Monitoring the contribution of urban agriculture to urban sustainability: an indicator-based framework. (November 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tapia, Carlos; Randall, Linda; Wang, Shinan; Aguiar Borges, Luciane
• Is Part Of: Sustainable cities and society. Volume 74(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-11
• Subjects: Urban agriculture -- Community gardening -- Urban sustainability -- Sustainability indicators -- Multi-criteria analysis; Sustainable urban development -- Periodicals; Sustainable buildings -- Periodicals; Urban ecology (Sociology) -- Periodicals; 307.76
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2021.103130
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2210-6707

Abstract

Highlights: We present a comprehensive indicator-based sustainability evaluation framework for urban agriculture activities. ⋅ We focus on 4 enablers of urban sustainability, namely: environmental resilience and resource efficiency; food security and income generation; inclusive society, and; sustainable urban design. We operationalise the framework by means of a performance matrix including 87 indicators that can be adapted to different contexts and data situations. We apply the framework to Fællesgartneriet Brabrand, a community garden located in the city of Arhus, Denmark. Abstract: In an increasingly urbanized world, urban agriculture and community gardening are promoted as lever for sustainable urban development. Urban agriculture contributes to food security, provides health benefits for the population, fosters social inclusion and enhances perceived wellbeing. At the same time, from a planning perspective, urban agriculture also provides a valuable resource for urban regeneration. However, depending on prevalent farming practices urban agriculture may also have social and environmental externalities. While several of these aspects have been extensively tackled in the literature, others, in particular governance and planning aspects, are still unaddressed. Moreover, a comprehensive outline for the evaluation of urban agriculture performance from an urban sustainability perspective is still lacking. In this work we present a novel indicator-based evaluation framework for urban agriculture that captures the contribution of gardening practices to urban sustainability in a consistent, transparent and systematic way. We further illustrate the usability of our framework by testing it in Fællesgartneriet Brabrand, a community garden located in the city of Arhus, Denmark.