Commercial urban agriculture: A review for sustainable development

•Commercial urban agriculture is configured as an attractive option of sustainable agriculture for cities.•The panorama has been positive for the local production of a range of nutritionally adequate foods.•Economic reasons as significant drivers of the development of urban agriculture. Ensuring food security, improving sustainability, and, at the same time, demonstrating the widely perceived economic value are challenges presented by commercial urban agriculture. This article explores the economic, social, and environmental factors that contribute to commercial urban agriculture as a response to sustainable development. Therefore, using text mining, a scientific survey of information was carried out to verify the predominant approaches in the literature. The economic causes are the main drivers of the activity, especially when related to the generation of employment and income, minimization of costs along the supply chain, and the proximity of the local market to the consumer. Investigations on environmental sustainability have shown significant growth in recent years, as commercial urban agriculture contributes to changes in the interactions of the urban environment, especially for land use, ecosystem conservation, biodiversity, climate improvement, and urban landscape. There is also evidence of a positive outlook on the future of urban agriculture characterized as an indispensable activity for the local production of sustainable food, which tends to minimize the pressures on conventional agriculture and contribute to facing global challenges.