Cities have the potential to change the way resources and nutrients are utilized as they are centers of consumption and waste production. Losses of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus (P) to water ways, called eutrophication, is a major water quality issue that marine ecosystems face (Bennett et al., 2001; Smith & Schindler, 2009). Urban agriculture (UA) provides a chance for some nutrient reuse within city boundaries, but there exists a gap in knowledge regarding how soil properties influence P movement patterns within UA contexts. To explore the relationships between P leachate and soil characteristics from urban gardens, I created generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) using data from 8 gardens in Linköping, Sweden, over a period of 2 years. Though leachate data and soil traits varied between gardens, values from the urban gardens generally did not vary extensively compared to those from field studies or rural agriculture. As hypothesized, plant-available P from the ammonium lactate soil P test (P-AL) and degree of P saturation (DPS) were both important, although why they were significant to their respective water quality variables was unclear. Moreover, spatial correlations were also not as influential as expected in P leaching. Additionally, other important soil characteristics (pH, clay, plant-available iron (Fe-AL), and plant-available aluminum (Al-AL)) seemed to relate to P adsorption and release, indicating a need for future research in that direction.

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This study examines the historical-geographic development of agriculture in Philadelphia in order to better understand the city’s contemporary urban agriculture movement. More specifically, the study provides historical context to the contemporary application of racial justice practices within urban farming initiatives in Philadelphia by uncovering and critically analyzing key aspects of the city’s history that have created agriculture-related injustice. Three methodological tools were used in this study: archival historical analysis, secondary source historical analysis, and scholar-activist collaboration. The period of study centers around the settler-colonial period of the city’s history but spans from the era of Lenape territorial control to the consolidation of the modern city in 1854. Three historical-geographic antecedents to contemporary racial justice practices within urban agriculture were uncovered and examined through this research: the settler-colonial terra nullius myth, the patriarchalization of food and land systems, and the urban-rural plantation complex. The results of this study highlight the many layers of intersectional food and land injustice within which that today’s iteration of agriculture in Philadelphia is embedded. / Geography

Biosolids have been used as soil conditioners and fertilizers in agriculture and mine land reclamation, but application of Exceptional Quality (EQ) biosolids to rehabilitate anthropogenic soils for urban agriculture is recent and requires greater study to ensure their appropriate use. The objectives were: 1) to quantify plant available nitrogen (PAN) of new EQ biosolids in a greenhouse bioassay; 2) to quantify PAN of EQ biosolids applied to an urban degraded subsoil via tall fescue N fertilizer equivalency, and compare field results to laboratory tests; 3) to investigate EQ biosolids and inorganic fertilizer effects on urban soil properties, vegetable yields, and potential N and phosphorus (P) loss. Biosolids evaluated were products of thermal hydrolysis plus anaerobic digestion (BLOOM), blending with woody mulch (BM) and sand/sawdust (BSS), composting (LBC), and heat-drying (OCB). Organic N mineralization of new blended biosolids products ranged between 20-25% in the greenhouse bioassay. Products BLOOM, BM, and OCB had the highest organic N mineralization as estimated by the 7-day anaerobic incubation, and this test and soil nitrate-N had the highest correlations with tall fescue N uptake (r=0.49 and r=0.505, respectively). We conducted a two-year field study with four growing seasons (fall 2016-2017 and summer 2017-2018) in an urban disturbed subsoil where EQ biosolids were applied seasonally at agronomic N rates, and yearly at reclamation rates (5x agronomic N). Cabbage yields were greater with reclamation rates (~3.0 kg m-2) and bell pepper yields were greater with BLOOM reclamation rate (~1.0 kg m-2) than with the inorganic fertilizer (1.0 kg m-2 and 0.2 kg m-2, respectively) during second year growing seasons. Soil carbon (C) accumulation (%C remaining in the soil) two years after biosolids additions ranged between 37 to 84%. Soil N availability and mineralization were limited most likely due to lack of residual soil C and N, and high clay content. Nitrogen leaching losses from reclamation rates were not greater than agronomic N rates. Leachate P was below detection during most of the experiment. Despite limiting soil conditions, biosolids amendment at reclamation rates showed greatest potential to increase vegetable yield and improve soil properties after two years of application, while not impairing water quality. / Doctor of Philosophy / Exceptional Quality (EQ) biosolids are by-products of wastewater treatment plants that have been processed to destroy pathogens, reduce attraction by disease-spreading organisms (e.g. flies, mosquitoes, rodents, etc.), and limit heavy metal concentrations. These characteristics make EQ biosolids safe for use by home gardeners for growing food crops. There is limited information on optimal recommended rates at which these products should be applied to urban gardens. The purpose of our research was to determine optimum application rates of EQ biosolids to urban gardens based on their essential plant nutrient (esp., nitrogen and phosphorus) availability. We learned that the EQ biosolids we studied are less concentrated in plant available nitrogen and phosphorus than biosolids applied to conventional agricultural fields. This is because we diluted our biosolids with sawdust, sand, and woody mulch to facilitate their storage, handling, and ease of application. We learned that high EQ biosolids application rates reduce soil compaction and increase essential plant nutrient availability and crop yields for agriculture practiced in urban soils. The high application rates of EQ biosolids accomplished such soil-improving and yield-increasing benefits without impairing local water quality.

The rapid expansion of urban systems in both area and population represents the most significant landuse/landcover change occurring in the world today. Urbanization is often accompanied by increasing environmental degradation. This degradation is related to stormwater runoff, air temperatures greater than surrounding rural areas, increased air and water pollution, losses of vegetated lands, and lack of access to sufficient and healthy foods in lower-income areas. Urban agriculture (UA), a practice long established in previous eras but neglected for many decades, can mediate such concerns by providing greenspaces to improve ecosystem services. Successful practice of UA requires recognition of interactions between social and environmental patterns. Neglect of these interactions leads to failure in spatially integrating social and environmental dimensions of the urban landscape, limiting the success of UA. This study investigates siting of UA within Roanoke, Virginia, a compact urban region characterized by social and environmental conditions that can be addressed by effective siting and practice of UA. This research takes a broader perspective than prior studies on UA and urban greenspaces. It proposes innovative applications of geospatial technologies for urban assessment. Studies on UA have typically focused on food insecurity, while studies on greenspaces focus on parks and tree canopy cover, without investigating interactions that promote synergies between these two efforts. Research over the past few years is now recognizing potential contributions for urban agriculture to alleviate environmental issues such as stormwater runoff, soil infertility, and the urban heat island effect. Little of this research has been devoted to the actual siting of urban agriculture to specifically alleviate both socio-economic and environmental issues. This research applies geospatial technologies to evaluate spatial patterns characterizing both environmental and socio-economic disparities within the City of Roanoke, Virginia. This approach has identified specific locations that are open and available for urban agriculture, and has appraised varying levels of socio-economic and environmental parameters. This research identified, at the census block group level, areas with varying levels of degradation. Thus, those locations in which a new urban agriculture greenspace can contribute to both socio-economic and environmental reparation. This research has identified spatial dimensions in which UA will assist in restoring ecosystem services to guide various food production activities. These results can be generalized to other urban locations and contribute to efficient use of urban land and space, improving the three pillars of worldwide sustainability – economic, environment, and social. / Ph. D.

This thesis is an investigation of the role of architecture in reclaiming deteriorating urban constructs, consequently restoring the placedness of a given community - in this case, East Nashville. Through careful consideration of the built environment, architecture as well as landscape architecture can transform our existence on the land and sustain a harmonious economy through the cultivation of food grown within the neighborhood. How we structure ourselves on the landscape via architecture speaks to our perception of the material world given to us. / Master of Architecture

Urban and peri-urban agriculture is a strategy that can be adapted by low income households in Orange Farm to meet their food and nutritional requirements. The practice is a basis upon which poor families can enhance their incomes by producing part of their food needs, hence saving money for use on other livelihood obligations. This dissertation discusses the importance of urban and peri-urban agriculture as a method easily available to low income families residing in informal settlements to access food and incomes. Urban agriculture is examined in the context of poverty alleviation. A descriptive and quantitative assessment of the salient variables of the practice in the area is attempted in order to give an insight of the potential role the sector can play in eliminating poverty, enhancing incomes and creating employment. The study shows that participation in urban farming can impact significantly on poverty conditions and improve livelihoods. / MA (Development Studies)

At Constitutional level, legislation in South Africa entrenches the provision of food and water for all its citizens. In instances where citizens are unable to provide in these basic requirements for themselves, social assistance should be provided to ensure a healthy life for all. In this regard, legislation and Town Planning ordinances and regulations are in place to ensure that built-up environments in which we live and work are healthy and safe for all. However, this study revealed that food provisioning by community gardeners is peripheral in legislation, ordinances and regulations and the practice of urban agriculture is, in many instances, in conflict with the principle of safe and healthy food for all. Community gardeners/urban agriculturists are food farmers within the city who produce food for themselves and others without the checks and balances that are otherwise applicable to food brought into the city from outside. While food production on any piece of available land is vital for these community gardeners for their sustenance and survival, it could become a potential health hazard if no checks or testing measures are in place to ensure that the food being produced is safe for human consumption. The study sought the views and perceptions of community gardeners, residents, Environmental Health Practitioners and Town Planners in the eThekwini Metro region with regards to community gardening/urban agriculture and its impact on food provisioning to citizens. For data collection, a one-on-one interviewing survey method was used with all four groups and results were calculated and converted to average percentages and analysed. The results revealed that there was conflict between legislation, ordinances and regulations regarding the production of food in the built-up environment of the EThekwini Municipality. It was also revealed that there was no cohesive policy to control the production of food produced and sold by community gardeners in the study area. The need for control measures and regulations regarding food production and sale by community gardeners was highlighted. Moreover, where ineffective or none such measures or controls exist, a transparent and consultative process involving all stakeholders must take place in order to establish up viable and sustainable control measures. The people who will be most affected by these rules, namely the community gardeners, should be pivotal role players in the establishment of a sustainable urban agriculture policy. Recommendations to address the problems illuminated by the study are presented. / Environmental Sciences / Ph. D. (Environmental Management)

Urban and peri-urban agriculture is a strategy that can be adapted by low income households in Orange Farm to meet their food and nutritional requirements. The practice is a basis upon which poor families can enhance their incomes by producing part of their food needs, hence saving money for use on other livelihood obligations. This dissertation discusses the importance of urban and peri-urban agriculture as a method easily available to low income families residing in informal settlements to access food and incomes. Urban agriculture is examined in the context of poverty alleviation. A descriptive and quantitative assessment of the salient variables of the practice in the area is attempted in order to give an insight of the potential role the sector can play in eliminating poverty, enhancing incomes and creating employment. The study shows that participation in urban farming can impact significantly on poverty conditions and improve livelihoods. / MA (Development Studies)