Patrick Henn and John Henning

In: UA Magazine 5 - Methodologies for UA research, policy development, planning and implementation

Despite widely known benefits, urban agriculture is often marginalised in urban planning, considered a temporary activity and inconsistent with the idea of a modern city. It occupies space where, it is argued, more economically valuable development could take place. This last argument is probably valid if the market value of the output of UA is compared to, say, a commercial development. But, it is less clear cut if we include the non-market benefits of UA. This inclusion of non-market benefits is the basis of a form of cost-benefit analysis that has emerged in the past decade. While measuring the monetary value of market goods is relatively straightforward, valuing non-market benefits is more of a challenge.