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Urban Agriculture as a Productive Green Infrastructure for Environmental and Social Well-Being

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Greening Cities

Part of the book series: Advances in 21st Century Human Settlements ((ACHS))

Abstract

Urban agricultural (UA) systems appear in many forms, from community farms and rooftop gardens to edible landscaping and urban orchards. They can be productive features of cities, providing important environmental and social services that benefit and support urban communities. These benefits include the provision of high levels of biodiversity and ecosystem services that contribute to urban nature and environmental processes as well as a range of social benefits, such as food and nutrition, cultural resources and recreational benefits. However, there are a number of challenges that prevent UA from expanding despite various acknowledged benefits. Increasing competition for space and environmental constraints often limits the ability to establish UA systems in many city areas, and negative spillover from UA to urban areas can create hazards to the natural environment and the local community. Further expansion and development of UA as a productive green infrastructure will require win-win strategies that maximize environmental and social benefits while taking advantage of vacant or under-utilized pockets of urban land.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO Land & Water, Aspendale, VIC, Australia

    Brenda B. Lin

  2. Environmental Studies Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA

    Stacy M. Philpott

  3. University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Shalene Jha

  4. Reed College, Portland, OR, USA

    Heidi Liere

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  1. Brenda B. Lin
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Correspondence to Brenda B. Lin .

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  1. National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Puay Yok Tan

  2. The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Chi Yung Jim

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Lin, B.B., Philpott, S.M., Jha, S., Liere, H. (2017). Urban Agriculture as a Productive Green Infrastructure for Environmental and Social Well-Being. In: Tan, P., Jim, C. (eds) Greening Cities. Advances in 21st Century Human Settlements. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4113-6_8

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