Assessment of Urban Agriculture for Evidence-Based Food Planning: A Case Study in Chengdu, China

Nan Wang,Li Zhu,Liwei Chen,Yuanhao Bing,Shulang Fei

doi:10.3390/su13063234

Abstract

Along the rapid pace of urbanization, urban agriculture is increasingly recognized as an important tool of sustainable food and nutrition supply, while contributing to the resilience and sustainability of cities from various dimensions. From a governance point of view, it is fundamental to systemically assess the urban agriculture based on local context for evidence-based food planning. In China, values of urban agriculture are being noticed in recent years, with attempts emerging to involve urban agriculture in urban planning and agriculture strategies. However, clear definition to identify the scope and holistic approaches to assess and monitor local urban agriculture are still lacking. The paper took Chengdu as the study area, to conduct a thorough assessment of the foundation, capacity, practices, functions, opportunities, and challenges of the urban agriculture locally. Building on these results, the study further developed an indicator framework tailored to Chengdu’s conditions and city objectives, for in-depth evaluation and monitoring of local urban agriculture by themes, following which a pilot in-depth assessment was conducted in Chengdu using the indicator framework. The outcome of this research for the first time provided an overall characterization of the urban agriculture in Chengdu and assessment tools tailored to urban agriculture in Chinese cities, establishing a good basis for strategic local food system planning and contributing to the formation of the Chinese paradigm in urban agriculture research.

Highlights

By 2050, it is estimated that total global population will reach 9.7 billion, 68% projected to live in urban areas [1,2]
Given the main objective of the assessment is to support urban planners and city authorities to better plan for the city’s food systems and facilitate the high-quality development vision of the city, the spatial scope of this assessment was determined within the administrative boundary of Chengdu City
Quality development vision of the city, the spatial scope of this assessment was deterof 17 mined within the administrative boundary of Chengdu City

Summary

Introduction

By 2050, it is estimated that total global population will reach 9.7 billion, 68% projected to live in urban areas [1,2]. Along the rapid urbanization process and population growth, global challenges like climate change and public health emergencies have exaggerated the risks of sustainable urban food supply potentially leading to serious social problems if not properly dealt with. In the past few decades, urban agriculture is gaining increasing attentions in academia and policy agenda, recognized as a valuable contributor to meet the food and nutrition demand of urban dwellers while bringing positive impacts to local economics, environment, social equity and culture preservation. Urban agriculture is usually practiced by the urban poor households for basic subsistence, to reduce food and nutrition insecurity and save

Methods

Results

Conclusion