Strawberry fields forever? Urban agriculture in developed countries: a review

Abstract

Food production in cities has long been a tradition in many countries around the world and a mainstream activity for many developed countries. While urban agriculture plays an important role in increasing food security and social well-being, it comes with significant costs and constraints. Here, we review the growth of urban agriculture throughout the developed world in order to clarify the different benefits, risks, and hindrances associated with the practice. Through this analysis, we identify the need for better understanding of the following five aspects if urban agriculture is to make a meaningful contribution to food security and social well-being in the future: (1) the impacts of continued urban sprawl and loss of peri-urban agricultural land; (2) appropriate government and institutional support at local, regional, and country levels; (3) the role of urban agriculture in self-sufficiency of cities; (4) the risks posed by pollutants from agriculture to urban ecosystems and from urban ecosystems to agriculture; and (5) the carbon footprint of urban agriculture and use of "food miles." If urban agriculture is to have a legitimate place in resolving the global food crisis as advocates claim, then it is time to take urban agriculture seriously and assess more rigorously both the positive and negative impacts, especially carbon emissions. Only then can the world's limited resources be properly allocated to the development of urban agriculture.

Contributing to food security in urban areas: differences between urban agriculture and peri-urban agriculture in the Global North

“…Whether or not to include PUA as a facet of UA has been examined in several ways. While some scholars have focused on gardens and farms in inner city areas (Howe 2002;Broadway 2009;Cohen et al 2012), others have included agricultural activities in the peri-urban areas in their research (Mougeot 2001;Pearson et al 2010; van der Schans and Wiskerke 2012; Mok et al 2014).…”

Who Cares? The Importance of Emotional Connections with Nature to Ensure Food Security and Wellbeing in Cities

“…Most literature, however, does not distinguish clearly between gardening activities and food production, which results in an apparent divide between urban agriculture and biophilia research. The multitude of benefits of urban agriculture within communities have been well established, and include fostering social interactions, educational opportunities, health and ecosystems services as well as community and economic development [40,42,[44][45][46][58][59][60][61][62][63][64]. All of these apply to green spaces as well.…”

“…More agricultural technologies such as vertical, rooftop, underground and floating farms have been established recently, however it is uncertain if these technology-driven agricultural initiatives will be economically successful and accepted socially in the long-term [92]. Even though there has been an increased interest in food production in cities, food policy and plans in most westernized countries primarily support commercial agricultural sectors in urban centers outside capitals i.e., regional cities because the majority of food-related jobs are located there [59].…”

Urban vegetable for food security in cities. A review

“…The low carbon footprint and the greater transparency of food production mirror the modern urban lifestyle and make urban agriculture particularly interesting (Specht et al 2013). However, its contribution to economy should not be underestimated (Mok et al 2014). According to Orsini et al (2013), urban agriculture represents an opportunity for improving food supply, health conditions, local economy, social integration, and environmental sustainability altogether.…”