Introduction to the Special Issue “A Systemic Perspective on Urban Food Supply: Assessing Different Types of Urban Agriculture”

Martina Artmann,Jan Vávra,Marius Rommel,Kathrin Specht

doi:10.3390/su13073798

Abstract

The production of food within cities through urban agriculture can be considered as a nature-based solution and is argued to be an important response to the current COVID-19 pandemic as well as to climate change and other urban challenges. However, current research on urban agriculture is still fragmented, calling for a systematic and integrative assessment of different forms of urban agriculture and the drivers and constraints for their effective realization. In this context, the Special Issue presents conceptual and empirical research articles from around the world on the impact and implementation potential of various types of urban agriculture. The studies of this Special Issue cover a broad range of impact and implementation dimensions, asssessment methods and geographical backgrounds that can support future studies to develop a systemic perspective on urban food production.

Highlights

Introduction to the SpecialIssue “A Systemic Perspective on Urban Food Supply: Assessing Different Types ofUrban Agriculture”Martina Artmann 1, *, Kathrin Specht 2,3, Jan Vávra 4,5 *Citation: Artmann, M.; Specht, K.; Vávra, J.; Rommel, M
The value of urban food production becomes increasingly visible in times of crisis, in particular, and is argued to be a crucial response to the current COVID-19 pandemic, fostering food security and access to green spaces in cities [4,5]
In addition to an open call for papers, this Special Issue is the result of various sessions on UA which took place in the course of the Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP) Europe conference 2018 in San Sebastian (Spain) focusing on “Urban agriculture and ecosystem services” [26], the IALE World Congress 2019 in Milan (Italy) discussing contributions around the topic “From urban agriculture to edible cities—challenges and chances for approaching sustainable urban socio-ecological systems” [27], and the Dresden Nexus Conference 2020 (Germany) dealing with “Urban agriculture: a systemic approach for integrated natural resource management and socio-economic benefits” [28]

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. While many of the above-mentioned types of UA are “modern” and intentional methods for achieving sustainable food systems while enabling social cohesion, traditional gardening has been common in urban areas of many countries [19] for many years Be it home [20] or allotment gardening [21,22], it often provides positive environmental benefits, since food is produced in a nature-based style [20], and positive social aspects are manifested [23]. Current research on UA is still fragmented, calling for a systematic and integrative assessment of different forms of UA to better understand diverse benefits and risks of the different types of nature-based and technology-oriented UA and their drivers and constraints for its effective realization [2] In this context, we, as the guest editors of this. Special Issue on “A Systemic Perspective on Urban Food Supply: Assessing Different Types of Urban Agriculture”, have solicited conceptual and empirical international research articles on the impact and implementation potential for various types of UA

The Special Issue and Its Core Themes

Implementing Urban Agriculture

Geographical distribution of studies presented the SpecialIssue

Impacts of Urban Agriculture

Methodological and Conceptual Implications

Concluding Remarks