Urban agriculture (UA) is nowadays an important component of sustainable urban development. There are many types of urban agricultural activities that differ based on the intention and scale, the outputs generated, organisational forms and the people involved. Urban farming (UF) is performed by professionals with the aim of producing substantial amounts of food in modern cultivation systems under controlled environmental conditions in vertical indoor farms or rooftop greenhouses. On the contrary, urban gardening (UG) initiatives often use vacant urban spaces for the cultivation of diverse food crops and ornamental plants in self-made raised beds, boxes and containers. These gardening activities aim at the formation of communities that re-shape their neighbourhood, while sharing tools, knowledge and the produce. These groups support a healthy and sustainable lifestyle and often advocate for these topics on political level. Both types of UA are important for the bioeconomy as they serve multiple purposes. UF uses new areas and resource-efficient production methods to increase the biomass production, create new local value chains and business models. Diverse community gardens deliver a wide range of ecosystem services, such as city climate improvement, nutrient recycling from organic wastes, water retention, while supporting human health and social cohesion. Awareness is raised among consumers about fresh, healthy food, including the way of production, while bringing nature with its valuable ecosystem services (back) into cities. Various examples illustrate the diverse forms of urban agriculture as an important bioeconomy approach at the end of this chapter.

错误:搜索内容不能为空,请输入英文关键词
错误:关键词超出字数限制,请精简
高级检索

Urban Agriculture

  • Bastian Winkler

摘要

Urban agriculture (UA) is nowadays an important component of sustainable urban development. There are many types of urban agricultural activities that differ based on the intention and scale, the outputs generated, organisational forms and the people involved. Urban farming (UF) is performed by professionals with the aim of producing substantial amounts of food in modern cultivation systems under controlled environmental conditions in vertical indoor farms or rooftop greenhouses. On the contrary, urban gardening (UG) initiatives often use vacant urban spaces for the cultivation of diverse food crops and ornamental plants in self-made raised beds, boxes and containers. These gardening activities aim at the formation of communities that re-shape their neighbourhood, while sharing tools, knowledge and the produce. These groups support a healthy and sustainable lifestyle and often advocate for these topics on political level. Both types of UA are important for the bioeconomy as they serve multiple purposes. UF uses new areas and resource-efficient production methods to increase the biomass production, create new local value chains and business models. Diverse community gardens deliver a wide range of ecosystem services, such as city climate improvement, nutrient recycling from organic wastes, water retention, while supporting human health and social cohesion. Awareness is raised among consumers about fresh, healthy food, including the way of production, while bringing nature with its valuable ecosystem services (back) into cities. Various examples illustrate the diverse forms of urban agriculture as an important bioeconomy approach at the end of this chapter.