Edible cities – An innovative nature-based solution for urban sustainability transformation? An explorative study of urban food production in German cities

Abstract

Cities are confronted with different societal challenges calling for urban sustainability transformation (UST). Nature-based solutions (NbS) can provide actions for such challenges and strive for maximizing environmental, social and economic benefits. Edible cities, which encompass different forms of urban food production (UFP) in the city, can be seen as multifunctional NbS. However, the concept of edible cities has just recently arrived in research and its understanding as potential NbS supporting UST is still fragmented. Therefore, the study created an analytical framework, which aims at identifying and prioritizing 1) challenges that edible cities can contribute in the context of UST and 2) strategies for implementing and mainstreaming the edible city in the context of urban sustainability acceleration. The study is of explorative character and encompasses interviews with key actors from three German case studies: Andernach – a German frontrunner in implementing the edible city, Haar – follower I, which implemented the concept after learning from Andernach and Munich – follower II, where the concept of edible cities was not yet implemented but a range of bottom-up activities exist to promote the topic. Results show that edible cities can be seen as NbS that can support UST in terms of social-spatial and socio-ecological transformation, in particular promoting social cohesion and human-nature and food connection. In terms of implementing and mainstreaming, the results suggest that the edible city can be taken up by different city departments due to its multifunctionality. Furthermore, a mix of motivated bottom-up initiatives and top-down authorities paired with courage and room for experimentation on the edible city is crucial for its embedding. Apart from that, network creation with different UFP initiatives as well as with other cities is an important factor for mainstreaming edible cities. Future research shall test the transferability of the analytical framework to other NbS analyzing their potential to contribute to UST.