Urban Agriculture in Public Space : Planning and Designing for Human Flourishing in Northern European Cities and Beyond

Abstract

This open access book discusses urban agriculture initiatives integrated in public space of dense inner-city neighbourhoods, thereby ensuring its accessibility for large and diverse segments of urban populations. It specifically focuses on the potential impacts of urban agriculture on human well-being (both on individual and community levels), and how planning, design, policy and management practices can maximize these impacts. The book addresses urban agriculture on both a micro and macro scale to facilitate a transition to more sustainable lifestyles and enhance the quality of urban life. It also discusses ways to permanently integrate urban agriculture in existing and planned public spaces in a visually attractive, socially inclusive, and democratic manner to claim and reclaim the right to the city. Based on the research outcomes of the project “Cultivating Public Space: urban agriculture as a basis for human flourishing and sustainability transition in Norwegian cities” funded by the Research Council of Norway, the book emerges from a Norwegian context, but extends to include international urban agriculture cases from the Netherlands, Denmark, the UK and more. By including a diversity of voices and cultural perspectives, the editors aimed to make this book engaging and relevant to an international audience of researchers, policy makers, urban designers, planners, educators, community activists, residents, and public space users of the sustainable, compact city of today and the future.