A just-released Penn State publication, “Guide to Urban Soil Management for Gardening, Farming, Horticultural Placements, and Green Infrastructure,” provides a comprehensive, science-based framework for assessing, testing and managing soils in urban environments to support safe, productive and sustainable land use.
Urban soils are highly variable systems shaped by past and present human activities, including construction, industrial use, transportation and landscaping, according to the guide’s first author, Patrick Drohan, professor of pedology in the College of Agricultural Sciences. As a result, he noted, they often contain mixed materials, altered physical properties and potential contaminants such as heavy metals or residual chemicals.
“The goal of this guide is to help people make informed, practical decisions before they begin gardening, farming or installing green infrastructure in urban spaces,” he said. “Urban soils can be incredibly variable. Some are relatively undisturbed, while others reflect decades of construction, demolition, traffic, industrial use, older housing, fill material or past agricultural activity. We wanted to give readers a way to slow down, look carefully at a site’s history and conditions, and then decide what kinds of soil testing or management steps are appropriate.”
The guide emphasizes that understanding this variability is essential for making informed decisions about urban gardening, farming and green infrastructure applications. It highlights the importance of consulting historical records, engaging community knowledge and recognizing high-risk land uses such as industrial sites, former orchards or areas near heavy traffic. A structured, step-by-step approach helps users select appropriate sites while minimizing risks to human health and environmental quality.
One of the main messages the authors wanted to convey in the guide, Drohan pointed out, is that urban soils are not automatically unsafe, but they should not be treated as unknown blank slates either.
Source : psu.edu