Communities

Urban Farms and Growing Communities

Urban farming has long served as  a way for distressed communities to turn blighted land into socially and economically productive community spaces—a means of stabilization illustated in Alex Kotlowitz’s report in […]

Urban farming has long served as  a way for distressed communities to turn blighted land into socially and economically productive community spaces—a means of stabilization illustated in Alex Kotlowitz’s report in Mother Jones this month. His report, supplemented by an excellent photo essay, indicates a direct correlation between urban farming and greening and crime reduction:

[U]rban farming and greening not only strengthen community bonds but also reduce violence. In 2000, Philadelphia had 54,000 vacant lots, and so the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society reclaimed 4,400 of them, mowing lands, providing upkeep, planting trees and gardens, and erecting three-foot-high fences that served no purpose other than as a kind of statement that this land now belonged to someone. The greening of these parcels (just 8 percent of the vacant land in the city) had an unexpected effect: Over the course of 10 years, it reduced shootings in the areas surrounding these renewed lots. Part of it was practical: The vacant lots had previously been hiding places for guns. 

 

The article makes its case largely through its narrative; interviewing individuals from efforts that include Chicago’s Growing Home and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. Rooflines blogger Jeremy Liu recently examined the Good Food Movement, making a strong case that the community development movement should use its talents “to serve as a catalyst” for the Good Food Movement.

The positive community effects of urban farming have been well documented, but we’d like to know more—have you seen recent research that examines the on-the-ground effects of urban farming? Tell me about it in the comment field below.

More from Shelterforce:

  • A white-whiskered white man in a blue bucket hat, pinkish-red T-shirt, and dungarees sits on a porch holding a brown-and-white dog. They are both looking off to the left at something out of frame. Behind them to the right is an evergreen, possibly juniper, tree, and way off to the left, a wire fence and some nondescript buildings.

    Porches, Pets, and the People We Grow Old With

    June 4, 2025

    Neighborhood connections and animal companions matter to aging with dignity, and how we build can support them. Here’s a human-scale proposal for aging in place.

  • A smiling black man in a cream-colored hoodie and gold do-rag is seated on the grass by a walkway. Next to him is a large flower that appears to be made of fabric or paper. Round in shape, large white petals, with a golden center.

    Poem: Art of Protest

    May 16, 2025

    Neighborhoods in many cities resist stadium development proposals. This poem reflects on a recent case in Philadelphia. 

  • Three actors in a play: a Black woman looking offstage and pointing, a Black man holding on to her other arm, and a white woman reaching toward the Black man, a coffee cup in her other hand. They're in front of some steps and behind them is a graffiti'd wall

    Clybourne Park on Stage, Housing Inequity in Real Life—A Post-Show Reflection

    April 9, 2025

    Clybourne Park—a play exploring race, real estate, and community tensions—can set the stage for discussion on the lasting impacts of housing discrimination, gentrification, and the fight for affordability. What lessons can we take from the past to shape a more just housing future?