There is still a large untapped potential for scaling up urban agriculture in towns and

cities. However, to ensure the long-term success of new food growing schemes, and

maximise the multiple benefits of urban agriculture, we need to carefully evaluate

available land not only in terms of their environmental suitability, but their spatial and

social characteristics too. Where sites are less suitable for food growing, these spaces

could alternatively be used for other essential parts of the food supply chain, such as soil

formation, seedling development, food vending, and knowledge exchange. Optimizing

each space based on their environmental, spatial, and social characteristics, and linking

these seemingly disconnected spaces, will allow us to build a healthy, resilient, and

sustainable local food growing system.

This requires a new urban food growing system: one which can identify and connect

underutilized urban spaces into a cluster, with each space within the cluster optimized

to carry out a specific role in the food supply chain.

There are currently three major issues which need resolving:

•  Distribution: Currently, urban food growing occurs on relatively few sites. By

concentrating food growing activities on only a few established growing sites

(e.g., allotments, community gardens), key resources such as soil become

overworked causing declines in their availability and quality. Placing all food-

growing activities on relatively few growing sites may also limit the accessibility

and distribution of produce and green space for local communities.

•  Function: Sites designated for urban food growing tend to be used for just that:

food growing. If most spaces are used for cultivation, other key functions of the

food supply chain cannot take place. These include waste collection, composting

and soil formation, seedling germination, harvesting, food vending and

knowledge exchange.

• Connectivity: Many essential parts of the food supply chain (e.g., collecting

waste for composting, forming soil) are currently displaced to locations beyond

the city. There is an increasing demand to grow nutritious food using sustainable

and resilient land-use practices which enhance agricultural productivity,

support secure and equal access to land, improve land and soil quality, safeguard

natural resources, reduce food losses along the supply chain, and decrease waste

generation.