Antoaneta Yoveva and Plamen Mishev

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

Current urban planning and development in Bulgaria does not take into account the existence of urban and peri-urban agriculture. The SWAPUA project, operating in 10 cities in five CEE countries, has identified characteristics of the various types of farming and the main problems associated with urban and peri-urban farming, with an emphasis on soil and water management issues. Here, the case study of the Bulgarian city Trojan is presented.

Oleg Moldakov

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

In Russia, agricultural activities of the urban inhabitants are taking place at significant distances from their urban homes. The term "urban agriculture" refers more to agricultural activities of city dwellers than to agricultural activities within the city boundaries only. The agricultural sites, usually with a house, are called dachas and are located between 6 and 60 km from the city. This article call for the necessary inputs by NGO's and farmer organisations to improve technical know-how and improved use of the facilitating infrastructure to urban agriculture in St. Petersburg.

Joe Howe and Ian White

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

This paper presents the findings from a UK Government Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded survey examining the role played by planning in regulating urban agriculture on allotments, community gardens and city farms in metropolitan areas of the UK. Planners' attitudes to, and knowledge of, urban food production are explored; the geography of, and the agencies involved in, urban food production is detailed and an examination of the regulation of urban food production is undertaken. Despite encouraging signs of an increasing engagement with urban agriculture, planning's apparent low level of involvement remains perplexing given the significance of food to the metropolitan system.

Lena Jarlov

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

This article is a synthesis of insights from a short period of participation in a comprehensive urban planning project in Kimberley and Port Elizabeth (South Africa) in 1998 and 1999. It has been observed that the phenomenon of urban agriculture in these two cities challenges the western concepts of urban planning and reinforces the need for new models appropriate to non-industrialised cities of Africa and other developing countries. The western model assumes labour employment for the majority, travel to work and the separation of work, employment, recreation and so on. However, drawing in particular from Port Elizabeth, the South African experience is that a majority of urban inhabitants is unemployed, and the informal sector economy dominates. This means that work, recreation and housing all occur in one place. Urban agriculture is one activity in the informal sector.

Axel Drescher

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

A virtual conference on "Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture on the Policy Agenda" was jointly organised by FAO and ETC-RUAF, from August 21 - September 30, 2000. The conference was divided into three main themes: Household Food Security & Nutrition; Health & Environment; and Urban Planning. This short article revisits some issues regarding the nature of planning, the diverse opportunities for intervention and potential enhancement tools of urban and peri-urban agriculture.
The introductory and final papers, and the discussion of the e-conference can be found here (in English).

Beacon Mbiba and René van Veenhuizen

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

Formal recognition and integration of urban agriculture into urban planning and city development has hardly been changed despite an increase in presence and attention. Some countries have witnessed a reduction in prohibitive or anti-urban agriculture interventions, but the transformation of city responses from prohibitive models towards permissive or enabling ones has hardly materialised nor been formalised. The perceptions and responses to urban agriculture among actors in a certain city at any given time are not consistent. It is argued that there is a need for a flexible approach and differential targeting to further stimulate integration.

Fiona Nunan

In: UA Magazine 2 - Livestock in and around cities

A review of dairies and pig-keeping in the twin-city of Hubli-Dharwad, in the State of Karnataka, illustrates the role of livestock in household livelihood strategies in Indian cities. Small urban dairies and roaming pigs are a common sight in Hubli-Dharwad and make an important contribution to household livelihoods and urban food supplies. However, the future of livestock keeping in urban centres can be questioned, given public concerns at city and national level and recent moves by city authorities to evict pigs.

Liliana Marulanda

In: UA Magazine 1 - Maiden issue

Shanghai: trends towards specialised and capital-intensive urban agriculture.

Cai Yi-Zhang, Director of the Shanghai Modern Agriculture Development Company, Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China and Zhang Zhangen , Shanghai Modern Agriculture Development Company, Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China.

In: Growing Cities, Growing Food: Urban Agriculture on the Policy Agenda

Mexico City: the integration of urban agriculture to contain urban sprawl

Pablo Torres Lima, Luis Manuel Rodríguez Sánchez, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana-Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico and Brenda I. García Uriza Community Co-ordinator of Miravalle (COCOMI, AC),Mexico City, Mexico

In: Growing Cities, Growing Food: Urban Agriculture on the Policy Agenda