Category — thesis

Cartoon of a food productive house garden. Dig for Victory campaign. June, 1943. Source: Spartacus, 2011.

Using Social Practice Theory To Assess How Transition Norwich Can Upscale Household Food Gardening In The City Of Norwich

By Dionysios Touliatos
Thesis – Master of Science
School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia University Plain Norwich
© 2011 Dionysios Touliatos
August 2011

Excerpt:

The choice of household gardens

According to Jeffcote (1993) urban household gardens in the UK represent a significant percentage of the total surface of a city, occupying more than ten times the area of protected nature reserves (Loram et al., 2005). The UK is the country with the highest number in private gardens per capita of any nation in Europe (Alfrey et al., 2004: 9) but only 20% of garden owners grew food in 1996 compared to 35% ten years earlier, with lawn and flowers being the dominant theme (MINTEL, 1999). Thus, it can be argued that a significant potential of food production in terms of quantity lies in household gardens.

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Vegetable Vancouver 2010: An Urban Farming Census. See the two page flyer PDF here. (1.7 MB)

An Urban Farming Census – Project Description

By Marc Schutzbank, MSc. Candidate
University of British Columbia
November, 2010
Presented at the Vancouver Urban Farming Forum

The Food and Agriculture Organization’s Food Price Index is at the highest level ever recorded. Wheat crops have failed in Russia and in China due to severe heat and draught. International food access issues are stirring local public and private responses, one of which is urban farming. To ascertain the community impacts of urban farming, I propose the development of an urban farming census to measure the economic, social and environmental outcomes of urban farming.

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By Eli M. Krispi
California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo
Thesis: Master of City and Regional Planning
June 2011

Abstract:

The objective of this project is to develop land use planning strategies that can be used to preserve and enhance the economic viability of agricultural operations surrounded by suburban development in Santa Barbara County’s Eastern Goleta Valley. This project focuses on two key techniques: buffers between agriculture and other land uses, and agritourism. In the case of buffers, academic literature is examined to determine how effective buffers are at various tasks (filtering runoff, mitigating dust and wind, providing habitat, etc.) and how to construct buffers to maximize their effectiveness.

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While the long term role and significance of urban food production in feeding the global population is unclear, understanding its myriad benefits and positive impacts locally and globally is imperative.

Thesis by Helena K. Farrell
Master Of Landscape Architecture
University of Massachusetts – Amherst
February, 2011
106 pages

Abstract

Modern, conventional food systems vulnerable to declining fossil fuel resources are a 21st century plight demanding rapid transition to regenerative agricultural practices. Urban agriculture is currently responding; expanding and diversifying from recent and historic roots worldwide to help meet the needs of contemporary urban dwellers and ameliorate the aftereffects of industrial agriculture.

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Greenhouses on Schaaf Road, Cleveland, Ohio area, with a buggy in the foreground, April, 1927.

This study shows that Cleveland city can meet up to 100% of its fresh produce need.

By Sharanbir S. Grewala and Parwinder S. Grewal
Center for Urban Environment and Economic Development, The Ohio State University,
Wooster, OH 44691, USA
Available online 20 July 2011
Cost of paper at Science Direct $19.95

Abstract

Modern cities almost exclusively rely on the import of resources to meet their daily basic needs. Food and other essential materials and goods are transported from long-distances, often across continents, which results in the emission of harmful greenhouse gasses. As more people now live in cities than rural areas and all future population growth is expected to occur in cities, the potential for local self-reliance in food for a typical post-industrial North American city was determined.

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The Australian Community Gardening Movement And Repertoires For Change

By Claire Nettle
Bachelor of Environmental Studies Master of Applied Science (Social Ecology)
Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
School of History and Politics, University of Adelaide, December 2010
359 pages

Abstract:

There has been a resurgence of community gardening activity in Australia over the past decade. This coincides with increasing concern about food security, urban sustainability, social isolation and the preservation of community space. Community gardening has been adopted by divergent actors, from health agencies looking to increase fruit and vegetable consumption to radical social movements seeking symbols of non-capitalist social and spatial relations. This thesis contributes to a systematic research account of the Australian community gardening movement by considering community gardening as a site of collective social action.

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Understanding the recent trend in food production activities within the limits of a developed nation’s capital

By Peter de Lange
Master thesis in the program Environment and Resource Management
University Amsterdam
Aug. 21, 2011
69 pages

Abstract

Urban agriculture, the practice of growing food inside a city, can play a significant role in a cities food system, especially in feeding the urban poor. Its presence varies greatly across regions, however, and it is predominantly seen in Asia and Africa, where it is often practiced out of necessity, in order to feed families or gain much needed additional income.

Urban agriculture is not confined to developing countries, however, and, in recent years, is becoming increasingly popular in cities across the United States and Europe. One such city is Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, where especially community gardens have sprouted up in the last three years.

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Urban agriculture functions as a catalyst for larger food system transformations.

By the Urban Design Lab
The Earth Institute and Columb1a University
Prepared by Kubi Ackerman
Project Team:
Richard Plunz, Urban Design Lab, Columbia University
Michael Conard, Urban Design Lab, Columbia University
Ruth Katz, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture
Sarah Brennan, Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy, Columbia University Patricia Culligan, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Columbia University
2011, 112 pages

Excerpt:

Key findings in brief

• Urban agriculture can play a critical role as productive green urban infrastructure. There is significant potential for urban agriculture to provide critical environmental services to the city through stormwater runoff mitigation, soil remediation, and energy use reduction. At a time when municipalities are straining to address complex infrastructural challenges with limited budgets, productive urban green spaces will be increasingly important in their capacity to function as a cost-effective form of small scale, distributed green infrastructure.

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Image from Final Design Presentation Boards by R. Hedlof.

Master in Architecture Thesis

By Rachel Hedlof
June 9, 2011
Master in Architecture
Portland Graduate School of Architecture
University of Oregon

Abstract:

Local food and agriculture in the Portland Metro Region has a strong cultural presence due to its support by chef- farmer collaborations, local food marketing promotion, and community supported farmer’s markets. The number of small farms on the periphery of Portland is increasing, supported by their close contact with the city due to the urban growth boundary. Agriculture within city boundaries has also shown continuous growth through support by community and civic organizations.

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Thesis submitted for completion of Master of Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability

By Tara McNerney, Maarten Dankers, Luke Callahan
School of Engineering
Blekinge Institute of Technology
Karlskrona, Sweden 2011
85 pages

Abstract:

This thesis explores how to overcome barriers to growing food in yards in cities of North America’s Pacific Northwest Coastal Region, to help build towards a more sustainable society. We used a survey and interviews to investigate what barriers prevent people with access to yards from growing food, or prevent them from increasing the amount of food grown in their yards, and how these barriers can be overcome.

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Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in Brooklyn. Photo by Liu Xin.

Rooftop agriculture (RA) is the production of fresh vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers on rooftops for local consumption.

By Aaron Quesnel, Joshua Foss, Nina Danielsson
School of Engineering Blekinge Institute of Technology Karlskrona, Sweden 2011
125 pages

Abstract:

Cities present many opportunities to improve socio-ecological sustainability through efficiencies of scale and access to resources and services. These benefits are often compromised by rapidly increasing urban populations demanding energy, water, resources and food that are sourced, produced and transported from rural areas in unsustainable ways. A systems level approach to understanding the complex challenges cities face is required to strategically plan for the future. Rooftop agriculture is one measure that can help address many sustainability problems cities are currently faced with.

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A comparative study: Urban Agriculture in Vancouver, Dar es Salaam and Copenhagen
 
Independent Study by Afton Halloran
University of Copenhagen
Faculty of Life Science
Jan 21, 2011
 
Abstract

Although generally thought of as a livelihood strategy for the urban poor in developing countries, urban agriculture is prevalent in both the global South and North. Urban agriculture has been heralded for its environmental, social and economic benefits. However, in some cities it is an unrecognized practice and some typologies of urban agriculture are even treated as illegal.

Urban planning has an important influence in determining the structure of a city. This paper argues that urban planners are important stakeholders, which influence the successfulness urban agriculture legitimization and its incorporation into the urban environment.

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Good Ground Garden.

Thesis – Sacredness in the landscape

By Shawn C. James
Thesis 2011
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Landscape Architecture in Landscape Architecture in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2011

Abstract:

Faith-based organizations throughout the United States are creating gardens with a variety of visions and results. Ten such gardens were present in Champaign and Urbana, IL in 2010. This phenomenon of faith-based gardening is designated as stewardship gardening within this thesis. While these gardens are recently conspicuous, they are certainly not new; disparate connotations of environmental stewardship have developed since the Garden of Eden. The contemporary call for environmental stewardship should acknowledge its historical implications with consideration of the boundaries between ecocentric and anthropocentric world views.

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Congress Garden in the Plaza De La Revolucion. Havana, Cuba. Photo by Christina Snowdon 2010.

Research report from ‘Brisbane to Bogata’ website

By Christina Snowdon
Murdoch University Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy
2010

Abstract:

Urban Agriculture and City Farms and their Influence on Community Engagement is a study of the community aspects of urban gardening. The aim of this research was s to explore the roles that urban gardening play in community development and how urban agriculture can contribute to building community. This was achieved through site visits of community gardens and city farms in the United States and Australia, and site visits of urban agriculture farms in Cuba, during May to August 2010.

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Agricultura Urbana y sus aplicaciones para recuperar suelos degradados en la Unidad Vecinal Portales.

By Ben Bookout
Master of Architecture Thesis
Universidad Catolica de Chile
Feb. 3, 2011
In Spanish 225 pages

My name is Ben Bookout and I recently defended my thesis about urban agriculture in Santiago, Chile. I believe the city and country present interesting challenges and opportunities when it comes to the implementation and practice of urban agriculture. I also believe that the implementation of urban agriculture could help Santiago to become a more resilient city as well as give a new use to abandoned urban space and public space. The subject of study of my thesis is a late 1960′s housing development named Unidad Vecinal Portales.

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Dr. Susan Ambler, associate professor of sociology, and Chelsea Barker.

Her research and findings will be presented at the American Sociological Association annual meeting in Atlanta.

A Report of a Senior Study
By Chelsea Claire Barker
Majors: Sociology and Environmental Studies
Maryville College
Spring, 2010

In her 22 years, Chelsea Barker ’10 has done more than her share of planting vegetables, herbs and flowers, but what she’s most excited about now are opportunities to plant ideas that can revolutionize the American food system.

“[Urban agriculture] is a concept that has the potential to change our diets, our environments, our health, our destitute inner-city communities and our nation’s future,” she wrote in the introduction to her Senior Study, “American Urban Agriculture.”

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Event: Urban Agriculture: Growing Healthy, Sustainable Places (S461)

Paper: The role of urban agriculture in building resilient cities in developing countries

Event: American Planning Assoc. National Planning Conference
in Boston, MA from April 9-April 12, 2011

Urban Agriculture: Growing Healthy, Sustainable Places (S461)

Description:
Urban agriculture is a key component of the emerging practice area of community and regional food systems planning. Explore the forms, types, dimensions and prerequisites for urban agriculture and consider the policies and public planning mechanisms used to support it.

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Image by Stephanie Carter.

Eleven articles on urban agriculture in Vertigo – The electronic journal of Environmental Science

Vertigo, Vol 10, No. 2
Sept. 2010. In French
Articles about UA in Europe, America and Africa by authors from various backgrounds. This issue was coordinated by Eric Duchemin Institute of Environmental Sciences at UQAM (Canada), Luc Mougeot IDRC (Canada) and Joe Nasr Ryerson College (Canada).

Louiza Boukharaeva et Marcel Marloie
L’apport du jardinage urbain de Russie à la théorisation de l’agriculture urbaine

Manon Boulianne, Geneviève Olivier-d’Avignon et Vincent Galarneau
Les retombées sociales du jardinage communautaire et collectif dans la conurbation de Québec

Emmanuel Pezrès
La permaculture au sein de l’agriculture urbaine : Du jardin au projet de société

Christian Peltier
Agriculture et projet urbain durables en périurbain : la nécessité d’un réel changement de paradigme

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The cultural geography of gardens

Introduction by Christie, Maria Elisa
The Geographical Review
July 1, 2004

Excerpts:

Garden spaces are such a common part of people’s everyday experience that they mostly escape scholarly attention. This collection of case studies offers readers a sense of people, places, and gardens based on geographical fieldwork in parts of the world as distinct as Istanbul, Toronto, Sydney, the Peruvian Amazon, and central and northern Mexico.

Whether they are called “dooryard gardens,” “home gardens,” “house-lot gardens,” “backyards,” “community gardens,” or “market gardens,” these spaces of intimate engagement with the land present us with an opportunity to explore important aspects of biodiversity, food sustainability, civil society, the roles of gender and ethnicity in daily life, and how people’s lives are affected by migration. Participating authors ask very different research questions and employ a range of qualitative and quantitative methods, encouraging other scholars to pursue stimulating new avenues of research.

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Boris Pasternak digging a potato patch at his dacha in Peredelkino, near Moscow, in the summer of 1958. From Sharashkin thesis, via LIFE magazine.

The Earth needs our help

By Leonid Sharashkin
PhD thesis
University of Missouri–Columbia
May, 2008
274 pages
(Exciting find! So much to read in this paper. Mike)
Excerpts:

Russia has 18.8 million acres of family gardens, which produce US$14 billion worth of products per year, equivalent to over 50% of Russia’s agricultural output, or 2.3% of the country’s GDP (Rosstat 2007b). The United States, on the other hand, have 27.6 million acres of lawn, which produce a US$30 billion per year lawn care industry (Bormann, Balmori, and Geballe 2001).

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