Urban Agriculture

In this study passive air samplers (PAS) were deployed on a monthly basis at a number of sites along a south-north transect, extending 700 km north from Toronto, Ontario, characterizing an urban-agricultural-forested gradient, to investigate the spatial and temporal trends of current-use pesticides (CUPs), between spring 2003 and spring 2004. The most frequently detected CUPs were chlorpyrifos, dacthal, trifluralin, and a-endosulfan. Highest air concentrations of chlorpyrifos were observed in May, whereas a-endosulfan and dacthal peaked in July and August, reflecting differences in usage patterns. At the agricultural site, representing the source region of CUPs, chlorpyrifos air concentrations (pg m À3 ) varied from 2700 to 3.2 and a-endulsulfan from 1600 to 19. The most frequently detected legacy pesticides were the hexachlorocylcohexanes (a-HCH and g-HCH). For the forested sites, located on the Precambrian Shield, a region with limited agricultural activity, seasonal differences were less pronounced and air concentrations were observed to be much lower. For instance, air concentrations (pg m À3 ) of chlorpyrifos and a-endosulfan ranged from 7.6 to 0.3 and 50 to 2.0, respectively. By combining PAS data with trajectory air shed maps it is demonstrated that potential source-receptor relationships can be assessed. Air shed maps produced in this study indicate a potential of increased deposition of CUPs to Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

In response to rapidly changing urban conditions and planning systems that cannot reconcile speculative development with social needs, other types of urban allotments are emerging which differ from the conventional forms of the past. A number of case
studies from 11 European countries form the evidence base for the identification of new approaches to the design and implementation of allotment gardens which substantially differ from the conventional type on green land.

Urban gardens are formed by an interrelation of natural, social, and economic dynamics over time. At the interface of the urban and rural, they provide important social and psychological benefits beyond their explicit environmental and ecological value. By providing opportunities for urban farming and agricultural production, the gardens offer a rejuvenation of collectivity within communities. However , these unique characteristics also make them some of the areas most vulnerable to the irrepressible growth of urban development. Cultural conservation and social inclusion in the gardens of İstanbul have been challenged by economic development in recent decades. Hence, they provide apt examples of the hardships faced when attempting to sustain urban gardens during periods of urban growth. The present study is focused particularly on the Yedikule Urban Gardens in İstanbul, emphasizing both destruction and development in the context of physical, natural, economic, and social change. " New " planning and conservation processes are proposed, and a framework for the integration of urban farming and rural production into changing urban environments is provided with the aim of conserving cultural and productive landscapes. This concern also presents an introductory discussion for the significance of urban green commons in Turkey. Kent bahçeleri çeşitli doğal, toplumsal ve ekonomik dinamiklerin tarihsel birikimleri ve birbiriyle etkileşimleriyle biçimlenirler. Kırın ve kentin arayü-zünü oluşturan bu nadir alanlar aynı zamanda oldukça açık olan çevresel ve ekolojik değerlerinin ötesinde toplumlar ve kentler için önemli sosyal ve psikolojik faydalara sahiptir. Yarattıkları kentsel tarım ve üretim uygulamaları süreçleriyle, kentlerdeki tekdüze " kentsel " yaşam tarzına sundukları kaçış yollarıyla topluluklar arasında birlikteliği ve ortaklıkları geliştirme potansiyeli taşımaktadırlar. Bu az görünen nitelikler, kent bahçelerini aynı zamanda kentlerin korunması en zor ve en hassas alt birimlerinden kılmaktadır. Nitekim son zamanlarda önüne geçilemez hale gelen kentsel bü-yüme kent bahçeleri ve insanlar arasındaki ilişkiyi tehdit etmektedir. İstanbul'daki kent bahçeleri de son yıllarda kültürel koruma, ekonomik büyüme ve sosyal katılım gibi konularda çeşitli çelişkilerle yüzleşmektedir. Bu sebeple, yukarıda bahsi geçen kentsel büyüme gerçeği ve korumada yaşanan zorluklara uygun bir örnek teşkil ederler. Bu çalışma özelinde İstanbul'daki önemli kent bahçelerinden olan Yedikule Bostanları'nda gerçekleşen yıkım ve gelişme kavramları, mekanda yaşanan değişimin fiziksel, doğal, ekonomik ve toplumsal bağlamları içerisinde değerlendirilmektedir. Bu çalışma yaşanan kentsel değişim ve büyüme süreçlerinde kentsel tarım, kırsal üretim ve kültürel-üretken peyzaj alanlarının eklemlenmesi adına genel bir çerçeve sunmaktadır. Bu bakış açısı Türkiye'de yeni oluşan kentsel yeşil ortaklıkların da tartışmaya açılmasını hedeflemektedir. ABSTRACT ÖZ

This paper asks to what extent urban agriculture projects based on principles of Solidarity Economics are in a position to develop new economic forms based on solidarity—rather than competition—thereby posing an alternative model to neo-liberal capitalism. It seeks to understand how solidarity economies function concretely, what motivations, interests and goals move people to establish and participate in such initiatives, and what utopias they associate with such projects. It focuses on the Swiss gardening cooperative ortoloco, which can be defined as a peri-urban organic farm organised on principles that go beyond the supply of food to embrace explicit political aims and to realise an alternative economic model. For two years of existence, ortoloco has successfully applied these principles on its economic practice, but also constantly questioned them and developed them further. Extending the diversity of products and activities, and intensifying practical and theoretical cooperation with similar projects, the activists hope to apply the tested models on an ever-broader range of economic activities and spheres of living together in general. Whilst neo-liberal policies are presented almost worldwide as natural and without alternative, these projects are living proof that other ways of thinking and acting are possible.

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This paper calls attention to the critical role of greenspaces in cities, while it overviews the many functions they provide. From a theoretical perspective, the utility function of urban greenspaces concerns multiple dimensions. Temporal, spatial and social aspects clearly need a taxonomic approach, which is also described in this study. Thus, the prominent goal of this paper is to highlight the importance of the multifunctional use of urban green areas. It is next argued that multitasking strategies may enhance the use of farmland within urban areas and that this may turn out to be a win -win situation, provided urban planners are able to understand the different motivations of local communities. These basic issues are essential in identifying and mapping out attractive developments for modern urban greenspaces.

L’agriculture urbaine a le vent en poupe, souvent au nom d’une participation au reverdissement de la ville, de la recréation de liens, entre les urbains et la productiona gricole et alimentaire, voire entre lesurbains eux-mêmes. Mais l’agriculture urbaine comporte, aussi des enjeux de santé importants, qui plaident
pour un aménagement urbain favorisant le maintien ou l’installation de cette agriculture dans des conditions environnementales saines.

With increasing urbanization and environmental degradation, urban landscapes are increasingly expected to provide a wide range of ecosystem services typically associated with rural areas, including biodiversity conservation and food production. Because residential landscapes constitute the largest single urban land use, domestic gardens have emerged as a topic of research interest and planning concern. The ecosystem services (or disservices) these landscapes provide, however, have not been rigorously measured, nor have tradeoffs between the services they provide been assessed. In this study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 59 African American, Chinese-origin or Mexican-origin households with on-lot or vacant lot food gardens in Chicago. Crop plants and cultivated ornamental plants on the lot were inventoried and mapped at the species level. A total of 123 edible plant taxa from 25 families and 288 ornamental plant species from 85 families were identified, for a combined total of 387 species from 90 families. Cumulatively, the gardens of African American households were relatively rich in ornamental plant species and families, while those of Chinese-origin households had a depauperate flora. Crop plant richness was more even across sample types. Shade trees and a developed shrub layer were absent from most gardens, possibly representing a tradeoff in ecosystem services in favor of food production. The richness of the aggregate 2.1 ha of residential property inventoried in this study was comparable with or exceeded that of a 34 ha prairie remnant west of Chicago. However, only 35 (9.6%) of the inventoried species were native to the Chicago area.

Always a part of city life, urban agriculture has recently attracted increased attention from diverse groups in the United States, which promote it as a strategy for stimulating economic development, increasing food security and access, and combatting obesity and diabetes, among other goals. Developing effective policies and programs at the city or neighborhood level demands as a first step the accurate mapping of existing urban agriculture sites. Mapping efforts in major U.S. cities have been limited in their focus and methodology. Focusing on public sites of food production, such as community gardens, they have overlooked the actual and potential contribution of private spaces, including home food gardens, to local food systems. This paper describes a case study of urban agriculture in Chicago which used the manual analysis of high-resolution aerial images in Google Earth in conjunction with ArcGIS to identify and map public and private spaces of food production. The resulting spatial dataset demonstrates that urban agriculture is an extensive land use type with wide variations in the distribution of sites across the city. Only 13% of sites reported to be community gardening projects by nongovernment organizations and government agencies were determined, through image analysis, to be sites of food production. The production area of home gardens identified by the study is almost threefold that of community gardens. Study results suggest opportunities may exist for scaling up existing production networks—including home food gardens—and enhancing community food sovereignty by leveraging local knowledges of urban
agriculture.