Peri-urban agriculture and alternative food networks in Athens: Solidarity dynamics, spatial planning challenges and institutional reforms (original) (raw)

Between the Urban and the Rural : Back to the city

2015

This doctoral thesis defines the relationship between the urban and rural in the 21st century, and focuses on food as a key component. The fact that food is, for the most part, produced in the countryside and then transported to the city has a significant influence on this very unbalanced relationship today. The main goal was to show that it is necessary to bring agriculture, urban gardening, the breeding of domestic farm animals, and beekeeping back to the city, which would have a positive affect on both the city and the countryside. All of this is already taking place at the local level, within the neighbourhoods of our cities and through the work of self-organised activities and initiatives, which have been taken up by city residents themselves. One example of this is the community garden, a new model of gardening which offers fertile ground for growing vegetables and to test various forms of co-existence, different ways of designing spaces, the creation of alternative values, an...

Crops in the city: urban gardening as a form of citizenship resilience in the Barcelona metropolitan region

This paper aims to analyse the emergence of agricultural activity in European metropolitan regions as a form of citizens' resilience in front of the crisis. In fact, agricultural activity is coming back to desindustrialized cities in various forms and under different logics. The wide label 'urban gardening' refers to a plethora of different phenomena including the recovery of empty spaces in city centres used to promote new common public spaces and to (re)learn about food production, self-consumption oriented practices, or even the creation of cooepratives in the urban context to generate employment in the agricultural sector. This paper has two aims. The first one is to provide a conceptual clarification of 'urban gardening' giving a vision of the different forms of agricultural activity in the urban context. In this sense the paper analyses different conceptions and logics behind urban gardening practices through a literature review. In second place the research wants to analyse two specific practices of urban gardening emerged in the context of the financial crisis in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area: one in the city centre and another in the peripherial area. This analysis aims to understand to what extent practices on 'urban gardening' are forms of individual and collective citizens' resilience. To do so, it will take attention, with an ethnographic perspective, to a) the historical background of agricultural practices in the city and its links with the emerging activities b)who are the promoters of these practices, what is their socio-economic situation and their objectives in terms of food production and transformation of the city; c) what discourses and knowledge on the relation between the urban and the food production lies behind these practices and d) what is the logic of collective organisation and the degree of political implication of the involved actors in the specific case studies

Jardins Urbanos: Saúde Humana, Terapia e Sustentabilidade

Revista Gestão & Sustentabilidade Ambiental, 2022

RESUMO Jardins urbanos transformam o meio ambiente, são capazes de restabelecer a biodiversidade, proporcionam mais qualidade de vida para os cidadãos. Hortas urbanas são elementos importantes que levam à sustentabilidade urbana, sendo benéficas para a saúde humana. Assim, o objetivo deste artigo é analisar os benefícios das hortas urbanas através de terapias de saúde humana na promoção da sustentabilidade. Para este fim, foi realizada uma análise bibliométrica a partir de uma pesquisa sistemática no banco de dados Scopus. Foi identificado que a pesquisa surge nos seguintes campos de conhecimento: Ciências Agrárias e Biológicas, Ciências Ambientais, Artes e Humanidades, Engenharia, Medicina, Ciências Sociais e Veterinária. Os resultados do presente trabalho indicam que esta área ainda carece de estudos mais detalhados, mas, ao mesmo tempo, existem muitos benefícios terapêuticos dos jardins urbanos em relação à qualidade de vida das pessoas de todas as idades, sejam elas idosas, deficientes ou com distúrbios psicológicos. RESUMEN Los huertos urbanos transforman el entorno, son capaces de restaurar la biodiversidad y proporcionan más calidad de vida a los ciudadanos. Los huertos urbanos son elementos importantes que conducen a la sostenibilidad urbana, siendo beneficiosos para la salud humana. Por ello, el objetivo de este trabajo es analizar los beneficios de los huertos urbanos a través de las terapias de salud humana en la promoción de la sostenibilidad. Para ello, se realizó un análisis bibliométrico a

Urban Agriculture: As a Transformation Strategy for Social Construction and Improvement of the Quality of Life in Vulnerable Communities in the Urban Area

2018

Currently, global displacements made by the inhabitants of the countryside to cities has increased mainly in developing countries, this phenomenon leads to a growth of communities that make up the urban area in vulnerable conditions, requiring more goods and services, as indicated by Clavijo (2013). For this reason, alternatives are sought to improve the quality of life in the communities, helping to maintain their identity and the customs of families. In this sense, the present work aims to publicize urban agriculture as a viable strategy that favors progress, addressing its concepts, origins and the evolution it has maintained, as well as experiences gained by countries that Implemented it and the different factors (social, economic and environmental) that Influence their development, highlighting that urban agriculture contributes to the improvement and sustainability of the most vulnerable communities in the urban area.

Traçando a transformação do panorama alimentar da Área Metropolitana de Lisboa: De iniciativas locais a políticas de planeamento futuras

CIDADES, Comunidades e Territórios, 2021

In recent years, Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA) witnessed the occurrence of various initiatives, highlighting an increasing interest and entrepreneurship in transforming the food system, at both municipal and civil society levels. As sustainability demands become increasingly global, it becomes pivotal for planning policy to understand the mechanisms through which urban actors are pioneering these new ambitions. This paper describes how global goals are being materialized by local actors and practices, insofar as their scope aims to transform this region's food system. Our work is based on a threefold objective: to characterize such initiatives; study how they're suggesting new food planning agendas in the LMA; and systematize what possible future planning policy can learn from such insights. After an introduction to the territory's planning context and research rationale, a methodological account is provided before completing with a comparing scenario, taken from a 2014 questionnaire among planning officials, with the discourses of 80 initiatives of the public and civil society sectors enquired in 2019. Finally, while using an analytical framework grounded on the recommendations of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Resources Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF), we flesh out some lessons for future planning policy aiming for long-term sustainability grounded on inter-municipal cooperation and mutual, continuous learning.