Sustainable Urban Food Research Articles

Productivity potential and economic feasibility of small-sized tomato production in plant factories with artificial lighting: A comparative study with high-tech greenhouse production

Plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs) are hailed as a hope for a sustainable urban food supply system. However, this emerging industry is facing a challenge: What crops other than leafy vegetables can PFALs produce commercially? A promising candidate is small-sized tomatoes (ss-tomatoes), which some high-tech greenhouses (HTGHs) are producing. To examine the crop performance and economic viability of ss-tomato production in PFALs, we attempted a comparative analysis based on experiments conducted in a PFAL and an HTGH, along with a Dutch Report on HTGHs. The results show that ss-tomato production in HTGHs is economically viable in the Netherlands but not yet in our HTGH in Japan. The factor that explains the difference is the yield per plantable area. For our HTGH to be economically viable, the present yield of 30 kg/m2/year must be increased to 50 kg/m2/year. The economic performance of ss-tomato production in our PFAL is lower than that of our HTGH, despite its higher yield of 56 kg/m2/year. To attain the same economic performance, our PFAL must achieve a yield as high as 150 kg/m2/year. If PFALs were to provide a stable supply of safe foods to the growing urban population, they should attain higher yields, no matter how challenging it may be.

Incorporating decentralized facilities into the food waste treatment infrastructure in Megacity: A locational optimization in Beijing

Food waste management has emerged as a pivotal issue with the acceleration of urbanization. Inappropriate treatment of food waste causes environmental contamination, resource squandering, and land occupation. This research explores optimal strategies in Beijing with an experimental case study on the bioconversion technology using black soldier fly larvae (BSFL), comparing centralized and decentralized approaches. We studied waste sorting behaviors influenced by community characteristics, employing an Agent-Based Model (ABM) and a mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP). Results indicate that 29 % of Beijing's food waste could be suitably managed through decentralized methods with BSFL, particularly in outlying areas and densely populated suburbs. Decentralized treatment exhibits the potential to boost waste separation participation in medium-sized, close- knit communities. However, this approach encounters hurdles related to technological implementation, public perception, and urban planning. This study underscores the need for community-specific strategies and a concerted effort from communities, government, and the private sector in advancing sustainable urban food waste management.

Exploring climate change adaptation strategies of crop and livestock farmers in urban Ghana

This study investigates the climate change adaptation strategies employed by urban crop and livestock farmers in Ghana. With the increasing recognition of climate change threats to agricultural productivity and food security, it is crucial to understand urban farmers’ adaptation strategies. Through a mixed-methods approach—surveys of 191 urban farming households using a questionnaire and interviews of 13 key informants using an interview guide, data were collected from farmers in urban Ghana. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics from the Statistical Package for Social Sciences and presented in tables. The qualitative data were analysed manually based on themes and content and presented in narratives. The results indicated a significant relationship between urban farmers’ educational status and gender and their sources of climate change adaptation information. Urban farmers’ climate change adaptation strategies include planting more improved and less indigenous crop varieties and rearing of more exotic and less local breeds of animals. Again, to buffer animal production against climatic diseases, urban farmers treat their animals through vaccination, giving animals pills, disinfecting pens, and spraying animals’ bodies with chemicals. Access to agricultural extension services is the main challenge in urban farmers’ climate change adaptation. The study underscores the importance of enhancing farmers’ resilience through targeted interventions, including capacity-building initiatives, access to climate information and financial resources, and the integration of climate-smart agricultural practices into urban planning and policy frameworks. In addressing these challenges and promoting adaptive strategies, urban crop and livestock farmers in Ghana can enhance their resilience to climate change and contribute to sustainable urban agriculture and food security. This study, therefore, contributes to the urban agriculture and climate change literature by drawing attention to how crop and animal farmers in the urban neighbourhood adapt to climatic stressors.

Spatial patterns of urban expansion and cropland loss during 2017–2022 in Guangdong, China

Urban expansion often occurs at the expense of cropland loss, posing challenges to sustainable urban growth and food security. However, detailed investigations into urban expansion and cropland loss remain limited, particularly in regions with varying levels of urbanization. Here, we take Guangdong Province, China, as a case study to exemplify how urban expansion affects cropland using remotely sensed land use products. We adopted geospatial analysis, correlation indicators, and landscape metrics to uncover their spatial relationships at 10-m spatial resolutions. Results showed that urban areas increased by 6335 km2 while cropland decreased by 3780 km2 from 2017 to 2022. Notably, 41 % of newly expanded urban areas were from croplands, and 45 % of lost croplands were converted to urban areas. Western Guangdong experienced the largest extent of urban expansion and cropland loss, emerging as a hotspot region in recent years. Additionally, our analysis observed the increasing compactness of urban areas and the growing fragmentation of cropland landscapes over time. These findings shed light on the intricate dynamics between urban expansion and cropland loss in rapidly urbanizing regions, which provide valuable insights for sustainable urban development, agricultural practice, and land management in the future.

Vertical farming in urban environments: A review of architectural integration and food security

Vertical farming in urban environments has emerged as a promising solution to address the challenges of food security while efficiently utilizing limited urban spaces. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the architectural integration of vertical farming systems and their impact on enhancing food security. Urbanization and population growth have led to increased pressure on traditional agriculture, necessitating innovative approaches to meet the rising demand for food. Vertical farming involves cultivating crops in vertically stacked layers or inclined surfaces within controlled environments, such as skyscrapers, warehouses, or specially designed structures. The integration of vertical farming into urban architecture is a multifaceted endeavor that involves considerations of space utilization, energy efficiency, and sustainable practices. Architectural integration plays a pivotal role in the success of vertical farming systems. This review explores various design strategies employed in integrating vertical farms into urban landscapes, including the incorporation of green walls, modular systems, and adaptive reuse of existing structures. The symbiotic relationship between architecture and agriculture is crucial for optimizing resource utilization, ensuring efficient energy distribution, and minimizing environmental impact. Furthermore, the review addresses the implications of architectural choices on the overall efficiency and scalability of vertical farming. It examines the role of technology in creating smart, automated farming systems that can be seamlessly integrated into urban structures. The integration of sensors, artificial intelligence, and robotics enhances precision farming, resulting in higher yields and resource efficiency. A significant focus of the paper is on the implications of vertical farming for food security. By bringing food production closer to urban centers, vertical farming reduces the reliance on long-distance transportation, minimizing carbon footprints and enhancing the resilience of food supply chains. Additionally, the controlled environment of vertical farms mitigates the impact of climate variability on crop yields, contributing to more stable and secure food production. In conclusion, this paper synthesizes the current knowledge on the integration of vertical farming into urban architecture, emphasizing its role in addressing food security challenges. The review underscores the importance of innovative architectural approaches and technological advancements in realizing the full potential of vertical farming for sustainable and secure urban food production.

The development process of urban agricultural networks to ensure urban food security in Hat Yai City, Songkhla Province, Thailand

ABSTRACT The purpose study was to examine the process, results, factors affecting the development process of the Hat Yai urban agricultural network for food security, Hat Yai District, Songkhla Province, Thailand, using qualitative research. Participant observation, in-depth interviews, group discussions, and inductive data analysis were conducted. Data were collected from thirty-one participants. The study found that the process of agricultural network development consists of three stages: network formation, seeking cooperation, learning and integration. The results are reflected at the individual, group, and network levels, linking them to the sustainable development dimension. The positive factors affecting the development process are the urban context, common goals, organisational culture, management, and building trust. The negative factors include the nature of Hat Yai urban residents in the context of developing countries, resource inadequacy, and public policy. The recommendations involve having holistic and targeted local public policy regarding urban agriculture to establish sustainable urban food security.

Benefits of Non-Commercial Urban Agricultural Practices—A Systematic Literature Review

Urban agriculture refers to any type of activity located within or around a city designed to provide ecosystem services. Given the rapid population growth and urbanization, urban agriculture is seen as a potential alternative route to a more sustainable urban food system. This review answers the main question: What are the benefits of non-commercial of Urban Agriculture (NCUA) forms and its contribution towards food production? using a systematic literature review approach. The methodology involved capturing 1355 recent articles from qualified search engines, using key terms according to the defined question, then screened for relevance and the defined scope of this review, resulting in a final selection of 40 articles for analysis. The results show that implementing NCUA practices has multifaced social, economic, and environmental benefits, such as improving people’s health, reducing expenditure on food and creating sustainable cities, highlighting the need to recognize the multifaceted role of NCUA in promoting a more sustainable lifestyle and strengthening local communities and engagement. Moreover, awareness of urban agriculture differs between developed and developing countries, as does the recognition and valorization of its benefits. Further research is needed to examine the enabling factors and barriers to NCUA adoption in different urban context, the resource implications, and the long-term sustainability of these practices.

Improving Health through Sustainable and Healthy Urban Food System Policy in Nigeria

Diet-related diseases and mortalities are assuming epidemic proportions globally. It is more worrisome in the Global South, especially in Africa, where the healthcare system is not resilient to the public health burden. There is a growing effort around the world to foster urban food system policies that would checkmate the failing health of the public and ensure improved quality of life. However, these efforts seem non-existent in many African regions. Therefore, there is a need for heightened efforts in these areas to address the food system and ensure a global healthy society. This study identified Nnewi, Nigeria, in sub-Saharan Africa, a typical urban area in Nigeria, and analyzed the public health challenges attributed to the non-existent food system policy and poor nutritional practices. The Milan Urban Food Policy Pact model, which has been successfully implemented in many cities, was adopted to propose a sustainable food system policy for Nnewi. Key policies proposed include autonomous local government power, government-assisted programs, clean and sustainable amenities, agricultural reforms, nutrition education, and reductions in food wastage to achieve a circular economy. An evaluation tool for implementing the food system policy was also developed. Overall, implementing the food system policies proposed herein would improve the quality of life of Nnewi residents. Other urban areas could also adopt similar food system policies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of a healthy and resilient global society.

Food sharing in a pandemic: Urban infrastructures, prefigurative practices and lessons for the future

The outbreak of COVID-19 raised critical questions about the functionalities of urban infrastructures, and in particular, practices of food provision, consumption and distribution. This paper focuses on the actions of non-commercial collaborative food sharing practices in Dublin city, incorporating surplus food redistribution initiatives, community kitchens, and community gardens, during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020. Whilst initially curtailed under conditions of strict lockdowns, many of these food sharing initiatives became characterised as essential services as the crisis unfolded, offering infrastructures of mobility, accessibility and care. Focusing on urban food infrastructures, qualitative content analysis of online media debates around food sharing in Dublin during this period was conducted to explore how non-commercial food sharing initiatives have been affected by, and responded to, the COVID-19 outbreak in Dublin. The paper analyses forms of improvisation, institionalisation and impact that emerged through food sharing actions and reflects on whether food sharing initiatives prefigure more sustainable urban food systems.

A balancing act: the interplay of food supply chain resilience and environmental sustainability in American cities

Global food systems must be a part of strategies for greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, optimal water use, and nitrogen pollution reduction. Insights from research in these areas can inform policies to build sustainable food systems yet limited work has been done to build understanding around whether or not sustainability efforts compete with supply chain resilience. This study explores the interplay between food supply resilience and environmental impacts in US cities, within the context of global food systems’ contributions to GHG emissions, water use, and nitrogen pollution. Utilizing county-level agricultural data, we assess the water use, GHG emissions, and nitrogen losses of urban food systems across the US, and juxtapose these against food supply resilience, represented by supply chain diversity. Our results highlight that supply chain resilience and sustainability can simultaneously exist and are not necessarily in competition with each other. We also found a significant per capita footprint in the environmental domains across Southern cities, specifically those along the Gulf Coast and southern Great Plains. Food supply chain resilience scores ranged from 0.18 to 0.69, with lower scores in the southwest and Great Plains, while northeastern and Midwestern regions demonstrated higher resilience. We found several cities with high supply chain resilience and moderate or low environmental impacts as well as areas with high impacts and low resilience. This study provides insights into potential trade-offs and opportunities for creating sustainable urban food systems in the US, underscoring the need for strategies that consider both resilience and environmental implications.

Food mapping approaches for understanding food system transformations in rapid-growth city regions in the Global South

The world’s food systems are rapidly changing due to socioeconomic, environmental, and demographic changes, globalization, and urbanization. Urban regions connect urban food consumption with rural food production and are associated with rapid dietary transitions in developing counties. Despite urbanization being a key driver of city-regional and global food system transformations, city-regional food systems (particularly in developing countries) are under-researched. Although the importance of dynamic urban and peri-urban food systems has led to new frameworks and approaches for mapping food flows within urban regions, our study highlights both opportunities and limitations to food mapping in high-growth city regions in the Global South. We review existing approaches to food mapping using three contrasting city-regional food systems as case studies, namely, Bahir Dar (Ethiopia), Hanoi (Vietnam), and Cali (Colombia), and identify priorities for future progress. These include temporal dimensions of food access; nutritional outcomes of food flows; economic, cultural, and ethnic factors affecting consumer behavior; and how consumption of healthier foods could be enabled by decision-making throughout food supply chains. In addition, the roles of food loss and waste could also be more specifically considered. We conclude that providing a more comprehensive and nutrition-sensitive understanding of city-regional food systems can guide evidence-based interventions and activities to enable transitions to healthier, equitable, and more sustainable urban food systems.

Citizens driving the transition to sustainable urban food systems

Reaching a sustainable future in which cities characteristics meet all needs and expectations of citizens is an ambitious challenge at a global level. The present study aimed to identify appropriate ways to transform cities into “greener-cities” using a citizen science approach. In a three phases-project, co-design dynamics were conducted with different citizens' groups: consumers, chefs, producers/suppliers, and experts in different scientific disciplines. First, four focus groups were carried out for diagnosing the food system of the city (Donostia-San Sebastián) and identify potential solutions. Then, two workshops with mixed participants from different stakeholders' groups were carried out to co-design suitable initiatives previously identified in the first phase. Finally, the co-designed initiative was presented and tested: an immersive experience where participants could taste a local and seasonal dish presented by a Chef in a 360° video room with projections of an organic farm. Results showed that innovative educational activities or programs, such as the developed “Gastronomic Journey”, could be used to engage citizens and move forward to a greener city. The experience was considered as an opportunity to discover the city's flavor and culture, and to bring awareness to citizens about challenges of the food system through the chef's speech.

Co-creating sustainable food systems

This Special Issue is preoccupied with the question: ‘How can citizens play an active role in co-creating sustainable food systems?’. The issue presents four distinct empirical research studies that explore participatory actions, co-creation and citizen science in moving towards more sustainable urban food systems at the intersection of design and sustainability. The various contributions explore the role of co-design with citizens to create sustainable food systems by addressing issues related to food production, processing, transportation and consumption. The issue covers diverse topics in distinct settings, from co-creation with agri-food smallholders in Vietnam to a design-led systemic action against homelessness-related food poverty in Turin, Italy.

Inclusive diets within planetary boundaries

Inclusive diets within planetary boundaries

Between ambitions and actions: how citizens navigate the entrepreneurial process of co-producing sustainable urban food futures

Cities increasingly envision sustainable future food systems. The realization of such futures is often understood from a planning perspective, leaving the role of entrepreneurship out of scope. The city of Almere in the Netherlands provides a telling example. In the neighborhood Almere Oosterwold, residents must use 50% of their plot for urban agriculture. The municipality formulated an ambition that over time, 10% off all food consumed in Almere must be produced in Oosterwold. In this study, we assume the development of urban agriculture in Oosterwold is an entrepreneurial process, i.e. a creative (re)organization that is ongoing and intervenes in daily life. To understand how this entrepreneurial process helps to realize sustainable food futures, this paper explores what futures for urban agriculture residents of Oosterwold prefer and deem possible and how these futures are organized in the present. We use futuring to explore possible and preferable images of the future, and to backcast those images to the present day. Our findings show residents have different perspectives of the future. Furthermore, they are capable in formulating specific actions to obtain the futures they prefer, but have trouble committing to the actions themselves. We argue this is the result of a temporal dissonance, a myopia where residents have trouble looking beyond their own situation. It shows imagined futures must fit with the lived experiences of citizens in order to be realized. We conclude that urban food futures need planning and entrepreneurship to be realized since they are complementary social processes.

Urban food systems: Factors associated with food insecurity in the urban settings evidence from Dessie and Combolcha cities, north-central Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, food security and vulnerability assessments have traditionally focused on rural areas. Recently, the issue of urban food security has been attracting attention in global policy debates. However, limited studies are found in the study areas that link food insecurity with major food market chains in the urban food system settings. This study is therefore, aimed at measuring the status of food insecurity in the urban food systems. A mixed study design has been used with randomly selected 506 resident households in Dessie and Combolcha cities, of north-central Ethiopia. We used a pre-tested, semi-structured survey questionnaire to collect quantitative data. The qualitative data has been collected with key informant interview, and focus group discussion among food system actors and facilitators in the selected commodities. We applied Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) to measure the food security status and narration and summarization techniques to analyze the qualitative data. The study confirmed that 33.1% of the respondents were food insecure. Moreover, nine and six individuals per 100 people were forced to ‘sleep hungry’ and ‘not eat in the whole day and night’ respectively. Households' food insecurity was significantly associated with the gender of the household head, participation in casual labor, and living house ownership. The degree of food insecurity was deemed to be higher due to weak food system governance, an inconsistent food supply chain, and socio-economic and gender inequalities. However, both formal and informal food systems have their own unique qualities and maximum food security benefit can be achieved if they are well integrated. This implies food security intervention in urban areas needs to refocus their strategies towards systematic and integrated approaches that can promote social security programs like: urban housing, job security, urban agriculture and inclusive food safety net programs. Moreover, multidimensional studies are still important to obtain a wider picture of sustainable urban food security in urban areas and to better integrate the formal and informal food systems.

Successful scaling of Edible City Solutions to promote food citizenship and sustainability in food system transitions

Sustainable, productive and biodiversity-friendly urban landscapes are a strategic step in transitioning to future-proof, liveable and healthy cities Edible nature-based solutions, otherwise known as “Edible City Solutions”, comprise a wide range of different forms of sustainable urban food production, distribution and consumption which use innovative principles of ecological design combined with closed material and energy flows. Edible City Solutions contribute to a local green economy, reduce cities' overall ecological footprint, enhance social cohesion, human health and wellbeing and contribute to bridging the gap between “farm and fork”. These benefits have been tested and monitored in Living Labs where a wide portfolio of different solutions have been implemented and scaled in order to accelerate their uptake and use in urban landscapes. The study documents and analyses different scaling practices and activities of the co-created Living Labs – together with local actors within the “scaling community” in Andernach, Berlin, Havanna, Oslo and Rotterdam. We follow a mixed method approach and analyse data by applying the different scaling pathways of scaling up, scaling deep, scaling wide, scaling across and scaling soft previously identified through a systematic literature review. Results are presented as ongoing scaling stories, experiences and challenges in the Living Labs. The study also highlights examples of scaling practices beyond the Living Labs and suggests strategic plans for future scaling. Scaling processes, strategies and approaches are critically reviewed and discussed. Observations are condensed into eleven recommendations for scaling edible nature-based solutions.

Food Producers in The Peri-Urban Area of Mexico City. A Study on the Linkages between Social Capital and Food Sustainability

Small producers in peri-urban areas have been identified as key actors in building more sustainable urban food systems, but they often have limited capacities to develop and consolidate their initiatives. This article describes the conditions of peri-urban farmers in Mexico City who work with agroecological schemes, analyzing the role of social and cultural capital in their ability to consolidate their economic-productive projects and establish links with consumers in the city. The research was developed from an anthropological perspective based on field visits and interviews conducted in 60 production units located in the peri-urban area of Mexico City. The article discusses the literature on peri-urban agriculture and the contextual particularities of the case study and then describes a typology constructed based on the analysis of the documented cases, considering the objectives of the initiatives and the different types of social and cultural capital on which their activities and marketing strategies are based are considered. The discussion argues that the social and cultural capital of the production units are key elements in determining the viability of the agroecological transition, reaffirming the importance of social articulation and other sociocultural aspects for the promotion of sustainable food projects.

IoT-based urban agriculture container farm design and implementation for localized produce supply

With increasing population in cities, urban agriculture has been proposed as a solution for sustainable urban development and food security improvement. In this application note, as an attempt at small-scale controlled environment agriculture, a container farm was constructed to provide an anniversary localized fresh produce supply in urban areas. The constructed container farm adopted a multi-layer cultivation pattern with artificially controlled environment for maximizing revenue in limited urban vacant areas available. Considering requirements of efficient management, an internet of things (IoT) management system was designed to monitor and control environment of this container farm remotely and on-site. As a case study, the container farm was placed in an outdoor parking space for urban agriculture application with mushrooms as trial crop. The cultivation experimental results have shown that internal microclimate of the constructed container farm have presented the characteristics of long-term stability with short-term changes while the IoT system provided reliable production data collection.

Towards Sustainable Urban Food Systems: Potentials, Impacts and Challenges of Grassroots Initiatives in the Foodshed of Muenster, Germany

Solving fundamental sustainability challenges in our food systems requires political, institutional and socio-technical transformations. Indeed, sustainability transitions are needed. In this paper, we explore the role of civil society in the form of bottom–up grassroots initiatives in the transition towards a sustainable urban food system and examine their potentials, impacts and challenges in the foodshed of Münster in Germany. To this end, relevant initiatives in Münster have been researched and mapped according to explicit criteria, and case studies have been compiled for two of them using questionnaires, interviews and desk research: a community-supported agriculture (CSA) farm Entrup 119 and an urban gardening initiative GrüneBeete e.V. The results indicate that many initiatives in Münster focus on education and information, i.e., raising awareness, rather than offering material alternatives. Six initiatives were studied in more depth using desk research and a questionnaire. Key leverage points identified by the initiatives are in policy, education, networks and communication. Two of these were studied as cases. We see these transition pioneers as paradigmatic role models, providing room for experimentation, social learning and empowerment.