Jac Smit and Martin Bailkey

In: Cities Farming for the Future - Urban Agriculture for Green and Productive Cities

The worldwide practice of urban agriculture has shown itself to be anoften-successful model for the inclusion of different urban subcommunities into an intentional social organisation typically focused on producing the necessary resource of food. But the general value of urban agriculture as a means of achieving several other community objectives – in building community capital – is of equal significance. This chapter suggests how community capital is composed of seven dimensions, each of which is commonly addressed in some way through the practice of urban agriculture. The multi-faceted character of successful community-based urban agriculture examples is based upon the addressing of one or more of these seven dimensions to create a place-based form of grassroots community development, while also involving representatives of often-marginalised subgroups, such as women, youth and the poor.