Postgraduate Dissertation


Policy and planning implications of urban agriculture in the United Kingdom: Barriers and challenges to food production in urban spaces

Abstract

Urban agriculture (UA) holds significant importance in addressing the multifaceted challenges posed by rapid urbanisation, including food security, environmental sustainability, and social well-being. Despite its potential benefits, these practices is often not incorporated into urban planning processes. The purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to filling this gap by identifying and analysing the necessary factors for urban planning to incorporate urban agriculture in cities in order to add social, environmental, and economic value to the built environment, improving this way, its contribution to sustainable development. The document is based on a literature review of articles and case studies on sustainability, food security, resilience of urban sectors, and agriculture. A theoretical framework was developed with the seven barriers identified, including land access, funding and costs, institutional support, local food systems, technical support, skills and knowledge, difficulty in community engagement, and misuse of available data and decision-making strategy. As the identified barriers have emerged from different contexts and from a diverse group of actors, these findings foster a broad and inclusive understanding which could be translated to a range of environments and scales. The framework was analysed with nine interviews conducted with stakeholders directly involved with agriculture in the light of three case studies, all in the UK. The document presents policy recommendations to guide the incorporation of urban agriculture into urban planning in the UK.


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Authors

Aguirre Cambiaso, Camila

Contributors

Rights Holders: Aguirre Cambiaso, Camila

Oxford Brookes departments

Faculty of Technology, Design and Environment
School of the Built Environment

Degree programme

MSc Infrastructure Planning and Sustainable Development

Year

2023


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