Key elements and organisational models of urban agriculture: a literature review

This study reviews the urban agriculture (UA) literature to identify key elements and organisational models of UA. Although UA has grown since the 1970s, there is ongoing debate about where it is farmed and for whom, and why it is carried out. As UA is a complex system, it requires new analytic tools able to embed both the greater diversity of spaces and the actors involved. A systematic review was conducted according to the Cochrane Collaboration to systematise all the available and relevant findings from UA studies concerning its key elements and organisational models. Key items were organised according to three dimensions: the economic, social and spatial aspects. The business model canvas (BMC) tool was used to analyse farms and non-farm organisations involved in the UA space, both economically and socially. Based on the dimensions examined, and considering the organisational models identified through the BMC, an analytical framework is proposed based on variation of the dimensional scale-size (spatial dimension) and the promoters/ landowners (social dimension). The analytical framework helped to understand the current metamorphosis of agriculture generated by specific social needs (definable as social-green metamorphosis) and to guide UA governance policies for improving the performance of this complex bottom-up transition process in the context of the welfare state crisis.