SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Urban Agriculture
Urban Food Resilience: A Bibliometric and Systematic Literature Review of Evolution, Dimensions, and Planning Integration
Provisionally accepted
- 1Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
- 2Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Beijing, China
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Urban food systems face escalating vulnerabilities from rapid urbanization, climate change, and supply chain disruptions, yet research on "urban food resilience" remains fragmented without coherent conceptual integration. This study addresses this gap through mixed methods combining bibliometric analysis (1,254 publications from Web of Science and Scopus databases, 2005-2024, with supplementary validation from Google Scholar and CNKI) and PRISMA-guided systematic review (85 high-quality articles rigorously screened from 1,421 initial records). As a conceptual framework-building study rather than intervention evaluation, prospective registration was not required. Bibliometric analysis revealed four developmental stages from embryonic (2005-2010, 33 articles) to explosive growth (2021-2024, 710 articles cumulatively), with research concentrated in Australia, Canada, and China forming two thematic clusters: "urban-planning-environment" and "food-agriculture-resilience." Systematic review identified four vulnerability dimensions: structural dependency on external supplies, supply-chain fragility, social inequality in food access, and governance fragmentation. We synthesized these into a multi-dimensional framework encompassing system, production, supply-chain, and consumption resilience across spatial scales and temporal horizons. A heuristic notation R(S,T)=f(S,T,P,E,C) structures resilience analysis with measurable indicators including emergency stock days, supplier redundancy indices, and 15-minute food access coverage. Key research gaps include validated assessment tools, cross-scale mechanisms, and policy evaluation evidence. This framework provides theoretical foundations for resilience-oriented urban planning and identifies future research priorities, with particular need for Global South investigations given current underrepresentation.
Keywords: Food system resilience, Governance Integration, resilience assessment, Supply chainvulnerability, Urban agriculture
Received: 23 Sep 2025; Accepted: 02 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gu, Guo, Cai and Xie. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jianming Cai
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