Journal of Geoscience and Eco Agricultural Studies

Abstract

Over the last two decades, urban gardening and urban agriculture have established some links and contributed to sustainable and alternative urban lifestyles. In addition to their productive ideas, these initiatives promote democratic understanding, integration and social action, as well as creating biodiverse and ecologically beneficial spaces. These movements have led to greater reflection on responsible food consumption, taking into account production conditions, food quality, food- and biodiversity and transport.

A spatial link between food and the landscapes in which it is produced is in some ways obvious, especially when thinking about regional supply and closed cycles of energy and matter, but it has not yet been addressed much in landscape architecture.

However, the establishment of closer ties between cities and their agri-productive surroundings holds considerable potential for the enhancement of ecological and economic synergies. One of the resulting benefits may be the establishment of trust, transparency and experience, aspects that are vital to food and inherent in the landscape.

The author joined a series of projects at intersection of research and practice over the last 15 years which investigate and develop strategies at the threshold of urban life and agricultural production. The projects and findings of this transdisciplinary and research-based practice contribute to three key aspects to different extents.

Subsistence – the degree of agricultural productivity accounting to self-sufficiency. Resilience – supporting local sustainable lifestyles and fostering identity based on regional cultures Circularity – establishing regional cycles of harvest, energy and productive matter as well as workforce and knowledge across the border of rural and urban environments.