Urban Agriculture as a Public Good: Valuing Farming and Gardening in Philadelphia and Chicago

Cities in the United States have developed urban agriculture support systems with different priorities. These reflect the often-competing values ascribed and inscribed in cities’ urban farming and gardening landscapes. The institutional structures of U.S. cities’ urban agriculture support systems vary accordingly, with significant impacts and implications for equity and justice. Some treat farming and gardening as a public good, public space, valued for their community-building, environmental, public health, and other social benefits. Others have sought to extract more economic and redevelopment gains from urban agriculture. These represent divergent, often-opposing theories of what urban agriculture can yield, and what it should be. In his early work on urban agriculture, Jerry Kaufman explored its community and economic development potential, raising questions with which planners continue to grapple. This chapter reflects on the evolution of urban agriculture planning, policy, and practice in two cities he studied intensively, Chicago and Philadelphia. It asks: How have different actors and institutions valued urban agriculture? How have those values manifested in practice? What goals and impacts can U.S. cities reasonably ask of urban farming and gardening? And how might planners and cities develop urban agriculture policies and support systems that promote greater equity and justice?