning practices.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageEconomicsFood Policy Councils, Lessons on inclusiveness
2019Jess Halliday, D.M.R. van Veenhuizen · CGSPace A Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) · Global
UA Magazine 36 focuses on Food Policy Councils. Urban Agriculture Magazine (UA Magazine) is produced by the RUAF Global Partnership on Sustainable Urban Agriculture and Food Systems. It facilitates information sharing, promotes analysis and debate on critical issues, and publishes good practices and impact stories related to urban agriculture and urban food systems.
PolicyFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityMutirão como ferramenta política: agricultura urbana e cidadania.
2019André Ruoppolo Biazoti, André Ruoppolo Biazoti · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil (São Paulo)
This paper analyzes the mutirão (collective work) practices established in some community gardens in São Paulo city. Mutirão is observed as a practice with an inherent political and insurgent character that promotes not only food production but also shared management of public spaces, community building, and the production of the common as a political principle of self-governance.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyPaesaggi transitori e agricoltura urbana: possibilità dagli scenari di espansione urbana a Guaratiba, Rio de Janeiro
2019A Noussia · Research Open (London South Bank University) · Brazil
This paper discusses urban agriculture on city peripheries within a scenario of urban expansion, focusing on the Guaratiba neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro. It argues that the city's urban expansion process does not invest in the inclusion of urban agriculture activities within the area's socio-environmental dynamics.
Governance failurePeri-urban agriculturePolicyUrban–rural linkageCollective action and social contagion: Community gardens as a case study
2019Michal Shur‐Ofry, Ofer Malcai · Regulation & Governance · Israel
This study investigated whether Institutions for Collective Action (ICAs), using community gardens as a case study, exhibit dynamics of social contagion and diffuse in accordance with patterns prevalent in self-organized complex systems. Quantitative methods derived from the field of complexity were applied to measure the temporal, spatial, and spatiotemporal diffusion of community gardens in the city of Jerusalem. The results suggest that the spread of community gardens in the urban space displays patterns of self-organization and social contagion.
CommunityPolicyHealthHistorical perspectives on the ties between cities and food
2019Nicolas Bricas, Damien Conaré · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Global
The 20th century marked a significant shift in how cities approach their food supply. While the revival of urban food policies extends beyond urban agriculture and food production, urban agriculture can play a role in reintroducing nature and agriculture into the heart of the city while rebuilding social ties. The challenge is less about feeding cities, given its limited production potential, and more about its symbolic dimension.
PolicyFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageCommunityPlanning for Healthy Eating
2019Jennifer Kent, Susan E. Thompson · · Australia
This chapter reviews the link between the built environment and eating habits, noting that where people live and work influences food types and prices. It examines how urban planning in Australia supports local food production to encourage healthier eating. This support includes protecting peri-urban agricultural lands and promoting food cultivation in community gardens, verges, and homes.
HealthPolicyCommunityPeri-urban agricultureUrban Farming in Inner-city Multi-storey Car-parking Structures- Adaptive Reuse Potential
2019Monika Szopińska-Mularz, Steffen Lehmann · Future Cities and Environment · United Kingdom
This paper explores the adaptive reuse potential of obsolete inner-city multi-storey car parks for urban farming, specifically hydroponics, in three UK cities (Portsmouth, Bristol, Brighton). The first stage of a multiple-site case study identified planning and technical limitations and opportunities through policy analysis, layout exploration, and field observation. The analysis showed that while these structures present similar adaptive reuse challenges, they could be converted for farming to address social, environmental, and economic issues, though this requires planning document innovations and further efficiency assessment.
Digital agriculturePolicyEconomicsAgricultura urbana em Portugal: práticas espontaneas e institucionalizadas
2019Rosangela Medeiros Hespanhol · Confins · Portugal
This field research in Portugal analyzed urban gardens, identifying both spontaneously emerging gardens with no public oversight and those organized by public authorities. Interviews revealed that urban agriculture facilitates subsistence food production without pesticides, creates intergenerational and intercultural coexistence spaces, fosters social cohesion through experience exchange, and promotes environmental education. These findings emphasize the social and cultural importance of urban cultivation practices.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceChallenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Urban Farming in South African Low-Income Settlements: A Case Study in Durban
2019Iwona Bisaga, Priti Parikh, Claudia Loggia · Sustainability · South Africa (Durban)
This study explores challenges and opportunities for sustainable urban farming as an integrated environmental management strategy for upgrading informal settlements in three case studies in Durban, South Africa. It demonstrates the need for municipalities to support community-driven processes for urban agriculture initiatives and sustained investment for maintenance. Policymakers are urged to create an enabling environment for academics, NGOs, and the private sector to co-develop water-efficient solutions and leverage local community structures.
Food sovereignty & justiceWelfareCommunityEconomicsPolicyConflation in political gardening
2019Lucy Rose Wright, Ross Fraser Young · Manchester University Press eBooks · Global
This chapter introduces the concept of political gardening, contextualizing its rise within neoliberal processes and academic interest in urban gardening. It conflates political gardening with injustice, drawing on Rawls' theory of social justice. The chapter uses case study examples to define political gardening as a six-stage iterative process that participants undergo to address injustices and become engaged, democratized citizens.
Equity & displacementPolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceAGRICULTURE IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2018: SUMMARY AND PERSPECTIVE
2019Carl Zulauf · EСONOMY FINANСES MANAGEMENT Topical issues of science and practical activity · United States
The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, the latest US farm bill, authorized programmatic changes without major spending realignment across its 12 titles. Commodity assistance payments are now more closely tied to market conditions, and commitment to private-public partnerships for environmental issues increased. US land conservation programs are evolving into a pyramid policy approach, and mandatory funding for research, extension, and agricultural export programs saw significant increases. Issues addressed across multiple titles include urban agriculture, organic production, and assistance for various farmer groups.
PolicyEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceThe experience of community urban gardens: Social organization and food security
2019Joeli Silva de Souza, Ryzia de Cássia Vieira Cardoso, Lídice Almeida Arlego PARAGUASSÚ, Sidione Ferreira dos Santos · Revista de Nutrição · Brazil (Salvador-Bahia)
A cross-sectional exploratory study in Salvador-Bahia characterized community gardens, with five out of seven gardens participating and data collected from 13 horticulturists. 80.0% of gardens lacked land legalization, 100.0% operated without technical support, and 60.0% had no social organization. Major difficulties included lack of funding, volunteers, and water use restrictions, indicating insufficient policies limited technical support and financing.
Governance failureCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyUrban agriculture in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town: examining the linkages between urban gardeners and supporting actors
2019Tinashe P. Kanosvamhira, Daniel Tevera · South African Geographical Journal · South Africa (Cape Town)
A mixed-methods study in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, examined the linkages between urban gardeners and supporting actors using questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Findings indicate that the nature and strength of these linkages are critical for urban gardening success. However, there is minimal cooperation among non-state actors in the area.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyUrban Agriculture Development Experiences in the World and its Enlightenments to China
2019Wei Wei · DEStech Transactions on Social Science Education and Human Science · Global
This paper summarizes and compares successful urban agriculture experiences from the United States, the Netherlands, and Japan, then provides policy suggestions and development ideas for urban agriculture in China based on existing problems. Urban agriculture has become a global trend in modern urban suburban agriculture, solving urbanization and resource allocation issues in many developed countries.
PolicyUrban–rural linkageDispositivi di paesaggio per il contrasto alla marginalità urbana
2019Cristina Imbroglini · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Italy
A study (Italy) starting from the hypothesis that new and original landscape strategies can concretely contribute to the environmental and social reactivation of metropolitan settlements, addressing urban marginality understood as both social and spatial exclusion. It focuses on abandoned or underutilised landscapes and structures far from city centres and from circuits of opportunity and cultural exchange, and proposes two design devices: "the piers," green infrastructure or linear landscapes integrating sustainable mobility, open spaces, and urban agricultural activities; and "new social condensers," public facilities for vulnerable people realised in the most deprived urban areas through the recovery of underutilised or abandoned spaces.
CommunityPolicyIklim Komunikasi dan Partisipasi dalam Program Pertanian Perkotaan
2019Nizzatul Amaliyah, Sarwititi Sarwoprasodjo · Jurnal Komunikasi Pembangunan · Indonesia
This study of the Indonesian women's farming groups KWT Dahlia Indah and KWT Nusa Indah Lestari combined a quantitative questionnaire with qualitative in-depth interviews to analyze the relationship between individual characteristics, communication climate, and participation level in an urban farming program, and between participation level and program success. Individual characteristics were not related to participation level, but the communication climate within the groups was supportive and related to participation level, and participation level had a significant relationship with the program's success rate.
CommunityPolicyFood educationMapping for the Future of Gojo Rakuen
2019Benjamin N. Klaiman, Clayton LeRoy Besch, Connor Robert Lepage, Sean Patrick Duffy · Digital WPI · Japan
This student project focused on the Gojo Rakuen area in Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto, recording the function of each building, interviewing business owners, and producing a map of streets, buildings, greenery, and pedestrian flow. It concludes that changes such as increasing lighting, attracting more shops and services, and repurposing underutilized lots into bike parking or community gardens could help draw people back to the area.
CommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageFactors influencing the change in purpose of land use of households at Lac Duong district, Lam Dong province
2019Thị Ngọc Anh Nguyễn, Thi Hiep Ta · The Journal of Agriculture and Development · Global
Using 2016 survey data from 340 farm households in two administrative divisions (Dasar commune and Lac Duong town) of Lac Duong district, Lam Dong province, Vietnam, this article used Probit regression to examine how socio-economic and demographic characteristics, land area, and household members' occupations affected the probability of households changing their land-use purpose. It found that other production potentials retained on the land, despite limited land and income, directly affected farmers' decisions to change land use. Although close to Da Lat city and holding a large area of farmland, Lac Duong district remained a rural area not strongly affected by urbanization, and the study concluded there was no pressing need to change land-use purpose there, noting farmers could instead adopt advanced production methods such as hi-tech agriculture, urban agriculture, and agro-tourism.
Peri-urban agricultureEconomicsPolicyEnvironmental justice in the shadow of the hyperobject
2019Casey Y. Myers · · United States
This chapter uses a narrative and visual retelling of a "failed" community-based environmental action project to explore how posthuman understandings might reorder how environmental justice materializes with and for children. It examines how an arts organization, a children's theater group, a community activist group, a historical preservation nonprofit, and a city council aligned around two sites — a very old house and an abandoned urban lot turned community garden. Drawing on Morton's concept of the hyperobject, the author examines unseen and unnamable more-than-human forces that continued to exert agency after human narratives "won" or "lost."
CommunityPolicy제2기 도시농업기본계획 수립을 위한 방향성 설정 연구 - 서울 강동구 도시농업을 중심으로 -
2019최지원, 오충현 · 한국환경생태학회 학술발표논문집 · South Korea
A study of urban agriculture in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea, reviewing about ten years of activity from the district's 2010 enactment of Korea's first eco-friendly urban agriculture support ordinance through its 2019 comprehensive plan, assessed across economic, environmental-ecological and social dimensions using Lee Chang-woo's (2016) functional classification and a resident satisfaction survey, to derive directions for the next urban agriculture master plan. On the economic side, following the district's first urban garden plots opened in the Gangil-dong area in 2009, by January 2019 there were 39 sites totaling 145,806 square meters across 6,873 plots, and in 2018 the Gangdong Urban Agriculture Support Center ("Ssingssing Dream") recorded produce sales of 348,218,000 KRW and donated 3,204 kg of produce to low-income households. On the environmental side, urban beekeeping begun in 2013 had grown to roughly 40 hives by 2018, alongside 25,923 box gardens and 121 rooftop gardens (totaling 1,828 square meters) established by 2018; on the social side, rooftop gardens at eight welfare facilities hosted a total of 107 horticultural therapy sessions by 2018.
PolicyCommunityClimate changeHealthFood educationUrban–rural linkageConclusion: Key Recommendations of this Book
2019Julian Cribb · Cambridge University Press eBooks · Global
This concluding chapter lists the book's policy recommendations without presenting new data: build a global food system based on regenerative farming, aquaculture and urban food production; redesign cities to recycle nutrients and water into local, climate-proof food production under permaculture principles; reallocate 20% of world military spending to food-based conflict prevention; rewild half the planet under leadership of small farmers and indigenous peoples; introduce a "Year of Food" in every primary school; and put women in leadership across business, politics, government, religion and society.
Food sovereignty & justiceClimate changePolicyCommunitySocio-Economic Viability of Urban Agriculture—A Comparative Analysis of Success Factors in Germany
2019Thomas Krikser, Ingo Zasada, Annette Piorr · Sustainability · Germany
An empirical study in Germany combined qualitative and quantitative survey data with multi-value qualitative comparative analysis across three urban agriculture models — self-harvesting gardens, intercultural gardens, and community gardens — to identify necessary and sufficient conditions for socio-economic success. It found that different value systems and cost-benefit considerations applied across models: a service-focused farmer-consumer relationship ensuring self-reliance mattered most for self-harvesting gardens, self-reliance combined with sharing mattered for intercultural gardens, and community gardening success depended on self-governance and individually determined factors beyond production output, with participants across models showing a post-productive orientation that goes beyond conventional trade-off thinking.
CommunityEconomicsPolicy