Research & reports

Wawan Setiawan, B J Gawryszewska · Scientific Review Engineering and Environmental Sciences (SREES) · Global

This study is a literature review aiming to show that contemporary researchers recognize the potential of urban gardening in improving urban retention. A meta-analysis of peer-reviewed scientific articles from databases like Web of Sciences, Science Direct, Springer, and MDPI was performed, defining urban garden retention indicators such as rainwater/stormwater infrastructure, watering systems, and planting type. The analysis of article distribution noted an overrepresentation from North America and an absence from South America.

Shannon Davis, Guanyu Chen, Naomi Darvill · Land · New Zealand

In Ōtautahi Christchurch, New Zealand, surveys explored perceptions of peri-urban residents and food producers regarding food growing in the peri-urban zone. Over 90% of residents expressed positive views towards local food production, though they raised concerns about environmental and health impacts, particularly water quality, and limited access to local food. Conversely, food producers reported less positive experiences due to various operational issues in the peri-urban zone.

Ayşegül YARIŞ, Emel Karakaya Ayalp · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Global

The current agri-food system is undergoing an unsustainable transition, with Urban Food Planning emerging as a holistic approach for sustainable transition. This paper explains and translates the "City-Region Food System (CRFS) Toolkit," developed in partnership with FAO, RUAF, and participating cities. It examines the toolkit's roadmap and approach for building more sustainable and resilient urban food systems through two case studies in West Africa. The research concluded that the CRFS Toolkit defines limited tools for building sustainable urban food systems and excludes the relationship with spatial disciplines.

Benjamin Felix Richardson · · New Zealand (Auckland)

Auckland's urban sprawl threatens to significantly raise the price of fresh fruits and vegetables across the country, worsening chronic food security issues. Food production has become detached from the food security and food sovereignty of Aotearoa's people. The severity of this issue is driving calls for reform, and a conflict exists between humanity's agricultural subsistence and the destabilizing demands of financial extraction, where crucial productive hubs can be lost permanently.

Justyna Kleszcz · Architecture Civil Engineering Environment · Global

This 2023 article summarizes research on urban residential housing forms integrated with agriculture developed between 2010 and 2021 across North America, Asia, and Europe. The study conducted a comprehensive comparative analysis of contemporary architecture, examining both external form and internal structure of housing developments. Seven global case studies, including conceptual and completed projects, were selected to identify main trends and points generating structural changes in buildings connected with urban agriculture.

Emelie Larsson, Katarina Giritli Nygren · Landscape and Urban Planning · Sweden

This study explored urban gardens as "thirdspaces" by interviewing allotment gardeners and community gardeners in small Swedish cities. Allotments were examined as "lived places" where experiences, meanings, and a sense of place develop. The results illuminated how allotment gardens function as a nature-human crossing point and a practice connecting city residents with countryside life and non-landowners with the land.

Daniele Belleri, Carlo Ratti · Architectural Design · Global

This paper notes that the conceptual dichotomy between city and countryside has historically hindered architects and urban planners. While many attempts have been made to integrate cities with nature, often more modest experiments yielded better results than grand-scale ones. Daniele Belleri, a partner at CRA‐Carlo Ratti Associati, and Carlo Ratti, director of the MIT Senseable City Lab, explore contemporary options for urban farming.

Stuart Walters, V. P. Thomas, Karen Stoelzle Midden, John W. Groninger · Journal of Living Architecture · Global

This study evaluated the productivity of four Romaine lettuce cultivars grown to maturity in an 8 cm deep lightweight clay substrate on an extensive green roof during the autumn production seasons of 2012 and 2013. Lettuce productivity was improved by the addition of fertilizers, with fast-release fertilizer providing the greatest growth and productivity. However, abnormally cold growing conditions in autumn 2013 resulted in lower yields compared to 2012, highlighting the system's vulnerability to weather.

Akbar Rahimi, zahra nobar · Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution · Iran (Tabriz)

This study examined the effect of native plant-crop combinations on micrometeorological conditions and thermal comfort on urban agricultural land in Tabriz, Iran. Through ENVI-MET model simulations validated with field data, seven scenarios were identified. The findings showed that edible functions of deciduous plants increased with canopy height and diameter, improving thermal comfort in high-temperature conditions, and concluded that adopting this planting form would rejuvenate abandoned agricultural fields.

Kinga Albicz, Nóra Hubayné Horváth · 4D Tájépítészeti és Kertművészeti Folyóirat · Hungary

This study explores the landscape significance and unique features of former allotment gardens in Hungary, focusing on their vineyard origins and role in visual landscape protection. Using geographic information methods, the analysis revealed that a significant portion of allotment garden areas have a vineyard past. These areas contain unique landscape features at a density almost five times higher than the national average, with one-third of the country's vine and fruit production features concentrated there.

Gracie Pekarcik Carter, David Ader, Tom Gill, Jennifer Richards · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Cambodia

The impact of parental involvement on scaling agricultural technologies from school gardens to home farms was assessed among 178 parents whose children attend three high schools in three districts of Cambodia. Results indicated that 84% of parents were interested in visiting a school garden, 65% believed they could learn from their children, and 72% actively discussed school learning with their children. However, parental involvement in school activities varied by region, with household rurality influencing family social ties and proximity to the school.

Georges Flexor · Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural · Global

This article explored various technological paths that can emerge in response to rising food prices and the need to preserve land. Based on a diagram analysis of the economic model of technological change, it indicated through specialized literature that the hypotheses derived from the model already exist. It also investigated the potential geopolitical effects of these technological shifts on the global agri-food industry, stating that changes aimed at conserving land must encourage urban food production.

Lisa‐Marie Hemerijckx, Gloria Nsangi Nakyagaba, Hakimu Sseviiri, Katarzyna Janusz, Michelle Eichinger, Shuaib Lwasa, Julian May, Peter H. Verburg, Anton Van Rompaey · npj Urban Sustainability · Uganda

This paper quantitatively analyzed the spatial extent of the food provisioning area for consumers in Kampala, Uganda, using a foodshed lens and primary survey data from households and food vendors. The study found that 50% of food consumed in Kampala originates within a 120 km radius, with 10% coming from within the city itself. Urban agricultural activities are currently twice as important as international imports for the city's food supply. High-income urban dwellers exhibit a more local foodshed due to their broad participation in urban agriculture, whereas low-income newcomers depend significantly on retailers sourcing food from rural Uganda.

Claudia Wiese, Bernd Pölling, Wolf Lorleberg · Frontiers for Young Minds · Global

This article discusses how cities, despite covering only 2-3% of land, consume 75% of global energy and produce 80% of CO2 emissions, making them dependent on distant food sources. It describes how urban agriculture can help cities address climate change and environmental problems, while simultaneously improving living environments for urban populations.

Charlotte Diffey, Geoff Emberling, Amy Bogaard, Michael Charles · Iraq · Syria

The excavation of a large administrative building at Tell Brak, Syria, yielded a considerable quantity of charred cereals dated to the mid-third millennium B.C.E., providing insight into the nature of agriculture in Upper Mesopotamia. The material was studied using archaeobotanical analysis, crop stable isotope determinations, and functional weed ecology. This revealed cultivation strategies at Tell Brak and contributed to wider debates regarding trade and crop importation.

David Vallejo-Gómez, Marisol Osorio, Carlos A. Hincapié · Agronomy · Global

This research aims to conduct a systematic review of available literature on smart irrigation systems. It focuses on systems using artificial intelligence techniques for soil crops in urban and rural agriculture to identify those currently in use or adaptable to urban agriculture. A modified PRISMA 2020 method was applied, screening 170 articles, with 50 selected for detailed analysis.

Joe Nasr, Matthew Potteiger · Land · Global

Situating the proliferation of urban agriculture within a historical dialogue among foundational figures in urban and regional planning, architecture, and landscape architecture, this theoretical paper identifies fundamental strategies for designing and planning the "productive city" as a response to perceived failures in contemporary food systems. Drawing on a growing body of theory and practice for integrating urban agriculture into urban design and planning, it identifies three approaches: spatial design strategies that identify new territories for food production, systems design linking individual production spaces to broader food-system networks, and infrastructure design addressing flows of soils, water, and nutrients.

Savills · Savills · Global

A September 2023 Savills report estimating the total value of global real estate (residential, commercial, and agricultural land) at $379.7 trillion in 2022 — more than global equities ($98.9tn) and debt securities ($129.8tn) combined, and nearly four times global GDP ($100.6tn). Residential property accounts for 76% ($287.6tn) of the total, which fell 2.8% from 2021 but remained 18.7% above pre-pandemic 2019 levels.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) · FAO · Global

Using FAO's newly developed Urban Rural Catchment Areas (URCA) dataset, the report analyzes household survey data from 11 African countries. It finds reliance on purchased food is high even in rural areas 1-2 hours (56%) and over 2 hours (52%) from an urban centre, with own production covering only 33-37% of consumption value in low- and high-food-budget countries respectively. Processed food penetration extends even to remote rural areas, and the report concludes that affordability of healthy diets is a critical issue across the entire rural-urban continuum, not just in cities.

Karen Lourdes, Perrine Hamel, Chris Gibbins, Ruzana Sanusi, Badrul Azhar, Alex M. Lechner · Landscape and Urban Planning · Malaysia

This study characterized the spatial distribution of multiple urban ecosystem services (UES) in a rapidly urbanizing catchment in Greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and developed a systematic approach to integrate UES into green infrastructure (GI) planning. Using InVEST models to spatially quantify and map six UES (heat mitigation, runoff retention, sediment retention, scenic quality, urban recreation, and agricultural production), the assessment revealed that densely built areas generally had low UES provision. A multicriteria analysis identified locations for five GI strategies: conservation of headwaters, reforestation for biodiversity, development and conservation of urban parks, and greening of built infrastructure.

Amy Lawton, Nicky Morrison · Land Use Policy · Australia (Greater Western Sydney)

This study examines the drivers of peri-urban agricultural land loss in Greater Western Sydney, Australia, with a focus on the role of government agencies. It found that competing housing priorities and private market interests continue to take precedence over protecting agricultural land. The research indicates that this trend will persist unless the current pro-urbanization narrative and associated political priorities are altered.

Imen Bendjemila, Salah Chaouche · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Algeria

Urban sprawl in N'Gaous, Algeria, expanded its land area by over ten times (from 33.7 to 379.7 hectares) and its population by over six times (from 4,887 to 33,515 persons) over 60 years. This rapid growth creates significant issues, particularly for peri-urban orchards, which are the primary economic activity. The study used an analytical approach with Geographic Information Systems to assess the agronomic potential of soils and quantify agricultural land consumed by construction, aiming to achieve an optimal agri-urban balance rather than merely avoiding urban expansion.

Dan Yan, Litao Liu, Xiaojie Liu, Ming Zhang · Land · Global

A bibliometric analysis of 605 papers from the Web of Science database (2001–2021) tracked global research trends in urban agriculture. The study found a substantial increase in publications, with the US, Germany, UK, Italy, and China being the most influential countries. Research focuses include food production, various functions of urban agriculture, and emerging topics like sustainability and the water-energy-food nexus. The analysis also noted that urban agriculture does not necessarily equate to a resource-conserving and environmentally friendly food system, suggesting a need for technology-based transitions for sustainable development.

Elisabeth Meyer-Renschhausen · Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe · Global

This article provides a historical overview of small-scale, subsistence farming, primarily by women, spanning two centuries from the early 19th century to the 21st century. It traces the evolution from the loss of commons in Prussia to urban farming in contemporary cities across Europe, America, and Africa. The discussion includes subsistence farming in towns, garden cities, post-war initiatives, and the significant role of unacknowledged family production in Eastern Europe.

Carmen Cantuarias-Villessuzanne, Mathilde Vignau · Nouvelles perspectives en sciences sociales · Global

This paper aims to analyze urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) projects in France through the notion of environmental capital. Interest in UPA has grown in Western countries since the late 19th century, and this study seeks to clarify its economic models and ultimately formalize a new mapping of contemporary UPA projects in France.