Agricultural Urbanism
AU Basics
Why AU?
The next century will require a new approach to food in North American cities. The continued growth of cities combined with the significant need to increase the sustainability of the food systems in cities and in their surrounding regions creates converging forces. These forces are colliding everywhere and agriculture and the food system is losing. This is not sustainable and as such, we need to find a way to integrate urban development and the food system in a healthy way.
Sustainable community planning is a high priority for many cities however, planning for sustainable food systems is generally not addressed. Creating sustainable cities demands an aggressive and integrated approach to merging urbanism and sustainable food systems. Agricultural urbanism draws together a philosophy, principles, practices, design ideas and management strategies into a coordinated approach to sustainable cities and sustainable food systems.
There is a clear need for a new approach in city building that considers and re-invites food and agriculture back into our metropolitan areas. Whereas:
- Increasing population growth is forcing low-density development to occur on the edges of cities, which continues to erode farmland and increase infrastructure costs for local government.
- Most cities in North America do not have legislative controls to protect agricultural land around cities.
- While infill and intensification are CRITICAL strategies to undertake to absorb growth, it is unlikely that they will be able to keep-up to growth pressures being felt in many cities.
- We need to re-build a, energy efficient- healthy food system, stimulate local food economies, and train a new generation of farmers.
- There is significant potential to use and regulate the development investment in building new communities to endow the food and agriculture industry.
- This points to the need for a new relationship between agriculture and development planning not only for the areas where city meets agricultural lands but for the full spectrum of places from urban to rural.
The next century will require a new approach to food in North American cities. The continued growth of cities combined with the significant need to increase the sustainability of the food systems in cities and in their surrounding regions creates converging forces. These forces are colliding everywhere and agriculture and the food system is losing. This is not sustainable and as such, we need to find a way to integrate urban development and the food system in a healthy way.