Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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2993 results(1 / 120)
How do cross-sector partnerships enable the participation of small retailers in urban food recovery and redistribution? Evidence from Italian cities
2026Bartezzaghi G., Quaglia S., Garrone P. · Agriculture and Human Values · Italy
Examines how cross-sector partnerships among public authorities, retailers, and nonprofits enable small neighborhood food retailers to participate in urban surplus food recovery and redistribution across major Italian cities.
CommunityEconomicsPolicy川崎市農業振興計画（案）〔概要版〕
2026川崎市 · 川崎市 農業振興計画 · Japan
Draft outline of Kawasaki's agricultural promotion plan showing over 120,000 sqm of citizen farms, Farmers Club experiences and local-food promotion via "Kawasaki Sodachi" through municipality-JA collaboration.
PolicyCommunityFood educationEconomicsUrban–rural linkage: an ecosystem governance perspective
2026IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management · IUCN · Global
Rethinks ecosystem governance across urban and rural landscapes, offering practical local and regional solutions and linking them to the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.
BiodiversityPolicyDeveloping a Success Index for Urban Agriculture Implementation to Strengthen Food Security in Egypt
2026Ashraf M., Hussain H.R. · Journal of Contemporary Urban Affairs · Egypt
Develops a success index for urban agriculture in Egypt, identifying distinct success factors for commercial farms (location, capital, licensing) versus household gardens (knowledge, community support). Concludes urban farming complements conventional agriculture by activating underused urban spaces, reducing food miles, and creating micro-enterprise opportunities.
Food educationCommunityEconomicsPolicyA landscape of opportunity? Vacant land, community gardens, and neoliberal green fixes in San Diego
2026Pascale Joassart-Marcelli · Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space · United States (San Diego)
Drawing on city planning documents, spatial data, and original fieldwork (site audits, surveys, interviews), this paper critically examines the political ecology of land access for urban agriculture in San Diego. It argues the city's "opportunity narrative" around vacant land obscures structural inequities, functioning as a neoliberal "green fix" that shifts responsibility for food access onto marginalized communities while treating land as a speculative commodity, and calls for a land justice framework centered on equity, secure tenure, and community self-determination.
PolicyCommunityAssessment of the Contribution of Agricultural Production Within Highly Urbanized Municipalities to Food Security in Guangdong, China
2026· Food and Energy Security · China (Guangdong)
Evaluates the contribution of local agricultural production to food security in highly urbanized municipalities of Guangdong, China, finding near-zero grain self-sufficiency and only limited vegetable surplus.
PolicyEconomicsComparing controlled-environment-urban agriculture to conventional agriculture across Canada
2026· Agronomy for Sustainable Development · Canada
A life-cycle assessment of controlled-environment urban lettuce found climate-change impacts ranging from 0.8 to 25 times those of conventional lettuce because of high energy demand; in carbon-intensive grids such as Alberta, per-kilogram emissions exceeded conventional agriculture.
PolicyEconomicsPrediction of Energy Consumption and Energy Savings in an Urban Vertical Farm Benchmark
2026Xie S., Martinez-Vazquez P., Baniotopoulos C. · Energy Science & Engineering · United Kingdom
An energy analysis of an urban vertical-farm benchmark integrating cultivation, storage, transport and office functions quantifies the substantial energy demand of urban vertical farming, underscoring its high operational energy burden absent savings measures.
EconomicsPolicyTaming the green gentrification cycle? Evidence from street greening in Vienna
2026· Urban Geography · Austria (Vienna)
Mixed-method analysis (1991–2021) of Vienna street-tree greening and its link to tenure commodification and exclusionary displacement, showing greening drives a gentrification cycle except where housing is heavily decommodified—pinpointing when greening policy backfires.
PolicyWelfareThey sprout everywhere: Urban agriculture experimentations in Metro Manila
2026Montefrio, Marvin Joseph F., Saguin, Kristian Karlo · Journal of Applied Social Science · Philippines
Analysis of diverse experimental urban agriculture projects in Metro Manila. Examines citizen-driven innovative farming experiments and their contribution to urban food security.
CommunityPolicyToxic heavy metals distribution in urban soils of Africa: a systematic review
2026Nontokozo Pertunia Mkhonza, Sandisiwe Zondo, Samukelisiwe Vilakazi · Environmental Monitoring and Assessment · Africa
A systematic review synthesising 38 peer-reviewed studies (2010–2024) on heavy metals in African urban soils. Weighted mean concentrations of lead, cadmium and chromium exceeded FAO permissible limits in many countries, and industrial activity plus traffic emissions accounted for over half of the identified contamination sources. The review also documents strong geographic bias — Nigeria and Ghana are well studied while Egypt and Ethiopia are barely covered — and a shortage of measurements of bioavailable metal fractions, so the actual dietary risk from crops grown in these cities cannot be determined from this evidence base.
HealthPolicyA systematic review of green gentrification and mental health
2026Catherine D. Brown, Alessandro Rigolon, Piper Zdrodowski, Amber L. Pearson · Health & Place · Global
A systematic review of 16 articles linking green gentrification — rising costs and resident turnover following green space investment — to mental health. Four negative pathways recur: financial stress and housing insecurity from rising housing costs, loss of sense of community as the population changes, exclusion of long-standing residents from the new green space itself, and anxiety about exposure to historical contamination. The review also records benefits, including opportunities for relaxation and improved aesthetics. Because the included studies are largely cross-sectional, the authors state that longitudinal designs are needed before causal claims can be made.
HealthCommunityPolicyO direito à cidade sustentável e a agricultura urbana como estratégia para reduzir desigualdades climáticas
2026Luiz Guilherme Luz Cardoso, Solange Teles da Silva · Revista Brasileira de Direito Urbanístico | RBDU · Brazil
This study investigated how Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (AUP) can address climate inequalities as an extension of the fundamental right to a sustainable city, given Brazil's accelerated urbanization and worsening heat islands in peripheral areas. Using a hypothetical-deductive method and documentary and content analysis of institutional, journalistic, and academic data from 2000 to 2026, the study analyzed AUP practices' contribution to mitigating thermal and socioeconomic asymmetries. Results indicate that AUP restores land use value, fills normative gaps in master plans, and establishes itself as a vector for democratic governance, food sovereignty, and intergenerational urban sustainability.
Climate changePolicyFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageModeling Non-State Actor Interactions in Inclusive Urban Ecology: The Role of Community Gardens in Sustainable City Development
2026Indra Jaya Wiranata, Khairunnisa Simbolon · Global and Policy Journal of International Relations · Global
This research examines the role of community gardens, supported by non-governmental groups, in addressing urban issues like environmental damage and food insecurity. The study analyzed urban agriculture programs in Singapore, Rosario, Seoul, Seville, and Yogyakarta, finding that community gardens boost biodiversity, improve air quality, support food sovereignty, and create inclusive public spaces. It concludes that community gardens are socio-ecological infrastructures that strengthen urban resilience and promote justice, especially in tropical cities with year-round growing seasons.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceBiodiversityPolicyPolíticas alimentares, agricultura familiar e justiça climática na Amazônia rumo à COP30
2026Jaqueline Lopes Pereira, Bárbara Lellis de Sá Frizo, Denise Miguel Teixeira Roberto, Gabriela Rigote, Clara Ribeiro Camargo, Fabrício Muriana, Gabriela Mariano Mendonça, Maurício Alcântara, Roberta Moraes Curan, Dirce Maria Lobo Marchioni, Aline Martins de Carvalho · Revista de Saúde Pública · Brazil (Belém)
This study analyzed the sustainability of the food system in the Belém Metropolitan Region, Brazil, focusing on public institutional purchasing policies in 2022. Municipalities allocated 31 million reais to the National School Feeding Program, with 43.5% from family farming, exceeding the legal target. The Food Acquisition Program saw the Abril Vermelho settlement sell 28 tons of food, prioritizing permanent crops and agro-ecological practices.
PolicyEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changePeri-urban agricultureUrban agriculture and the Water–Energy–Food Nexus for sustainable and resilient cities
2026Erick Paul Mena-Barragán, Lucía Toledo, Javier Cuestas-Caza, Oswaldo Viteri-Salazar · Frontiers in Sustainability · Global
This systematic review of 43 peer-reviewed articles (2003–2026) examines how the Water–Energy–Food (WEF) Nexus is conceptualized and operationalized in urban agriculture literature. It identifies four thematic domains and three modes of WEF Nexus integration: conceptual-strategic, operational-partial, and operational-systematic. The review finds heterogeneous forms of integration, from strategic framing to partial or, less frequently, fully systemic assessments of water, energy, and food relations.
Climate changeFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsIntegrating agriculture into European urban landscapes matters: A systematic assessment
2026Stepan Svintsov, Prajal Pradhan, Taylor Smith, Diego Rybski · Sustainable Cities and Society · Europe
A systematic evaluation in 2018 assessed the potential for low-tech, open-air, soil-based urban vegetable production across 840 cities in 30 European countries. The study used geospatial, demographic, and climate data under three land-use intensity scenarios. It estimated that 4551–7586 km² of urban land could yield 11.8–19.8 million tons of vegetables annually, roughly one-third of reported production, revealing substantial opportunities but also structural limits due to spatial variation.
Food sovereignty & justiceClimate changeEconomicsPolicyBarriers to urban agriculture in Africa: a bibliometric and content co-occurrence analysis of the literature
2026hawamkwela@yahoo.com MKWELA, Emiliana Assenga · Cogent Food & Agriculture · Africa
A bibliometric analysis of 504 journal publications from January 2020 to December 2024 and a content co-occurrence analysis were conducted to understand barriers to urban agriculture in Africa. Four research clusters emerged, including 'policy neglect or opposition in urban agriculture'. Content analysis revealed that vegetable production in urban agriculture is negatively affected by wastewater use, heavy metal contaminated soil, limited access to productive factors, and policy neglect or opposition.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityDifferentiated Design Strategies and Sustainable Benefit Evaluation of Urban Agriculture in Urban Residential Areas Based on Cluster Analysis
2026惟科 李, Haotian Zhang, Xiaoying Ding · Sustainability · China (Tianjin)
This study used the K-means clustering algorithm to classify residential areas in Nankai District of Tianjin, China. It proposed differentiated strategies for integrating spatial elements and management mechanisms of urban agriculture in these residential areas and quantitatively assessed the sustainable benefits of updated urban agriculture. The results indicate that differentiated urban agriculture updates in four types of residential areas can significantly improve their sustainable benefits.
Food sovereignty & justiceHealthCommunityPolicyUrban liveability, health and wellbeing are intricately linked to large, quality, biodiverse green spaces, not densification
2026Charlie M. Shackleton, Nanamhla Gwedla, Jessica P. R. Thorn · Frontiers in Sustainable Cities · Global
This article discusses the long-standing debate on whether cities can be both dense and green, noting that some cities have achieved both. It questions whether densification is the sole driver of declines in urban green space and proposes deepening the debate by considering eight other dimensions of urban greening. The article also mentions compact urban greening forms like vertical gardens and green roofs, but states that most are poor surrogates for large, connected, biodiverse green spaces.
BiodiversityHealthPolicyWhose fruits, whose labour? Negotiating community and care-work in urban orchards and food forests
2026Anastasia Luise Gramatakos, Catherine Phillips, Andrea Rawluk · Local Environment · Australia (Melbourne)
This ethnographic fieldwork, conducted across three community-led urban food forest sites in Naarm/Melbourne, examined the everyday labors, relations, and tensions involved in caring for urban food-producing trees. The study found that participants grapple with significant tensions, particularly in open-access sites lacking fences, gates, or formal membership, highlighting the evolving and imperfect nature of commoning practices rather than a fixed ideal.
Governance failureCommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyIntegrating vertical farming with vertical housing in hot-arid contexts: a socio-spatial, technical, and VR-based design strategy in the UAE
2026Khaled Galal Ahmed, Neveen Hamza, Alaa Omar Kordi, Omar Sherzad M. Shareef, Alaa Badawi, Aliaa Safwat, Nicolas Monje Mejia · Frontiers in Sustainable Cities · United Arab Emirates
This study investigated integrating vertical farming into Emirati vertical public housing in Sharjah, UAE, to reinterpret traditional outdoor living spaces. Researchers developed three vertical farming scenarios and evaluated them with 30 Emirati prospective users (aged 20–23) via immersive virtual reality and semi-structured interviews. Findings indicated that user acceptance was influenced by socio-spatial, cultural, and practical factors, with the Mixed Vertical Farming scenario receiving the strongest support.
CommunityDigital agriculturePolicyThe Role of the Srikandi Tani 09 Women Farmers Group in Fulfilling the Right to a Healthy Environment
2026Nurdiyana Diyana, Suanto Suanto, Roni Rustandi, Trisakti Handayani, Sri Rumiati · JUSTISI · Indonesia
This qualitative descriptive study in South Tangerang City, Indonesia, analyzed the role of the Srikandi Tani 09 Women Farmers Group (KWT) in realizing the right to a healthy environment. Based on interviews, observations, and documentation from five active members, findings indicate KWT Srikandi Tani 09 actively raises environmental awareness, manages limited land for urban agriculture, and processes organic waste. Success factors include participatory leadership and collaboration, while challenges involve limited land, funding, and public awareness.
CommunityOrganic cyclePolicyWelfareTerritorializing food systems through pedagogical broadening: the case of Voll Farm
2026Beste Sabir, Heidi Vinge, Adam Calo · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Norway (Trondheim)
This paper examines how Voll Farm, a municipally supported green urban competence center in Trondheim, Norway, adopted pedagogical broadening strategies to operationalize territorialized food policies. Based on 18 months of qualitative fieldwork, the findings indicate that multifunctional farms can facilitate knowledge exchange and praxis-based learning between grassroots initiatives and policy landscapes, fostering civic empowerment and system awareness. Voll Farm's practices, such as community-supported agriculture and school gardening, make sustainable food production visible and inform municipal urban agriculture strategies.
Food educationPolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceOpportunities and Constraints for the Development of CSA in Poland in the Context of Agricultural and Rural Transformation
2026Magdalena Raftowicz, Mirosław Struś · · Poland
This theoretical study analyzes the potentials and barriers to the development of Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) in Poland, drawing on existing research. It identifies key barriers to CSA development, including financial, legal, organizational, and social factors, which originate from both farmers and consumers. The ongoing land ownership concentration in Poland, fostering industrial agriculture, is contrary to sustainable development and EU agricultural policy, posing a significant barrier to CSA development, particularly for farmers.
Governance failureCSA & TeikeiEconomicsPolicyCommunity