Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
493 results(9 / 20)
Formalizing Objectives and Criteria for Urban Agriculture Sustainability with a Participatory Approach
2020Paola Clerino, Agnès Fargue‐Lelièvre · Sustainability · France
This study used a participatory approach with French urban agriculture stakeholders to identify sustainability objectives and 21 criteria for professional intra-urban farms. Six objectives were established, and agro-environmental and socio-territorial criteria were deemed more important than economic ones, with food production not being mentioned. A critical finding was that decision-makers focused more on projects' external sustainability and urban farmers' agricultural background, suggesting a reliance on farmers for internal sustainability rather than direct assessment.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsClimate changeCommoning land access
2020Sarah Kumnig, Marit Rosol · · Europe
This chapter discusses two strategies for commoning land access in Europe, challenging private property and profit maximization amidst rising land prices since 2008. It presents two case studies: German cooperatives purchasing agricultural land for organic farmers, and the urban agriculture collective SoliLa squatting land in Vienna, Austria. Both cases aim to organize agriculture and food production collectively, differing in their engagement with formal markets and state but sharing the goal of enabling and preserving land access.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceHigh-Tech Urban Agriculture in Amsterdam: An Actor Network Analysis
2020Mosen Farhangi, Margherita Turvani, Arnold van der Valk, G.J. Carsjens · Sustainability · Netherlands (Amsterdam)
An ethnographic study in Amsterdam, Netherlands, analyzed barriers to the integration of high-tech urban agriculture (HTUA) into urban planning processes. The research revealed a lacking connection between planning actors and HTUA technology developers.
Governance failurePolicyDigital agricultureCulturalization and urban horticulture in two World Heritage cities
2020Daniel Keech, Marc Redepenning · Food Culture & Society · United Kingdom (Bath), Germany (Bamberg)
This study compared the cultural dimensions of urban horticulture in two UNESCO World Heritage cities, Bath (UK) and Bamberg (Germany), drawing on Luhmann's social systems theory and Nassehi's concept of cultural contingency. It identified four types of culturalization, or empirically observable practices, that explain how urban horticulture is governed and executed. The findings indicate the local historical embeddedness of rivalry and cooperation among urban gardeners, and the relevance of culture as a potential for innovation in urban horticulture.
CommunityPolicyThe change of the Allotment Garden Development Plan of Berlin
2020Naomi Shimpo, Naotaka Ota · Toshi keikaku hokokushu/Toshi keikaku houkokushuu · Germany (Berlin)
This report details the changes to Berlin's Allotment Garden Development Plan (KEP), revised in 2019 in response to urban development pressure. The original KEP focused on existing zoning systems for preservation guidelines, while the revised KEP uses statistical and spatial analysis to objectively demonstrate the importance of allotment gardens. The updated preservation category system more clearly indicates which facilities are preserved or designated for development, making the plan more data-driven.
PolicyCommunityGentrification e urban gardening a Berlino. Riflessioni da Tempelhofer Feld e Prinzessinnengärten
2020Sara Giovansana, Giacomo Zanolin · Geography Notebooks · Germany (Berlin)
This study examines urban creativity in Berlin, focusing on urban gardens at Tempelhofer Feld and Prinzessinnengärten. Based on field research, it reflects on the potential of creative class initiatives in relation to gentrification. The work aims to outline the Berlin green experience as a sign of urban change.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyEconomicsUrbane Landwirtschaft im Ruhrgebiet
2020Ulrich Häpke · sub\urban zeitschrift für kritische stadtforschung · Germany (Ruhrgebiet)
While statistical data demonstrates the significance of urban agriculture in German cities and metropolitan areas, urban agriculture faces the problem of constant land loss despite its proximity to consumers. The example of the Ruhrgebiet highlights challenges such as land loss and high proportions of leased land, indicating governance issues faced by urban agriculture.
Governance failureUrban–rural linkageEconomicsPolicyCommunityMayol Pascal, Gangneron Etienne, 2019, L’agriculture urbaine : un outil déterminant pour les villes durables
2020Pierre Donadieu · Territoire en mouvement · France
This paper presents an opinion from the French Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE), positioning urban agriculture as a decisive tool for sustainable cities. During the 2010s, six major publications on urban agriculture sought to identify this economic and social phenomenon, which has been emerging or returning in France and globally for at least 20 years. There is abundant literature in this field, with three collective works in French initiating these publications.
PolicyCommunityClimate changeA Place to Breathe in the Dense City: Community Gardening and Participatory Urbanism in Paris
2020Carrie Ann Benjamin · Sociální studia / Social Studies · France (Paris)
This study examines community gardening and participatory urbanism in Paris, focusing on the Goutte Verte, a temporary nomadic community garden. The continued existence of the Goutte Verte is in opposition to the city's much-needed housing, with gardeners caught between a desire for green space and a demand for comfortable housing. Community gardens are shown to act as a material alternative to urban planning and governance that often fail to account for a "place to breathe" in the city.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyHealthMunicipal support for community garden in the framework of the Social City Programme of Berlin, Germany
2020Naomi Shimpo, Naotaka Ota · Journal of the City Planning Institute of Japan · Germany (Berlin)
This study clarified how community gardens in Berlin, Germany, are supported under the Social City Programme for improving local living environments. Interview surveys with relevant stakeholders revealed that the program secured coordinating companies or organizations and subsidized initial costs for new community gardens. For existing community gardens, it subsidized funds usable for developmental activities.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsWelwyn Garden City
2020Phoebe Lickwar, Roxi Thoren · · United Kingdom
Welwyn Garden City was conceived by Ebenezer Howard as a utopian hybrid community combining the best aspects of city and rural life. Agriculture was integrated into the urban fabric in two forms: a buffering greenbelt surrounding the city and allotment gardens providing opportunities for domestic self-sufficiency. The garden city was designed as a closed-loop development connecting farms to local markets and reinvesting urban waste into soil regeneration.
Urban–rural linkageCommunityOrganic cyclePolicySocial and Ecological High Influential Factors in Community Gardens Innovation: An Empirical Survey in Italy
2020Vincenzo Rusciano, Gennaro Civero, Debora Scarpato · Sustainability · Italy (Naples)
An empirical analysis based on structured interviews was conducted in the Naples area of Italy with a sample of 150 gardeners to investigate the link between community gardens and social ecological innovation. Variance and correlation analysis explored the extent to which social and environmental dimensions are linked to community gardens. Two attributes of community gardens, namely urbanization effects mitigation and wellness and community, were identified as having the ability to influence other community garden attributes.
CommunityClimate changeEconomicsPolicyThoughts for urban food
2020J.E. Jansma, Sidrig Wertheim-Heck · · Netherlands
This paper explores how urban planning practices can integrate urban agriculture in peri-urban zones, despite its current marginalization in such areas. It analyzes the planning practices of Almere, a Dutch city that has fully integrated urban agriculture into its new urban area, Oosterwold. The study reflects on how cities can sustainably feed urban populations.
Urban–rural linkagePeri-urban agriculturePolicyCommunityCo-designing cities
2020Andrea Baier, Christa Müller · · Germany
This chapter discusses the results of semi-structured face-to-face interviews conducted in 2016 with activists in three urban community gardens in Bremen, Cologne, and Kassel, Germany. The study focused on the relationship between urban projects and municipal administrations. It showed that initiatives taken by grassroots activists to form collaborations with administrative actors are limited, though the traditional role of citizens can be extended in new local partnerships.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsHet natuurlijk kapitaal van de Lutkemeerpolder
2020Jeroen Schütt, Bas Amelung · · Europe
This research, conducted by the Science Shop of Wageningen University and Research, estimated the monetary value of ecosystem services in the Lutkemeerpolder, Amsterdam, which is slated for conversion into a business park. The study identified food production, air purification, recreation, and the effect of greenery on housing prices as key services, valuing them at 1.5 to 8.6 million euros per year. These ecosystem service values were not considered in the original decision-making twenty years ago, leading to a recommendation to reconsider the development plan.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityEconomicsBiodiversityCultivating food or cultivating citizens? On the governance and potential of community gardens in Amsterdam
2020Luca Sára Bródy, Mandy de Wilde · Local Environment · Netherlands (Amsterdam)
Based on a qualitative study of 19 community gardening projects in Amsterdam, this research argues that community gardens function as “controlled space.” Various institutional governance actors, including local government, welfare organizations, green NGOs, and housing associations, exert varied levels of influence and control over the gardens. These relations both impair and enable the civic participation of gardeners, the inclusive potential of gardens, and an alternative, local food provision and distribution.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsVisions of the Urban Green
2020Maria Vasile, Cristina Grasseni · Anthrovision · Italy
This study investigated urban gardening in Turin, Italy, using ethnography, historical analysis, and photography. In post-industrial, multicultural Turin, the hegemonic power of aesthetic assumptions about the urban green illuminated the dialectic of gentrification vis-à-vis socioeconomic and cultural diversity. It highlighted that the homogeneity of an aesthetic regime contrasts with the diverse 'skilled visions' of social actors, leading to restraining effects on participatory governance.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyEcosystem Services of Urban Agriculture: Perceptions of Project Leaders, Stakeholders and the General Public
2020Esther Sanyé‐Mengual, Kathrin Specht, Jan Vávra, Martina Artmann, Francesco Orsini, Giorgio Gianquinto · Sustainability · Italy (Bologna)
This study compared perceptions of urban agriculture (UA) ecosystem services (ESs) among different societal groups in Bologna, Italy, namely UA project leaders, stakeholders, and the general public, with 406 individuals evaluating 25 ESs via a standardized Likert-scale survey. Statistical analysis indicated that the general public and UA stakeholders agreed on the high relevance of socio-cultural ESs, while provisioning ESs were considered less significant. This study reveals a lower perception of provisioning ESs from urban agriculture.
Limited or null effectCommunityBiodiversityPeri-urban agriculturePolicyLegal regulations and the development of German and Polish allotment gardens in the context of the production function
2020Ewa Kacprzak, Barbara Maćkiewicz, Magdalena Szczepańska · Ruch Prawniczy Ekonomiczny i Socjologiczny · Germany, Poland
This study compared legal regulations for allotment gardening in Germany and Poland. Through analysis of legal acts, field research, and structured interviews, it was found that some provisions of legal acts in both countries are not strictly adhered to by users. In Poland, unclear provisions regarding crop cultivation have led to the replacement of the farming function by recreational and residential uses.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyAn inter- and transdisciplinary, multiscale and mixed methods pathway to study Smart Agriculture in Italy
2020Rosalia Filippini, Sylvie Lardon, Stefano Corsi · · Italy
This chapter designs an inter- and transdisciplinary, multiscale, and mixed-method framework for analyzing Smart Agriculture (SA) in urban-rural relationships across Italian case studies. It proposes SA as an experimental field for cooperation among decision-makers, civil society, and academia to improve urban-rural links in metropolitan regions. The promotion of peri-urban agriculture and rural-urban links is central to this approach.
Digital agricultureUrban–rural linkagePeri-urban agriculturePolicyGarden Thinking in Cities of Tomorrow
2020Udo Weilacher · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Europe
This chapter discusses the historical perception of gardens and gardening in urban contexts, noting that from the mid-19th century, ornamental gardens were often questioned by architects and urban planners. Leading 20th-century European landscape architects criticized gardening as neither artistic nor scientific. However, in the 21st century, gardens, particularly urban gardening, have seen a renaissance as a living component of the 'network metropolis', suggesting that the fundamental principles of garden thinking remain relevant.
CommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageAllotment gardening in Poland – new practices and changes in recreational space
2020Justyna Mokras-Grabowska · Miscellanea Geographica · Poland
Allotment gardening (AGs) in Europe, including Poland, is a tradition stemming from rapid urban industrialization, now emphasizing community, social, ecological, creative, and entertainment functions beyond economic and recreational roles. The Polish Allotment Association undertakes numerous initiatives, such as the "Open Social Programme of Allotment Gardens Development," to protect AGs from liquidation and promote their use for public and non-public purposes. This program redefines the perception of AGs in Poland and contributes to their infrastructural development.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsBiodiversityA systems approach reveals urban pollinator hotspots and conservation opportunities
2019Baldock K.C.R., Goddard M.A., Hicks D.M., Kunin W.E., Mitschunas N., Morse H., Osgathorpe L.M., Potts S.G., Robertson K.M., Scott A.V., Staniczenko P.P.A., Stone G.N., Vaughan I.P., Memmott J. · Nature Ecology & Evolution, 3(3):363-373 · United Kingdom
A large, well-replicated study of floral resources and pollinators across 360 sites in four British cities, comparing pollinator abundance among urban land uses. It shows that residential gardens, allotments and community gardens are urban pollinator hotspots, demonstrating that citizen-tended plots are central to urban biodiversity conservation, and models the benefit of interventions such as adding flowerbeds.
PollinatorsBiodiversityCommunityPolicyCity adjustments as the main factor of success of urban and peri-urban farms—empirical evidence from the Ruhr metropolis
2019· NJAS: Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences · Germany (Ruhr)
Empirical study of urban and peri-urban farms in Germany's Ruhr metropolis, finding that farms' adjustments to urban conditions—diversification and multifunctional business models—are the main factor in their economic success.
EconomicsPolicyInstitutions for Collective Gardening: A Comparative Analysis of 51 Urban Community Gardens in Anglophone and German-Speaking Countries
2019· International Journal of the Commons · Germany (German-speaking countries)
A comparative institutional analysis of 51 urban community gardens across Anglophone and German-speaking countries, examining the rules and arrangements that sustain collective gardening.
CommunityPolicy