Abstract
Urban green spaces have been researched extensively for their contribution towards livable, sustainable and resilient cities. Studies illustrate increasing awareness of the multi-functional roles such spaces can fulfill in addressing urbanization pressures and associated impacts such as increasing stress on global food systems, notably by accommodating practices of urban agriculture (UA). This paper investigates the potential for UA in South Africa as a citizen-led urban greening strategy, considering potential and limitations for the increased application of UA in spatial planning. The paper provides a review of core concepts and illustrates potential and certain limitations via UA cases studies in two leading South African provinces and a review of the national policy and legislative framework pertaining to UA. Findings highlight particular issues for consideration to augment the implementation of UA in South Africa, including opportunities to draw on existing citizen-led initiatives and increasing awareness of UA among communities, authorities, non-governmental organizations and the private sector; the potential to utilize skilled and knowledgeable rural migrants; and possibilities to capitalize on a growing market for UA related opportunities to stimulate economic growth and employment creation whilst addressing food security concerns. Limitations highlighted in the paper, include many current UA initiatives not being self-sustaining and fully citizen-driven, requiring constant support and resources from multiple stakeholders; a cultural stigma attached to UA activities, hampering more uptake, especially among the youth; limited national support as no dedicated national policy on UA exists to direct the spatial planning community; and lastly, that South African spatial planners exhibit limited knowledge of UA and green infrastructure in general. The paper concludes with broad recommendations for the international planning community to advance the implementation of UA as a citizen-led urban greening strategy, drawing on the South African experience.
Highlights
Urban green spaces are widely revered in the literature for their contribution toward livable, sustainable and resilient cities, referring to amongst others, the relationship between urban livability and urban green spaces (Caspersen et al, 2006), as well as related benefits
Environmental considerations are an integral part of international spatial planning approaches and decision-making, supported by the expanded scientific understanding that urban green spaces are substantially beneficial to urban communities and cities (Anderson and Elmqvist, 2012; Cilliers, 2020) and as a result more cities across the globe are exploring urban greening initiatives (Thomas and Littlewood, 2010; Llausàs and Roe, 2012)
The first part focused on selected case studies to identify the potential of urban agriculture (UA) within the local context, drawing on citizen-led approaches, while the second part entailed a policy evaluation to highlight the potential challenges pertaining to the realization and broader application of UA in South Africa
Summary
Urban green spaces are widely revered in the literature for their contribution toward livable, sustainable and resilient cities, referring to amongst others, the relationship between urban livability and urban green spaces (Caspersen et al, 2006), as well as related benefits In this way, sustainability thinking has evolved to include broader environmental concepts including inter alia, urban greening, green infrastructure planning, nature-based solutions, and eco-engineering approaches. As such, noting that urban agriculture extends far beyond the remit of food production in urban areas (Lohrberg, 2016) and can even support high levels of biodiversity (Lin and Egerer, 2017), and presents the potential to increase the supply of fresh food to cities, support decent livelihoods, reduce waste, and create employment opportunities (De Zeeuw et al, 2007) In this sense, UA can contribute to social cohesion and inclusion and to climate change adaptation (Dubbeling et al, 2010). The paper reflects on the application of such citizen-based approaches from a South African perspective, to identify the opportunities, and challenges, of introducing UA as an urban greening tool
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