| dc.description.abstract | Increasing interest and awareness of urban agriculture’s contribution to food access, healthy
eating, and community interaction have influenced activists and city officials to re-evaluate
this activity’s role in sustainable city planning. While information regarding the spatial extent
and socio-economic context of urban agriculture (UA) would be beneficial to city planners
and policymakers as well as local communities, these data do not currently exist for most
North American cities; moreover, the characteristics of UA sites, such as production
practices and management strategies, are virtually unknown.
This research addresses this gap through a systems-based approach to urban socio-natural
landscapes, where UA sites are viewed as a system composed of three main
components: spatial form, social process, and material metabolism. Spatial form was
determined through a geospatial analysis of UA distribution within the socio-economic
context of Houston, Texas. Both social process and material metabolism were discovered
through surveys and semi-structured interviews regarding management strategies and food
production practices for 31 UA sites. Qualitative data were analyzed in terms of UA site
objectives, access rules, decision making, labor, harvest destination, and challenges. The
interconnectedness between UA site objectives and site access was found to influence
decision-making strategies, division of labor, and destination of the harvest. Variations in
these characteristics indicate numerous circumstances in which UA sites produce food. All
UA sites surveyed face challenges such as access to consistent and committed participants,
an affordable water source, a safe and secure site, and funding. | en |
