This open access book offers an analysis of urban food policies with reference to policy levers and food system sustainability issues.

This open access book, by Anna Davies, uses case studies to examine the past and present of food sharing in cities.

Bayer Crop Science writes about several case studies in vertical farming, including agrilution (hydroponics farming in Germany), Comcrop (Singapore’s first rooftop commercial farm) and Sky Greens (a vertical farm in Singapore).

Wastewater canals used to irrigate urban agriculture in Burkina Faso may harbour dangerous microbes such as tuberculosis and genes that give microbes resistance to antibiotics, according to this research paper. The canals sampled by the researchers were designed to protect against flooding, but are used to water agricultural fields. The canals, which are not regularly cleaned, receive sludge, solid waste, wastewater, and effluent from a hospital, a market, houses and a slaughterhouse.

California agritech startup Iron Ox has unveiled an “autonomous farm”, where robots move plants and transplant them from one stage to the next. Artificial intelligence controls pests and diseases and adjusts growing conditions. The farm is not entirely automated, as humans still sow seedlings and package the harvested crops. The farm produces leafy greens and herbs.

This book, edited by Chiara Tornaghi and Chiara Certomà, critically explores the social and political implications of urban gardening.

US media organisation NPR discusses the tensions between housing developers and people who use vacant city plots for food production. Around 15% of land in US cities is classed as “vacant”. Urban farms on vacant land can be an important source of fresh food in some low-income neighbourhoods, but this can clash with the need for more housing. New York City council has passed an urban agriculture bill in an attempt to give urban farmers some control over how land is used.

This book, edited by Christophe-Toussaint Soulard, Coline Perrin and Elodie Valette, examines the interactions between agriculture and cities, using case studies around the Mediterranean.

This book, edited by Joshua Zeunert and Tim Waterman, sets out a wide array of interdisciplinary knowledge on landscapes, agriculture, food and sustainability.