Urban agriculture potential of home gardens in residential land uses: A case study of regional City of Dubbo, Australia

Abstract

Urban agriculture in home gardens builds resilience, improves health and food security, provides ecological and environmental benefits and connects people back to nature. This research estimated total available productive land and urban agriculture potential of home gardens in ‘general residential’ and ‘low-density residential’ land use zones using a case study of a regional City of Dubbo in Australia. All the plots in six selected categories ranging from 300 m2 to 1200 m2 were spatially analysed using Census and ortho-imagery data and spatial analysis (GIS and remote sensing) methods. 601–750 m2 and 751–900 m2 subdivision categories cover nearly 40% of all residential land use zones in the City of Dubbo. Four productive land utilisation scenarios (90%, 75%, 50% and 25%) were modelled to evaluate the extent to which urban agriculture in home gardens could supply the share of resident households' annual dietary energy demand. The high utilisation scenario could support 84.3%, while the lowest utilisation scenario could meet 23.4% of the residents’ annual dietary vegetable demand. The plots in the 751–900 m2 category, with the highest productive land cover, could produce up to 1443 metric tons of vegetables annually under the lowest utilisation scenario. The potential of home gardens to grow food depends on plot sizes and configuration, onsite land cover patterns and available productive land, morphologies urban/suburban forms, and related social, cultural and economic factors. Appropriate planning policy support and considering a long term planning horizon, grants and incentives, horticulture training and skill development could immensely help in the uptake of urban agriculture in residential land uses. If productive land in millions of residential gardens put to urban agricultural uses, it could work cumulatively as an alternative local food production network.