Rapid urbanization and changes in land use have created increasing challenges for food security, natural resource management, and environmental sustainability in cities. Urban agriculture can contribute to addressing these challenges by supporting local food production and providing economic, social, and environmental benefits. However, its development is influenced by a combination of driving and restraining forces, including environmental, infrastructural, economic, social, institutional, technological, legal, and accessibility-related factors. Identifying these forces and examining their relative balance can provide a basis for developing context-specific strategies. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the driving and restraining forces affecting urban agriculture development in Rasht and to propose appropriate implementation strategies using Force Field Analysis.
Materials and Methods
This study was conducted using a qualitative-quantitative approach and the Force Field Analysis framework. The study population consisted of three groups of experts: university faculty members in relevant fields, executive experts and managers of governmental organizations, and urban farmers. Data were collected in 2025 through semi-structured interviews with 15 experts selected using purposive and snowball sampling. The intensity of the identified driving and restraining forces was evaluated by the experts, and descriptive indicators, including mean and standard deviation, were calculated. The forces were classified into seven main axes: environmental-climatic, technical-infrastructural, economic-market, socio-cultural, institutional-governance, technological-legal, and resources-accessibility. For each axis, the total mean of driving and restraining forces was compared and the corresponding gap and equilibrium point were calculated.
In addition, eight implementation strategies were evaluated by the experts in terms of effectiveness and controllability. The additive effect of each strategy was calculated by multiplying its effectiveness and controllability coefficients, and its relative efficiency was obtained from its share of the total additive effects. The resulting effects were then incorporated into the relevant forces to construct computational scenarios for the seven axes. It should be emphasized that the values presented for the strategy scenarios represent computational simulations based on expert assessments and are not measurements obtained after actual implementation or from a second questionnaire.
Research Findings
The results showed that the total mean of driving forces was 140.44, whereas the total mean of restraining forces was 133.89, resulting in a positive gap of 6.55 units. The environmental-climatic, economic-market, and technological-legal axes showed positive gaps, indicating that driving forces exceeded restraining forces in these dimensions. In contrast, the institutional-governance axis had a negative gap of 7.00 units and represented the most pronounced institutional constraint to urban agriculture development. The technical-infrastructural and socio-cultural axes also showed negative gaps and were therefore characterized by a relatively fragile balance between driving and restraining forces.
The findings further indicated that institutional factors, including weaknesses in incentive mechanisms, limitations in monitoring and standard-setting systems, and fragmentation among relevant organizations, constitute important barriers to the development of urban agriculture. At the same time, the environmental and climatic conditions, economic-market capacities, and technological and legal capacities provide important supporting conditions for its development.
The computational scenario analysis showed that the application of the proposed strategies could improve the balance between driving and restraining forces across the study axes. In particular, the results indicated a reduction in the negative gap in the institutional-governance axis and an improvement in the balance of the technical-infrastructural axis. These results represent scenario-based estimates derived from expert evaluations and should therefore not be interpreted as empirical evidence of the actual effects of policy implementation.
Conclusion
The findings indicate that urban agriculture development in Rasht is supported by considerable environmental-climatic, economic-market, and technological-legal capacities, while institutional-governance constraints constitute an important limiting factor. The results suggest that development strategies should focus on strengthening inter-sectoral coordination, improving incentive mechanisms, establishing appropriate local standards and monitoring systems, and enhancing citizens' knowledge and capabilities through practical training. The proposed strategies provide a framework for policy and planning interventions; however, their actual effectiveness should be evaluated through subsequent pilot implementation and empirical before-and-after assessments. Such evaluations can help determine the extent to which the identified strategies can contribute to sustainable urban agriculture development under the specific conditions of Rasht. |