Abstract
Metropolitan areas are highly complex systems where a transition towards food security encompasses a systematic change in the whole food chain. Existing decision support tools that have been developed to inform policy-makers are mostly data-driven but hardly consider the activities and preferences of different stakeholders in the food system. The aim of this article is to contribute to urban food security by combining stakeholder participation with model-driven decision support. For this purpose, we developed and tested the Transition Support System (TSS) approach. In this TSS approach, decision support tools and participatory processes are mutually employed to promote urban food security in an ongoing, stakeholder-inclusive and reflexive process of governance. Our application of the TSS approach in two contrasting case studies highlights how this can contribute towards the development of new perspectives on urban food security, building a joint agenda towards the future and better (mutual) understanding of the issues at stake. We conclude that promoting a transition in the urban food system demands joint learning and reflexive evaluation in order to adapt governance, requiring researchers to play a supporting role in a broader process of change.
Highlights
The growth and expansion of metropolitan areas is a worldwide phenomenon
The combination of stakeholder-involvement and expert-driven decision support tools is the point of departure for the Transition Support System approach which we present below
Ambitions for promoting livable and healthy cities, and challenges for sustainable food provision in these cities are cited by policy-makers as important motives to change the current food system
Summary
An increasing percentage of the world’s population (currently 55%) is living in urban areas, and the world’s urban population is expected to surpass 6 billion people, around 68% of the global population, in 2050 [1] This growth brings important challenges for sustainable urbanization as social, environmental and economic living conditions in many urban regions are under pressure [2]. In this context, urban food security, environmental sustainability and the well-being of the urban population are seen as key factors to successful urban development [3]. The urban aspects of food security have not received much attention yet, especially in low- and middle-income countries [7,8]
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