To be fair, city development and food production have always been linked, but our cities keep growing and increasing in population, and those numbers will continue escalating.

Nowadays, urban agriculture is a theme in every politician’s agenda, and it also has gathered more fans. Another concept, such as urban vegetable gardens, has become a dear topic to big city inhabitants, because people want to do gardening and to grow their vegetables, and having food in close proximity is becoming critical in the XXI century.

In the first industrial cities, such as London, urban agriculture has quickly become a social reformation tool. It is now also linked to the notion of self-sustainability.

Those who are more skeptical may discuss the disadvantages, or think just like Le Corbusier, that the last thing any city worker wants at the end of the day is to plant seeds to grow a couple of tomatoes, in his own words “growing your food is labour, not pleasure”.
So, how is it that urban agriculture is so present in our daily lives, and why do we have more and more urban vegetable gardens?

FAO itself refers the advantages of this kind of agriculture:
Vegetables have a short production span; some may be harvested up to 60 days after being planted, making them more apt for urban agriculture.

Garden parcels may be up to 15 times more productive than rural property. A one square metre area may supply around 20kg of food per year.

Urban Horticulturists spend less in transport, packaging and shipping, and they may sell directly to consumers through small street food stands, marketplace stalls, decreasing the need for intermediaries.

The company Gotham Greens sells salad it produces on its New York and Chicago rooftops, in their hydroponic greenhouses. Products are then shipped to restaurants and shops nearby shortly after being harvested. This translates into fresher produce, less spoiled, and releases less emissions in terms of transportation when compared to what similar rural operations require – besides, the clients are happier for being part of a local network.

Studies have been developed regarding the impact of urban agriculture, proving that the despite need for water where its demand is high, and the energy spent for lighting and temperature control for instance, urban agriculture comes with higher benefits.

It doesn’t enable you to feed the world’s population, and it won’t replace traditional agriculture, but it has a lot of potential, carrying with it benefits such as serving part of the world’s population, reducing the urban heat island effect, avoiding rainwater drainage, nitrogen fixation, pest control, saving energy, and it also has proven social benefits.

The Parisculteurs movement was created in 2016, in Paris, a campaign to cover 100 hectares of roofs and walls in Paris with vegetation before 2020. The city has already approved about 75 projects, estimated to produce over 500 tons of vegetation.

Urban agriculture is getting a real break in cities like Paris. It contributes to biodiversity and towards the fight against climate change. It also allows for the creation of jobs (Parisculteurs has already created over 120 full time positions).

Urban vegetable gardens are growing in Portugal, a concept focused on social benefits and the development of recreational activities for populations, and the plot waiting lists just keep growing.
One of the examples is Olivais’ horticultural park, with 31 plots about 80 and 140 square metres, for “social” and “recreational” gardens valued at €1,6, which includes the farmers’ collective shed and access to water.

The programme Terras de Cascais is another example that intends to bring new life to natural spaces, as well as promoting urban organic agriculture. This is a great way to promote social bonding, being that it draws in people from different ages and social strata, allowing them to go back to their roots, as well as bringing back basic concepts that were lost throughout life, despite how indispensable they might be. Agriculture is ideal to teach children, for instance, which can be quite challenging to do in cities.

In what concerns contamination from cities’ atmospheric pollution, LNEC and ISA have conducted a study in 2016 which checked urban vegetable gardens in Lisbon, showing that the water did indeed have values above what is recommended, but that the produce, however, were not contaminated.

Are you brave enough to grow your own vegetables?
You can start with some pots in your balcony, they’re sure to grow some veggies.

Amália Souto de Miranda
Landscape Architect