Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
3275 results(82 / 131)
Identification of Space for Urban Agriculture through Transformative Governance
2017Rob Roggema · NA · Global
This study tested the role and outcomes of three case studies (INCREASE-Groningen, Minamisoma-Japan, and AESOP-NL) that applied a Research by Design methodology in a design charrette. These case studies focused on sustainability and planning at different spatial scales, utilizing a design charrette as part of the planning process. The outcomes were spatial representations of future visions, evaluated by criteria such as design quality, the importance of food growth, the quality of the planning process, and the overall sustainability of the final result.
PolicyCommunityClimate changeAgricultural Land and the New Urban Paradigm: Coexistence, Integration, or Conflict?
2017Ilenia Pierantoni, Massimo Sargolini · Challenges in Sustainability · Global
This contribution examines the evolving relationship between urban and rural areas, emphasizing their increasing complexity and interdependence. It discusses how managing these interdependencies can solve problems, enhance economic performance, and improve quality of life in and around urban areas. Within this context, green infrastructures and urban agriculture practices are discussed, with strategies for their implementation at regional and local scales suggested.
Urban–rural linkagePolicyEconomicsClimate changeCollaborative planning via urban agriculture: The case of Tegucigalpa, Honduras
2017Andrea Oyuela, Arnold van der Valk · Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems · Honduras (Tegucigalpa)
This study questions the adequacy of Tegucigalpa's top-down planning system in Honduras and explores urban agriculture (UA) as a potential building block for a bottom-up strategy. While UA is organized in Tegucigalpa due to residents' need to overcome food insecurity and hardship, the concept of active citizenship and bottom-up development is not yet consolidated. Furthermore, challenges exist regarding the resources needed for practicing UA and the diffusion of knowledge to the population.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityFood educationFood sovereignty & justiceAlimentando la ciudad: ¿Podría la agricultura urbana contribuir a la seguridad alimentaria en Kathmandu y actuar además como catalizador para la participación ciudadana?
2017Amara Roca Iglesias · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Asia
This research explores the possibility of introducing urban gardens into the former floodplains of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, integrating them into a planned river park. It investigates how urban agriculture could reduce the Kathmandu Valley's dependence on neighboring countries for food and enhance self-sufficiency. The study suggests changing current government policy to promote urban agriculture, shorten food supply chains, and foster social and citizen participation.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityPolicyClimate changeProductive Landscape as a Tool for Urban Regeneration - The Case of Groot-IJsselmonde, the Netherlands -
2017Byoungwook Min, Yoonchun Jung · · Europe
This research is an urban design project focusing on Groot-IJsselmonde, a post-war housing area in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It explores how a landscape approach can contribute to regenerating a decrepit residential district, proposing to add productive functions to unused green areas and meaningless landscapes to enhance the community's economic and social elements.
CommunityPolicyClimate changeLand-Use Retention and Change to Improve Agricultural Biodiversity
2017Craig J. Pearson · · Global
This chapter addresses three aspects of agricultural biodiversity, primarily using examples from urban agriculture. It suggests viewing biodiversity as a component of land-use that contributes 'public value', rather than a suite of goals competing with food production. The chapter enumerates knowledge of land-use issues that preserve or improve agricultural biodiversity and discusses options for changing land-use to achieve this.
BiodiversityPolicyUrban–rural linkageA Preliminary Overview of Community Orcharding in the United States
2017Megan Betz, Jacob Mills, James Farmer · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States
This study conducted a qualitative, inductive survey of community orchard organizations in the U.S. (42.64% response rate) to establish a baseline understanding. Participants were identified via internet presence, meaning little is known about orchards without an online presence. Findings showed that community orchards are primarily established on public land, with primary motivations including environmental concern, education, and a sense of community. Organizers reported that fruit and nuts produced feed residents in the immediate surrounding area.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyA political ecology of community gardens in Australia: form local issues to global lessons
2017Jason Byrne, CM Pickering, DA Guitart, R Sims-Castley · eCite Digital Repository (University of Tasmania) · Australia
This chapter addresses the implications of urban cultivation initiatives for land-use planning and policy, against a backdrop of renewed interest in urban agriculture due to global urbanization impacts such as dwindling green spaces, food insecurity, land shortages, and loss of biodiversity. These initiatives are often framed around the social benefits of local food growing and sustainability, with residents clamoring for better access to places to grow safe and healthy food, spaces that foster social inclusion, and improved environmental quality.
CommunityPolicyBiodiversityFood sovereignty & justice‘Because the ego started to grow bigger than the project itself’: a case study of founder’s syndrome on an educational community of practise
2017Donovon Ceaser · Ethnography & Education · Global
This study analyzed the leadership of founder John Browne at Green Shoots, a nonprofit service-learning urban farming school established in 2010, using the theory of founder's syndrome. Browne, despite an openly egalitarian community of practice ethic, created a hierarchy at the school that led to a staff walk-out and subsequent firings. Findings revealed Browne as a charming and inspirational teacher who engaged in dominating leadership contradicting the community of practice's ideals, resulting in disrespected students, disillusioned staff, and a founder unable to take responsibility for his leadership.
Governance failureCommunityFood educationPolicy1990年以降の奈良県の都市における農業の変化―都市農業振興基本法の施行をふまえて―
2017肇 石原, Hajime ISHIHARA · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan
Since 1990, the weakening of agricultural management foundations has been observed in urban areas of Nara Prefecture, though the decrease in productive green space and the number of full-time farmers remained at a certain level. Rice cultivation was the main crop in many areas, and engagement in agriculture-related businesses, apart from direct sales, was not extensive. Regarding the designation of productive green spaces, many cities were reluctant during the initial designation following the revised Productive Green Space Act and also during the Heisei mergers, which is identified as a challenge for future land use planning.
Governance failurePolicyEconomicsUrban–rural linkage都市農業の振興と都市農地の保全
2017Masahiro Nakajima · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan
This paper reviews trends in urban agriculture development and conservation in Japan, noting that urban agricultural land has been encroached upon by residential buildings due to population growth, creating mixed-use areas. While measures to promote urban agriculture are being adopted following the 2015 Basic Act, the paper emphasizes the need to highlight its food supply function. It also suggests classifying urban agriculture by different actors: urban farmers, collaborations between farmers and citizens, and citizens using urban agricultural land.
PolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceHuertos en precario ¿en peligro de extinción? Su encaje en una propuesta integrada de gestión de la agricultura urbana y periurbana en el área metropolitana de Barcelona
2017Elena Domene Gómez, Francesc Coll, Marta Garcia-Sierra · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Spain (Barcelona)
Informal vegetable gardens have proliferated in Barcelona's urban periphery since the 1980s, serving as leisure spaces and food sources, and are a relevant form of agriculture. However, these "unregulated" spaces are not considered in urban and peri-urban agriculture promotion policies. A GIS methodology mapped these gardens in the Barcelona metropolitan area for 2009 and 2015, showing an increase in occupied surface during the recent economic crisis. The study evaluates contradictions leading municipal managers to eliminate or regulate these informal spaces, attributing them partly to the subjectivity of the urban and peri-urban agriculture concept and its supposed multifunctionality.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageEconomicsThe Farm in the City in the Recent Past: Thoughts on a More Inclusive Urban Historiography
2017Ruth Glasser · Journal of Urban History · United States
Scholarly literature often treats urban agriculture as a new phenomenon, but it is a neglected dimension of urban history, with some U.S. cities, especially in the Northeast, having food-raising and processing practices until the recent past. This piece explores urban development, agricultural, and immigrant history, which have largely omitted discussions of city food production, using evidence from a study of Waterbury, Connecticut. Local food production in Waterbury adapted to the growing city's needs, and the city government both supported and undermined agriculture, offering insights for urban history and current urban agriculture policy.
PolicyUrban–rural linkageFrom Leisure to Necessity: Urban Allotments in Alicante Province, Spain, in Times of Crisis
2017Ana Espinosa Seguí, Barbara Maćkiewicz, Marit Rosol · ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies · Spain
This article, based on a study of allotment gardens in Alicante province, Spain, explains their specific histories which differ from North American and Northern European contexts. It shows how urban allotments provide insight into economic, land-use, and urban-rural changes during crises. Initially for leisure and greening, these projects shifted after the 2009 economic recession to target people at risk of poverty, focusing on productive, therapeutic, and educational functions, though land speculation remains a concern.
CommunityWelfareEconomicsPolicyLes jardins partagés franciliens
2017Kaduna‐Ève Demailly · Géographie et cultures · France
This article examines shared gardens in the Île-de-France region of France as territories of environmental transition. Based on a study of 48 shared gardens in the Parisian metropolitan area, the analysis of user and political actor discourses and practices highlights their role in improving living environments and raising awareness of environmentally friendly practices that promote urban biodiversity.
CommunityPolicyBiodiversityOrganic cycleALLOTMENT GARDENS: RESEARCH CHALLENGES AND SURPRISING DISCOVERIES
2017Lesley Acton · Archives The Journal of the British Records Association · United Kingdom
This paper documents how archives were used to write a history of the twentieth-century urban allotment movement in England. Beginning with a case study of allotments in Ilford (now London Borough of Redbridge), 100 years of council minutes were used as a foundation. A demographic profile of plot holders in Ilford/Redbridge showed that, contrary to established narratives, they were not necessarily from poor and working classes but reflected their communities.
CommunityPolicyReview – Cities and Agriculture
2017Aloysius Clemence Mosha · Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance · Global
The book 'Cities and Agriculture' presents experience and evidence on key dimensions of urban food challenges and types of intra- and peri-urban agriculture across 15 chapters. This book illuminated the urban challenge of food provisioning, which has long been overlooked in urban studies, policies, and planning. Neglecting the dynamics and sustainability of food provisioning in scientific research on sustainable urban development is identified as a serious omission, given its significant social and physical impact.
Urban–rural linkagePeri-urban agricultureFood sovereignty & justicePolicyMapping urban agriculture in Portugal: Lessons from practice and their relevance for European post-crisis contexts
2017Cecília Delgado · Moravian Geographical Reports · Portugal
This article analyzes 29 urban agriculture (UA) initiatives in Portugal, finding that UA primarily involves allotment gardens, urban farms, and short food chains, focusing on vegetables and fruit. It predominantly occurs on public and institutional land, championed by municipalities and civil society. UA is a recent metropolitan phenomenon that expanded rapidly after the 2008 economic crisis, organizing activities around food production, processing/distribution, and capacity building.
CommunityEconomicsPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceRELEVANSI PENGEMBANGAN PERTANIAN KOTA DI SURABAYA
2017Putu Rudy Satiawan · Jurnal Penataan Ruang · Indonesia (Surabaya)
This paper discusses the relevance of urban agriculture development in Surabaya, Indonesia. It argues that urban agriculture can create positive synergy as an alternative for efficient and effective use of city resources, revitalizing idle and public lands. Citing Havana's experience where urban agriculture transformed a crisis into productivity, the paper aims to explore the possibility of Surabaya embracing urban farming as an economic and socio-cultural development alternative, emphasizing the commitment of citizens and government.
Urban–rural linkagePolicyEconomicsChallenges for the revitalisation of peri-urban agriculture in Spain: Territorial analysis of the Madrid and Oviedo metropolitan areas
2017Nerea Morán Alonso, Ícaro Obeso Muñiz, Agustín Hernández Aja, Felipe Fernández García · Moravian Geographical Reports · Spain
This paper analyzed the evolution of peri-urban agriculture in Spain's Madrid and Oviedo metropolitan areas to identify revitalization opportunities. Using aerial images and cartographic bases, the study found that peri-urban agriculture has suffered from urban occupation and internal changes in crops and agricultural uses, experiencing a process of decline. Innovative initiatives are explored as potential revitalization opportunities.
Economic viabilityPeri-urban agriculturePolicyEconomicsCommunityUrban Agriculture and Campus Sustainability: Recent Books
2017Stephanie Ritchie · Metropolitan Universities · Global
This selected bibliography compiles recently published books relevant to higher education institutions concerning food, agriculture, and sustainability efforts. It addresses the increasing interest in food production, distribution, consumption, and disposal, and how universities are integrating these concerns into curricula and sustainability initiatives.
Food educationCommunityPolicyCan urban agriculture become a planning strategy to address social-ecological justice?
2017Javier Fernández Andrés · · Global
The abstract is too short to provide a meaningful summary. It only states that cities grew unprecedentedly in the last century, leading to an urbanized world population, and that agriculture adopted industrial methods.
PolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageConstructing the “Greener, Greater” City
2017Lindsay K. Campbell · Cornell University Press eBooks · United States (New York City)
This chapter analyzes why urban forestry was prioritized in New York City's PlaNYC mayoral initiative while urban agriculture was overlooked. It examines the networks, public-private partnerships, elite ties, and bureaucratic structures involved in PlaNYC, revealing that certain voices were heard while others were ignored in the sustainability planning process. The analysis highlights issues of governance and equity in urban nature planning.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityEconomicsCity of Farms
2017Lindsay K. Campbell · Cornell University Press eBooks · United States (New York City)
In New York City, chapter six revealed how civic and public actors working outside PlaNYC iteratively embedded urban agriculture and food policy into municipal planning efforts. Within the void created by city hall’s lack of engagement, other figures in the municipal government seized the opportunity to advance food policy agendas for New York City. The 2011 update to PlaNYC included a brief crosscutting section on food, although it lacked capital funding to fuel the achievement of its stated goals, and was seen by advocates as a symbolic and political achievement.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceBottom-up governance after a natural disaster: a temporary post-earthquake community garden in central Christchurch, New Zealand
2017Roy L. Montgomery, Andreas Wesener, Fran Davies · Lincoln University Research Archive (Lincoln University) · New Zealand
This study examined a temporary community-initiated open space (CIOS) established in central Christchurch, New Zealand, after the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. CIOS are bottom-up initiatives relying on financial sponsorship, temporary land-use agreements with landowners, and volunteers. The paper discusses bottom-up governance approaches in a single post-earthquake community garden project, using concepts of community resilience and social capital, and analyzes the facilitating organization's actions, its impact, and key actors' motivations, values, perceived benefits, and challenges.
CommunityPolicyClimate changeHealth