The community contributions of urban farms in Singapore

While urban farms are embedded in communities, little is known about their contributions to communities themselves, with most previous research on urban agriculture being focused on community gardens. Here we review existing literature on urban farms' community contributions and discuss a case study of three farms in Singapore. Using content analysis on 27 interviews with employees and volunteers, we found the farms to empower participants, generate social capital, provide jobs, involve marginalized groups, and promote pro-environmental behaviors. The farms were limited by poor job prospects and lower-than-expected yield. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.