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Urban agriculture is not only a practice of providing food, but also a social lifestyle trend. Different approaches to practice provide the opportunity of different forms and functions, from growing products for household selfconsumption to setting up community gardens and commercial practices. Despite the international experience and the potential of urban agriculture in the sustainable development, in Latvia the practice is mostly implemented through individual or community initiatives. The development of urban agriculture in Latvia is influenced by several factors; therefore, the aim of the scientific article is to identify, classify and characterize factors affecting urban agriculture in Latvia. To achieve the aim, tasks are set: 1) to identify factors influencing urban agriculture, 2) to classify factors and characterize the impact. Several methods have been used in the study to fulfil tasks: systematic theoretical review for factor selection, coverage and characterization, methods of analysis, synthesis and deduction for identification and classification of factors, mathematical statistics correlation method for data correlation, force field analysis for the visualization of the factors impact. Results show that urban agriculture in Latvia has several obstacles - unclear status in legislation, the high cost of needed resources compared to rural areas, the increasing level of the household income. However, there are also factors that contribute to the development, such as criteria for urban greening and sustainability in the development strategies, the concentration of food-demand-driven businesses in cities, food-growing habits and positive attitudes among urban dwellers, and the potential of urban agriculture to promote environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban agriculture has a long history of evolving functions of the practice, but its place in global and national legal aspects is often still unclear. Both the United Nations and the European Union have defined goals and directions of sustainable development, identifying and including the use of resources, the principles of the circular economy, the equal development of regions and other aspects. Urban agriculture has a potential in the most of them. However, the role and legal framework of urban agriculture is largely based on national or municipal initiatives. In Latvia urban agriculture does not have a legally defined status, it is not defined in strategic development plans, nor in the laws and regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyse the legal aspects of urban agriculture in order to determine its potential institutional framework in Latvia. To achieve the goal, tasks of the research are defined: 1) to identify the main legal aspects affecting urban agriculture in Latvia, 2) to determine the potential institutional framework for urban agriculture in Latvia. The study was conducted using systematic review analysis of laws, development strategies and regulations of the Republic of Latvia. As a result of the research, the main groups of legal aspects, influencing urban agriculture, were identified (agriculture and commerce, food chain, local government and environmental development and protection, waste management) and a possible institutional framework was developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban agriculture has become increasingly topical in recent years due to both social trends and challenges of sustainable development. Although functions of the urban agriculture, especially economic and social, have been widely explored since the 1990s, the focus is mostly on regions where urban agriculture practices are strategies for survival and basic food security or on highly metropolitan cities, with little focus on countries and cities with a relatively medium or even low population density, thus excluding a significant proportion of countries and practical examples. The aim of the research is to analyse the motivation of urban agricultural practice, determining the population of Latvia as the object of the research. To achieve the aim, following tasks have been set: 1) to identify and classify the main aspects influencing the motivation of urban agriculture; 2) to analyse the motivation of urban agriculture in Latvia, to determine aspects forming it and to analyse influencing factors. To perform tasks and to achieve the aim, the monographic and descriptive method was used for the systematic theoretical review, methods of analysis, synthesis and deduction – for gathering information, identifying and classifying motivational aspects. A sociological questionnaire was developed for the analysis of the motivation of the Latvian population, based on the motivation aspects identified and classified in a result of the theoretical discussion. Results of the study prove that urban agriculture in Latvia is mostly practiced in the form of micro-agriculture for self-consumption. However, there are no dominant groups of aspects influencing the motivation - the motivation of the population with different intensity is influenced by both political and environmental, as well as social and economic aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The food growing practice is connected with Latvia's cultural-historical heritage and traditions, due to which agriculture, especially in the form of micro-farming for household self-consumption, is a developed practice in Latvia, including in cities. Trends of urban agriculture, which are characterised by inclusion in dimensions of the sustainability, develop the practice of community gardens that in Latvia are currently in the development stage. This highlights the need to evaluate the population's attitude and views on the aspects of urban agriculture in Latvia. The agricultural sector in Latvia is developed and rural regions are relatively close to urban areas, therefore, agricultural practices in cities for the realization of production can create a different, even negative attitude of society towards urban agriculture and its relevance in Latvia. Therefore, the aim of this study is the assessment of the attitude of the population in Latvia towards practices and products of urban agriculture. In order to achieve the aim, two tasks have been set: 1) to analyse the attitude of Latvia's population towards the practice of urban agriculture; 2) to analyse the population's attitude towards urban agricultural products, in the context of their food choice criteria. To fulfil the tasks, a survey of Latvia's population was conducted. In general, the population's attitude creates supportive aspects for urban agriculture in Latvia, but challenging are aspects of the attitude regarding the potential pollution of food in the urban environment, its role and performance in cities, which population do not associate with agricultural practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]