Resource information
The report by the Urban Agriculture Magazine draws on numerous case studies from around the world in discussing issues of availability, access and usability of land for urban agriculture.Rapid urbanisation has lead to an increasing demand for urban agricultural land. The adequate and efficient use of the land by urban farmers is of increasing concern to planners and municipal policymakers especially.Urban agriculture takes place on-plot and off-plot, and in periurban and is limited by the amount of non-built-up space. As a result urban farming is being undertaken in marginal areas with fragile ecosystems or is being pushed to the boundaries of the city, where it is tolerated until other development ventures take over. Programmes for urban agriculture have emerged in the last five years, but existing laws have largely ignored the existence of urban agriculture or prevented its official integration into city planning. The report argues that initiatives to improve the availability of land for urban agriculture need the genuine support and facilitation of the municipality. Such action is typically hampered by the lack of awareness and adequate information so to address this the editorial calls for the creation of an inventory of available vacant open land in the city to help analysis the suitability of land for agricultural use.
