City Agriculture - July 28, 2026

Niagara Falls designs a community garden with the community - 3 proposals and a vote
https://www.agritecture.com/blog/niagara-falls-urban-agriculture
https://urbanagricultureniagarausa.base44.app/
Lorain, OH’s urban ag plan
https://www.agritecture.com/blog/how-lorain-ohio-built-its-first-urban-agriculture-plan

Agrivoltaics’ 5 layer value stack
https://gemini.google.com/share/f8baf1f77d8b

Food Link "partners with food retailers, distributors, and farms to rescue high-quality fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy, bread, and prepared foods that might otherwise end up in landfills"
https://www.foodlinkma.org/

Boston Food Forest Coalition has 13 neighborhood food forests and plans to have 30 by 2030
https://www.bostonfoodforest.org/

Community managed natural farming movement in Andhra-Pradesh, India
https://foodplanetprize.org/initiatives/andhra-pradesh-community-managed-natural-farming-the-women-rewriting-farming/

Florida community garden
https://cleantechnica.com/2026/06/15/want-to-create-a-viable-and-sustainable-community-garden-these-folks-can-show-you-how/

Dragonfly Sanctuary
https://designawards.core77.com/Built-Environment/140639/D-F-S-Dragonfly-Sanctuary

Canada's National Food Security Strategy Allocates $750m to Controlled Environment Agriculture
https://www.agritecture.com/blog/canadas-allocates-750m-to-controlled-environment-agriculture

Public restaurants
https://joseluischicoma.substack.com/p/public-restaurants
Editorial Comment: I was reading Aristotle’s Politics recently and was intrigued by his mention of public mess halls in both Athens and Sparta.

The 100-Cow Dairy Revitalization & Electrostate Framework
https://jgill5862.substack.com/p/executive-summary-the-100-cow-dairy

From garbage dumps to community garden in São Paulo, Brazil
https://globalvoices.org/2026/07/10/in-brazil-initiatives-in-peripheral-communities-seek-to-expand-environmental-education/

Turtle Islands
https://www.waterflowers.org/turtle-islands
https://www.facebook.com/terry.bastian2/posts/pfbid02TmMCjBw83Uu1mCkPwJtxpZUusbJuyGJooXvS6Pi8uuj2nE72PYKhugZRM1jxLbbsl

City Agriculture - May 13, 2026

Automated hydroponic lettuce growing in China
https://x.com/volcaholic1/status/2035321762620035560

Raising shrimp indoors
https://www.agritecture.com/blog/can-controlled-environments-fix-the-worlds-favorite-seafood

Gaviotas, a long-standing sustainable village
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260331-a-1960s-green-utopia-tried-to-reinvent-the-world
Book: Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World by Alan Weisman https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/gaviotas/

The big benefits of pocket gardens
https://grist.org/cities/pocket-gardens-the-tiny-urban-oases-with-surprisingly-big-benefits/
Editorial Comment: Pocket gardens and guerrilla gardens can be powerful. There are many ways to make the cities green and even the smallest efforts help.

Feeding cities: Is it time for greater municipal intervention in food access in the United States?
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264275126002994

Dutch rain fences
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/09/rain-fences-dutch-homes-climate-resilient

Singapore’s tallest hydroponic farm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54eZGgwlcAs

A Colombian neighborhood plans for climate change
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/apr/17/rainwater-harvesting-and-eco-gardens-how-one-colombian-neighbourhood-helped-a-whole-city-plan-for-climate-change

Dune Forest - transforming a sand dune into a food forest in 7 years
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLJUsU7ieEg
Editorial Comment: A desert permaculture installation from a couple of decades ago
https://solarray.blogspot.com/2007/06/you-can-fix-all-worlds-problems-in.html

Largest agrivoltaic trial in the world
https://www.tse.energy/en/group/experimentation

Dubai center growing “future-proof” food in the desert
https://www.agritecture.com/blog/2021/9/2/this-center-in-dubai-is-growing-future-proof-food-in-the-desert

Agri-Energy: Growing Power, Growing Food by Rebekah Pierce
https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9781642833713/agri-energy

City Agriculture - March 21, 2026

SolaRoof Greenhouse/Shelter in Action
https://pyrapod.com/

Vietnamese self-irrigating vertical farming towers
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/m-k-harikumar-ba7a5a60_vertical-self-sustaining-and-quietly-efficient-activity-7420487869024243712-lMI9/

Angels of the Sertão - ecological restoration in Brazil
https://www.ecosystemrestorationcommunities.org/2025/10/13/angels-of-backlands-how-traditional-knowledge-is-saving-forgotten-lands/
hat tip to https://circle.4ward.earth

Ecosystem Restoration Communities
https://www.ecosystemrestorationcommunities.org/

Vertical agriculture in Barbados
https://www.hortidaily.com/article/9781359/we-are-training-local-farmers-and-schools-bringing-vertical-farming-technology-into-education/
hat tip to https://www.agritecture.com/blog/transforming-caribbean-food-security-through-controlled-environment-agritecture

What happens when a neighborhood is built around a farm
https://grist.org/cities/what-happens-when-a-neighborhood-is-built-around-a-farm/

Nurturing Food Justice: Expansive and Intersectional VisionsOpen Access Edited by Alison Hope Alkon, Julian Agyeman
https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-edited-volume/6088/Nurturing-Food-JusticeExpansive-and-Intersectional

The Important Role That Black Communities Play In Addressing Climate Change
https://cleantechnica.com/2026/02/23/the-important-role-that-black-communities-play-in-addressing-climate-change/

Regenerative Food Systems in Times of Collapse
https://substack.com/home/post/p-188490371

Hydroponics in Antarctica
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-28/antarctic-garden-yields-big-haul-of-fresh-produce/106385768
hat tip to https://slrpnk.net/

Farm to table in Atlanta, GA
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0n63c5m/why-farm-to-table-isn-t-just-a-trend-in-atlanta

Growing bananas in the world’s largest urban forest
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/mar/20/agriculture-of-life-the-rio-families-growing-bananas-to-protect-the-worlds-largest-urban-forest

City Agriculture - January 20, 2026

Cows may safely graze under solar?
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/02112025/cattle-solar-grazing/
or https://archive.ph/6GBJ7

American Solar Grazing Association
https://solargrazing.org/

USAmerican Agrivoltaic Census Report
https://openei.org/wiki/InSPIRE/Agrivoltaics_Map
Solar Grazing Census Report
https://solargrazing.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ASGA-CensusReport2024.pdf

How urban farms can make cities more livable and help feed America
https://grist.org/cities/how-urban-farms-can-make-cities-more-livable-and-help-feed-america/

Italy is funding 2 GW of agrivoltaics integrating solar energy production with agriculture
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/11/12/italy-awards-2-5-gw-in-first-agrivoltaic-tender-backed-by-eu-funds/

UK plans a “forest city"
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/23/how-ambitious-forest-city-plan-for-england-could-become-a-reality

Floating islands for Copenhagen’s harbor
https://www.dezeen.com/2020/04/15/marshall-blecher-studio-fokstrot-floating-copenhagen-islands/

How climate breakdown is putting the world’s food in peril – in maps and charts
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2025/dec/18/how-climate-breakdown-is-putting-the-worlds-food-in-peril-in-maps-and-charts

Legal rights for Amazonian bees, a foundational species
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/dec/29/stingless-bees-from-the-amazon-granted-legal-rights-in-world-first

Dutch engineers develop bricks which grow moss to absorb CO2, encourage the proliferation of biodiversity, and provide good insulation
https://ioplus.nl/en/posts/auke-bleij-wants-cities-to-breathe-through-moss-covered-facades

Planning program to optimize agrivoltaics migrates from research to commerce
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/12/29/agrivoltaic-company-okovate-acquires-stanford-university-carnegie-mellon-tech-startup/

Drones can plant 100,000 mangroves in one day and, perhaps, reseed sea grass beds (up to 35x the CO2 uptake of trees) and coral reefs
https://cleantechnica.com/2026/01/05/100000-mangrove-trees-planted-in-one-day/

City Agriculture - November 6, 2025

Food forests are everything: creating edible landscapes helps nature thrive in Afro-descendant lands
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/sep/23/environment-biodiversity-afro-descendants-latin-america-food-forests-aoe

Sky gardens in Fujian Province, China
https://x.com/ShangguanJiewen/status/1971522638615871743

The EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy, sustainable, and just food systems
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)01201-2/abstract
https://eatforum.org/update/eat-lancet-commission-warns-food-systems-breach-planetary-limits/

Solar glass with quantum dots increases lettuce crop yields almost 40%
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/10/07/new-solar-glass-cranks-up-lettuce-crop-yields-by-almost-40/

Charles River floating wetlands for water purification
https://thecharles.org/floating-wetlands/
previously: City Agriculture - September 6, 2019
Charles River Floating Wetland
Then again,
Water Authority Considers Proposal to Let Sewage Keep Flowing Into the Charles River - October 2025
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/10/30/charles-mwra-sewage-proposal/

Editorial Comment: John Todd’s Healing Earth is a great introduction to ecology systems building:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/576932/healing-earth-by-john-todd/9781623172985/
My review of the book: https://solarray.blogspot.com/2019/03/healing-earth-through-waters.html
Previously, August 9, 2016
Handy-pods: wetland plants to filter human waste in floating villages
https://wetlandswork.com/products-and-services/sanitation-in-challenging-environments/handy-pods/
Cambodian floating toilets
https://inhabitat.com/floating-toilets-filter-human-waste-in-cambodia-naturally-via-wetland-plants/

Can cities become self-reliant in food? The Cleveland Study from 2012 Scenario I (of III) uses 80% of every vacant lot to generate 22% - 48% of Cleveland’s demand for fresh produce (vegetables and fruits), 25% of both poultry and shell eggs, and 100% of honey
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264275111000692
hat tip Michael Bauwens and John Thackara

Planning for Agriculture in Virginia from Farmland Trust, a state or province level model
https://farmland.org/va-planning-for-ag

China solar company GCL scaling up agrivoltaics with tunable and bi-facial solar panels
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/10/17/china-is-totally-crushing-trumps-fossil-fuel-dream-with-agrivoltaics/

Not a cornfield - remedial agriculture art project in LA from 20 years ago and its echoes
https://metabolicstudio.org/not-a-cornfield
https://www.pbs.org/video/lauren-bon-restores-urban-land-with-la-river-water-4fpwp0/

A Portable Nutrient-recovering, Waterless, Unisex Urinal System - from Earle Barnhart and Hilde Maingay, two from the old New Alchemy Institute from back in the day
https://newalchemists.net/welcome-to-nutrient-recycling/cubies/
Others from New Alchemy who are still active include John Todd whose latest story at https://oceanarks.substack.com/ is about how solving problems sometimes upsets the status quo
and Bill McLarney who is continuing over 40 years of work in Costa Rica with ANAI:
http://www.anaicostarica.org/

How 70,000 African farmers use a public blockchain to manage their agricultural cooperatives
https://medium.com/@Blockchain4Good/how-do-70-000-african-farmers-use-a-public-blockchain-to-manage-their-agricultural-cooperatives-d495ae463c4d hat tip to Michel Bauwens

Ukrainian rewilding project offers recovery for the land and for veterans of war https://theconversation.com/ukraines-massive-nature-project-is-helping-veterans-and-land-recover-268343

City Agriculture - September 19, 2025

Matching preferred light frequencies to plants under solar panels at NREL [National Renewable Energy Laboratory]
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/06/18/solar-panels-give-edge-to-tomatoes-grown-underneath/

A vertical forest tower in Utrecht
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2025/jun/23/vertical-forest-tower-utrecht-netherlands

From vacuum cleaners to strawberries - Dyson Agriculture
https://www.core77.com/posts/137666/James-Dyson-is-Revolutionizing-Sustainable-Agriculture

Urban gardens in Sweden
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/well/sweden-urban-gardens.html
If you hit a paywall, try https://archive.md/JbCqd

In the Sweltering Southwest, Planting Solar Panels in Farmland Can Help Both Photovoltaics and Crops
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/10072025/agrivoltaic-solar-southwest-farmland/
hat tip: @redbilledchough.bsky.social

Clear solar power “windows” now being adapted to greenhouse food production:
“During the 2024 grow season, nine different plant species, including beans, leafy greens, tomatoes, and snow peas, saw growth yields increase by up to 93% in rooms fitted with ClearVue’s solar glass compared to regular glass” while producing 40% of the energy needed to power the greenhouse itself
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/07/14/clearvue-update/
Earlier: https://cleantechnica.com/2023/06/23/clearvue-its-solar-glass-come-home/
https://cleantechnica.com/2024/10/06/its-happening-see-through-solar-windows-kick-fossil-energy-to-the-curb/
Company website: https://www.clearvuepv.com/

Micro-forests of Elizabeth NJ - Miyawaki forests
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/climate/new-jersey-tiny-forests.html
If you hit a pay wall try https://archive.md/EFtTp

Vertical farms from concept to reality
https://www.agritecture.com/blog/from-concept-to-reality-rethinking-vertical-farms-as-urban-infrastructure

Mycorrhizal fungi and restoring the world’s forests
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/15/biology-mycorrhizal-fungi-map-restoring-world-forests
Editorial Comment: May be important to urban and Miyawaki forests too

City food forests offer a chance to experience nature — and eat it
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2025/08/19/food-forest-fruit-wildlife-nature/
If you hit a paywall, try https://archive.md/oUzyB

AgTech for Agroecology - lecture/video/transcripts
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2025-07-01/agtech-for-agroecology/

Miyawaki forests in Scotland
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250910-the-tiny-forests-that-thrive-in-cities

Brazilian favela goes green with gardens
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250821-why-a-brazilian-favela-facing-eviction-went-green-with-gardening

City Agriculture - June 19, 2025

In Kenya, a law against sharing indigenous seeds and a village choir raising their voices against it https://globalvoices.org/2025/05/10/kenya-outlawed-the-sharing-of-indigenous-seeds-an-village-choir-is-fighting-back/

HS student creates an app for an online farmers' market https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/local/high-school-student-creates-an-online-farmers-market-with-app/69-dea24a69-9172-46e4-aaaa-b23822098006

Vertical farms in cities to alleviate food insecurity https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/05/13/food-insecurity-vertical-farms-startups-cities If you hit a paywall, try https://archive.ph/zOMxS

Schools planting green spaces https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/16/la-schools-green-spaces

Lorain, OH [population 65,000] is beginning a "comprehensive initiative to turn underutilized spaces into thriving centers of food production, education, and opportunity” with the help of a USDA grant https://www.agritecture.com/blog/urban-farming-lorains-next-frontier-for-innovation-and-growth

LA’s Front Lawn Farm Movement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We1qoSDfUJE

Inside Africa's Food Forest Mega-Project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbBdIG--b58 hat tip to https://cleantechnica.com/2025/05/23/maybe-theres-hope-for-a-hopeless-time/

Gasometer tower to hydroponic production - from relic technology to a future https://www.agritecture.com/blog/reclaiming-the-industrial-past-for-a-greener-future-jabha-biotower-nam-earns-international-recognition

Indigenous ancient lagoon water management system of Ecuador https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jun/13/ecuador-indigenous-map-pre-inca-myths-ancient-lagoon-water-drought-

New advances in growing spirulina algae in vertical farms https://cleantechnica.com/2025/06/18/a-new-wave-of-algae-is-perking-up-the-vertical-farming-industry/

Food Twin Map - Discover where food is produced and how it travels around the world by selecting any region. https://foodtwin.theplotline.org/
Explanatory article https://grist.org/food-and-agriculture/a-new-app-details-where-your-food-comes-from-and-just-how-fragile-the-global-food-system-really-is/

Respyre - bioreceptive concrete cladding and a specialised moss gel making it easy to create green facades that purify the air, sequester carbon, and cool buildings
https://www.gorespyre.com/