Sustainable Urban Development through Agriculture in Shanghai, China: A Mixed Methods Research

This book explores how the development of innovative urban agricultural businesses is creating social innovation and changing the perception and behavior of urban residents, with a focus on Shanghai, China, a global city that has achieved economic growth amid rapid urbanization. Latent class analysis, cognitive map analysis, and structural equation modeling were introduced in this research to evaluate the results of a questionnaire survey of urban residents' sense of community and community garden initiatives. Qualitative analyses such as the trajectory equifinality model were applied to cases of social entrepreneurs in urban agriculture as a creative class. The analytical results revealed that urban agriculture can contribute to the quality of urban life. In addition, the results made clear that diverse strategies are implemented in urban agriculture, bringing about changes in the urban sociocultural environment, such as the interaction among social entrepreneurs and stakeholders, including urban residents and policy makers. The government should implement policies and measures that transform the socio-cultural environment, encompassing gender issues, in order to achieve the well-being of urban residents. It is extremely important for policy makers to understand residents' true needs and their diversity, and to effectively reflect them in urban planning and project implementation.