Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
3275 results(92 / 131)
Unravelling the politics of urban food transitions. A governance approach on Alternative Food Networks
2015Alessandra Manganelli · Lirias · Global
This early-stage PhD research (Month 12) investigates the governance of Alternative Food Networks (AFNs), focusing on their internal dynamics and relations with external institutions. While civil society actors catalyze AFNs, the institutional environment they face is not always favorable or accountable, with examples including changes in political priorities and constraining regulations. The Brussels-Capital Region serves as the main empirical case study, analyzing movements like GASAP and "Le Debut des Haricots."
Governance failurePolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceApplications of Carbon Footprint in Urban Planning and Geography
2015Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu · · Global
This abstract discusses how urban expansion and the separation of urban and agricultural areas increase energy demand for transporting food and goods. It notes that despite technological advances, a gap exists between energy demand and supply, even in advanced countries. The abstract concludes that reducing energy demand is a more realistic approach for sustainable development than solely relying on technological progress.
Urban–rural linkageFood miles & supply chainClimate changePolicyVers la mise en place d’une agriculture urbaine ou périurbaine dans les espaces ouverts des villes métropolitaines du Nord et du Sud. Le cas de Saragosse en Espagne et de Lima au Pérou
2015Flor Ccorahua balboa, Sylvie Clarimont · · Spain
This abstract discusses the re-evaluation of nature's role in and around cities, driven by global sustainable development challenges like environmental preservation and food security. It notes that agriculture is increasingly used to reconcile urban and natural spaces due to its recognized multifunctional character. The emergence of new agricultural spaces in intra-urban and peri-urban areas of major cities in both developed and developing countries reflects a shift in local policies towards integrating cities with nature.
Urban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justicePolicyClimate changeLongitudinal study of urbanisation processes in peri-urban areas of Greater Copenhagen:what happens to farming?
2015Anne Gravsholt Busck, Christian Fertner, Lone Søderkvist Kristensen, Søren Bech Pilgaard Kristensen, Mike Brian Johannsen Kyndesen, Susanne Ogstrup, Jørgen Primdahl, Søren Præstholm, Ann-Sofie Richardt, Jens Peter Vesterager, Lars Winther · Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) · Denmark
This longitudinal study investigated urbanization processes in peri-urban agricultural areas of the Greater Copenhagen region, Denmark, surveying 160-200 farm properties across eight study areas in 1984, 1994, 2004, and 2014 using face-to-face interviews. It found that while some agricultural land became urban, the overall agricultural land use remained largely stable, though concentrated on fewer, larger farms. Economic activities diversified, with more property owners engaging in other gainful activities, and farming in these areas faces constant challenges from increasing external activities.
Peri-urban agricultureUrban–rural linkagePolicyEconomicsA política brasileira de segurança alimentar e nutricional: concepção e resultados
2015Walter Belik · Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional · Brazil
This article discusses the use of the Food and Nutritional Security concept in Brazil's Fome Zero Project and its implementation through various programs initiated in the past decade. It concludes by calling attention to the need to improve programs related to supply, food and nutritional education, and urban agriculture to enable the functioning of an integrated Food and Nutritional Security system.
Governance failurePolicyFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareFood educationImplementasi Program Urban Farming Sebagai Strategi Pembangunan Ketahanan Pangan Perkotaan (Studi Di Kelurahan Made, Kecamatan Sambikerep, Kota Surabaya)
2015Mima Kurniasih · Jurnal Administrasi Publik Public Administration Journal · Indonesia (Surabaya)
This study described and analyzed the implementation of an Urban Farming program in Made Village, Sambikerep District, Surabaya City, Indonesia, and assessed its contribution to food security for poor communities. Using a descriptive qualitative approach, the research found that the Urban Farming program's implementation was successful, improving food security through increased food stock and reduced food expenses. However, further improvement is needed, particularly regarding stakeholder participation.
Food sovereignty & justiceWelfareCommunityPolicyLa fuerza política de organizaciones, movimientos y no-movimientos de migrantes
2015José Luis Rocha · Envío: publicación mensual del Instituto Histórico Centroamericano · United States (Los Angeles)
This article discusses three Central American migrant organizations: CARECEN in Los Angeles and San Francisco, Casa de Maryland in Washington, and the Dolores Huerta Community Garden in Los Angeles. Despite varying sizes and profiles, all grew from the grassroots, challenging the state through civil disobedience and peaceful resistance, thereby complicating anti-immigrant powers in the United States.
CommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceInstitutionalizing Urban Agriculture Can Provide More Than Hope for Poor San Franciscans: An analysis of the Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone Act (UAIZ)
2015Rania Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed · USF Scholarship Repository (University of San Francisco) · United States (San Francisco)
This research analyzes San Francisco's 2014 Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone (UAIZ) Act, a tax incentive for using undeveloped private properties for urban agriculture. It employs GIS analysis to examine urban agriculture on private lands in relation to low-income populations, producing a vacant land inventory. Findings reveal opportunities and challenges, but the UAIZ is in its very beginning phase of implementation.
PolicyEconomicsWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceCities, Agriculture and Changing Landscapes in Urban Milieu: The case of Rome
2015Aurora Cavallo, Benedetta Di Donato, Rossella Guadagno, Davide Marino · RIVISTA DI STUDI SULLA SOSTENIBILITA · Italy (Rome)
This paper examines the characteristics and dynamics of urban agriculture in Rome, Italy, aiming to propose a taxonomy of urban agriculture types. It presents a preliminary analysis using criteria to classify the functional and relational features of agricultural activities within the urban phenomenon. The study attempts to reconstruct causal relationships between agricultural production models and their spatial and functional forms in the urban dimension.
Urban–rural linkagePolicyEconomicsBoerende stedelingen of verstedelijkte boeren
2015Reinoud Vermoesen · Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis · Belgium (Antwerp)
This study examined urban farming in early modern Antwerp, focusing on individual households and the gardeners’ guild. While 18th-century records mentioned few farmers within the city walls, this research suggests a more widespread phenomenon. Gardeners’ guild members primarily had a retail function rather than food production, and a variety of households not belonging to the guild were also active in agriculture.
Urban–rural linkageEconomicsPolicyContesting urban agriculture: the politics of meat production in the License-Buy-Back Scheme (2006-2007) in Hong Kong
2015Kin Wing Chan · Open Research Exeter (University of Exeter) · Hong Kong
This study examines the politics of meat production in Hong Kong's 2006-2007 License-Buy-Back Scheme (LBBS), focusing on pig farming. It investigates how the LBBS served as a tactic to reduce and control the pig farming industry, contrasting it with urban vegetable farming which holds a more positive aesthetic image. The research highlights a scarcity of studies on why certain forms of urban agriculture are valued more than others.
Governance failurePolicyEconomicsFood sovereignty & justice1 Emerging Issues in Urban Agricultural Development in
2015West Africa, Olufunke Cofie · · West Africa
An examination of urban agriculture (UA) development in West Africa reveals that despite its known benefits for food supply and livelihoods, UA is not fully recognized as an important component of urban development. This is due to high land demand from other sectors and perceived health risks by authorities. Policy makers need to address issues to institutionalize UA and integrate it into urban development plans.
Governance failureUrban–rural linkagePolicyHealthEconomicsA Study on the Complex Building Planning for Urban Agriculture Including the Program and Space Characteristics to Activate the Local Community
2015J.I.H. Oh, Hae-Sun Park · 한국생활환경학회지 · South Korea
This study investigated urban agricultural complex building planning to activate local communities in South Korea, focusing on the social functions of urban agriculture. Analysis revealed that domestic community gardens lack experiential, educational, food/beverage, and sales spaces compared to foreign cases. The study concluded that sustainable community gardens require long-term networks and diverse programs, along with specific spaces and programs for various generations to vitalize local characteristics.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsAgriculture urbaine et enjeux de santé
2015Christine Aubry, Jeanne Pourias, Anne Cécile Daniel · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · Global
Urban agriculture is gaining popularity, often for its contribution to urban greening, re-establishing connections between urban dwellers and agricultural and food production, and among urban dwellers themselves. However, urban agriculture also involves significant health issues, which advocate for urban planning that promotes its maintenance or establishment under healthy environmental conditions.
Contamination & food safetyHealthPolicyCommunityResistances and appropriations. Urban laboratories of social and cultural experimentation in the ci
2015· REGAC - Revista de Estudios Globales y Arte Contempor�neo · Spain (Valencia)
This paper maps collective initiatives in Valencia, Spain, that emerged in response to inadequate national and local cultural policies. These initiatives, including urban orchards, acted as resistance to institutional policies or appropriated spaces due to a lack of public institutional interest. They function as urban experimentation laboratories for social and cultural transformation, forming a dense local network.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceTransforming Food Systems Through Food Sovereignty: An Australian Urban Context
2015Federico Davila, Robert Dyball · Australian Journal of Environmental Education · Australia
This article examines the potential of food sovereignty, as defined by La Via Campesina, to reframe food as a human right within the Australian food discourse. It argues that urban food production in Australia offers educative value by transforming individuals' social and environmental concerns about food systems. Community participation in urban food production can foster political understanding and support for alternative food systems, developing elements of food sovereignty in an Australian urban context.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityFood educationPolicyInformal planning in a transactive governmentality. Re-reading planning practices through Ghent’s community gardens
2015Chiara Certomà, Bruno Notteboom · Planning Theory · Belgium (Ghent)
This article examines a new planning mode involving collaboration between state, private, and community actors in the context of urban gardening movements. It analyzes urban gardening projects in Ghent, Belgium, to explore the transformation of planning practices. The article concludes that urban gardening exemplifies an emerging informal planning mode supported by a transactive governmentality, potentially leading to co-creative transformation of public urban space.
CommunityPolicyProduction Places: Evaluating Communally-Managed Urban Farms as Public Space
2015N. Claire Napawan · Landscape Journal · United States (San Francisco)
This paper evaluated five case studies of communally-managed urban farms in San Francisco to determine their ability to operate dualistically as areas for food production and public space. Using a case-study methodology, it compared the spatial characteristics of these farms against the spatial criteria for successful public space. The study identified both conflicts and compatibilities in the spatial considerations for both functions.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageCollective Action Dynamics in Urban Neighborhoods: A Study of Urban Community Gardens
2015Nishesh Chalise · Open Scholarship Institutional Repository (Washington University in St. Louis) · Global
This study investigated the processes leading to sustained or eroding community engagement over time in urban community gardens within a low-income urban neighborhood. Key informant interviews were conducted with gardeners from various community gardens, and the data was used to understand the context of garden establishment and to revise a system dynamics model based on collective action theories. The model, which incorporated eight main structures including gardeners, land, activities, and social relationships, successfully produced both sustained and eroding community engagement.
CommunityPolicyHealthCultivating Sustainable Cities: A Comparative Study of Urban Agriculture in Mumbai, India and New York City, USA
2015Kristina Satterlee · Digital Commons @ Connecticut College (Connecticut College) · India (Mumbai); United States (New York City)
This comparative study of urban agriculture in Mumbai, India, and New York City, USA, utilized in-depth interviews with urban farmers and secondary research. The research revealed that farms and gardens in lower-income areas in both cities had access to significantly fewer resources than their counterparts in wealthier areas. Additionally, both movements struggled to form networks across socioeconomic divides.
Equity & displacementCommunityEconomicsPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceModern Capitalism and Food Commoditization: The Limitations of Industrial Agriculture and the Challenges of Sustainable Alternatives
2015Gerardo Patron-Cano · Digital Commons - DU (University of Denver) · Global
This thesis argues that agriculture should be divorced from capitalist economic principles, pointing out that industrialized growing methods have been economically, socially, and environmentally unsustainable. For sustainable and equitable agriculture, food systems need to be de-commodified, with policies empowering local community control and subsidizing localized production-consumption cycles. Urban farming and food hub initiatives are discussed as primary solutions to address challenges limiting local food systems from replacing the dominant industrial agricultural paradigm.
Food sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyCommunityFinding Spaces for Urban Food Production – Matching Spatial and Stakeholder Analysis with Urban Agriculture Approaches in the Urban Renewal Area of Dortmund-Hörde, Germany
2015Michael J. Roth, Miryam Frixen, Carlos Tobisch, Thomas Scholle · · Germany (Dortmund)
This study analyzed how urban agriculture can stimulate and support urban renewal in an economically declined neighborhood in Dortmund-Hörde, Germany, using a case study. A project path was developed using participatory action research to involve residents and stakeholder groups, fostering collective stewardship for urban agriculture forms. The research concluded that synchronously combining research, planning, design, and implementation with intense feedback loops can achieve synergies for academic knowledge on urban agriculture's potential performance in sustainable development, as well as benefits for the case-study area and individual urban gardeners.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsUrban–rural linkageCADASTRO, DIAGNÓSTICO E RECUPERAÇÃO DAS ÁREAS VERDES PÚBLICAS URBANAS DE CRICIÚMA/SC REGISTRATION, DIAGNOSIS AND RESTORATION OF PUBLIC URBAN GREEN SPACES IN CRICIÚMA/SC
2015Renan Yamashita Ferreira · · Brazil (Criciúma)
This article reports on the survey, registration, diagnosis, and restoration of urban public green spaces in Criciuma/SC, Brazil. Green spaces created in urban allotment processes were demarcated on maps, and a diagnosis describing vegetation, degradation factors, and necessary improvement actions was elaborated. Actions such as tree planting, organic matter input, fencing, and removal of invasive species and waste were carried out in some areas. Engaging the local community is recommended to aid recovery, and intrusion problems should be restrained with prompt inspection, which is more efficient with community surveillance.
CommunityPolicyBiodiversityStudies on the Development of Family Farms Under the Background of Urban Agriculture
2015Wang Hai-ya · · Global
Under the background of urban agriculture, family farms have broad development prospects and are categorized into three development modes: professional production type, multi-functional integrated type, and ecological protection type. This study proposed countermeasures for key issues such as land, capital, talent, products, and social services, including formulating family farm development plans, accelerating land approval, promoting land circulation, encouraging company registration, strengthening government funding support, and introducing social capital.
EconomicsPolicyUrban–rural linkageCivil society actors as drivers of socio-ecological transition?: Green spaces in European cities as laboratories of social innovation
2015Judith Schicklinski · Econstor (Econstor) · Europe
This article examines the role of civil society movements in managing green spaces across European cities, particularly in the context of socio-ecological transition and tight public budgets. It highlights how self-organized initiatives like urban gardening contribute to maintaining and developing biodiverse green spaces, offering recreational, ecological, and climate resilience benefits. The discussion explores how citizen groups can expand green spaces and which policy frameworks foster collaboration for innovative urban food production and green-space management.
CommunityPolicyClimate change