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<p>Rapid urbanization, climate instability, land scarcity, and fragile global supply chains are transforming food security into a systems-level engineering challenge, especially in dense, import-reliant cities. This review explores how engineering-driven strategies can strengthen urban food security through an integrated framework linking sustainable production, resource-efficient processing, nutritional adequacy, and food safety. We examine three key upstream production pathways, namely controlled environment agriculture, precision fermentation, and circular bioeconomy systems, as complementary solutions for enhancing food availability under spatial and resource constraints, with attention to the energy-cost-sustainability trade-offs shaping their deployment in tropical urban systems. Resource-efficient processing, preservation, and process intensification are evaluated for their roles in improving product stability, minimizing post-harvest losses, and enhancing water and energy efficiency. Recognizing that food security extends beyond supply, we emphasize the importance of nutritional quality, techno-functional performance, digestibility, and safety as alternative proteins and novel ingredients become more prevalent. The review also highlights how New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), including advanced in vitro, in silico, and omics-based tools, can modernize food safety governance for increasingly complex food systems. Central to this work is an integrated engineering-nutrition-safety framework, connecting production systems, process optimization, nutritional design, safety-by-design, and traceability to four key food security pillars – availability, utilization, stability, and sustainability. Comparative insights from Singapore, Southeast Asia, and Latin America demonstrate that successful implementation requires region-specific adaptation to local infrastructure, climate, and regulation. Ultimately, this review argues that resilient urban food systems require coordinated, systems-based design where engineering efficiency, nutritional value, safety assessment, and sustainability function as interconnected priorities.</p>

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Engineering Food Security Under Constraint: Integrating Sustainable Production, Resource-Efficient Processing, Nutritional Adequacy, and Safety Assessment in Urban Systems

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月21日

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  • Kong Fei Chai,
  • Malsha Samarasiri,
  • Hui Kheng Lim,
  • Wei Ning Chen

摘要

Rapid urbanization, climate instability, land scarcity, and fragile global supply chains are transforming food security into a systems-level engineering challenge, especially in dense, import-reliant cities. This review explores how engineering-driven strategies can strengthen urban food security through an integrated framework linking sustainable production, resource-efficient processing, nutritional adequacy, and food safety. We examine three key upstream production pathways, namely controlled environment agriculture, precision fermentation, and circular bioeconomy systems, as complementary solutions for enhancing food availability under spatial and resource constraints, with attention to the energy-cost-sustainability trade-offs shaping their deployment in tropical urban systems. Resource-efficient processing, preservation, and process intensification are evaluated for their roles in improving product stability, minimizing post-harvest losses, and enhancing water and energy efficiency. Recognizing that food security extends beyond supply, we emphasize the importance of nutritional quality, techno-functional performance, digestibility, and safety as alternative proteins and novel ingredients become more prevalent. The review also highlights how New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), including advanced in vitro, in silico, and omics-based tools, can modernize food safety governance for increasingly complex food systems. Central to this work is an integrated engineering-nutrition-safety framework, connecting production systems, process optimization, nutritional design, safety-by-design, and traceability to four key food security pillars – availability, utilization, stability, and sustainability. Comparative insights from Singapore, Southeast Asia, and Latin America demonstrate that successful implementation requires region-specific adaptation to local infrastructure, climate, and regulation. Ultimately, this review argues that resilient urban food systems require coordinated, systems-based design where engineering efficiency, nutritional value, safety assessment, and sustainability function as interconnected priorities.