Green and Resilient Cities
Growing food in and around cities and fitting it into development.
Start here · Essential guide
An overview of urban agriculture, from community gardens to rooftop and indoor farms, with the benefits, the limits and how planners fit food growing into cities.
How much food city growing can realistically supply, who gains access to it, and why the food security claims for urban agriculture need careful limits.
How vacant or redeveloped land can host farms and gardens, why land tenure is often insecure, and what tends to happen when land values rise.
How urban renewal changes where residents can buy food and how much space remains for growing it, with benefits and risks for existing neighborhoods.
Where growing food fits in city development plans, including competition for land, soil quality, and an honest look at what urban agriculture can supply.
How renewal gardens and farms can serve as a temporary or lasting use of redevelopment land, with attention to land tenure, soil safety and planning.
How indoor stacked growing works in city buildings, why energy and cost are its main challenges, and the realistic role it may play in a city's food mix.
The community garden benefits that matter most, including social ties, skills, shared space and local identity, and the ongoing work needed to sustain them.
How urban growing can supplement household food access, what households need to benefit, and why its share of total food supply is usually small.
The environmental side of urban agriculture: stormwater, composting, shorter supply chains and land use, with cautions about overstated sustainability claims.
What food deserts are, how urban renewal can bring grocers and markets to underserved areas, and why access alone does not solve affordability.
A neighborhood-level look at how growing projects fit local development goals such as housing, jobs and open space, and how land access shapes what is possible.
A hypothetical, composite walk through the lifecycle of a community garden, from site selection and soil testing to launch, operation and long-term maintenance.
How growing projects recruit, organize and keep volunteers and gardeners involved, and how to share decisions fairly so participation lasts.
A hypothetical composite example of a community growing project struggling with volunteer turnover, and how its organizers adapt over several seasons.
What food justice means, including who controls land and food systems and who benefits from local growing, and how urban agriculture relates to it.
A hypothetical composite of a resident-led growing effort in an underserved neighborhood, and the lessons such efforts usually offer about control and benefit.
City-scale food security, including supply chains, prices and emergency resilience, with urban agriculture as one modest piece of a larger system.
How low-income urban households experience food insecurity and which growing and distribution models, such as shared plots and pantry gardens, help most.
A hypothetical example of how produce from small urban plots might reach households through shares or pantries, with checked numbers and honest limits.
A balanced look at urban agriculture, weighing its benefits against challenges like soil contamination, water access, land tenure and zoning rules.
A practical overview of urban growing methods such as raised beds, containers, rooftop planters, community plots and hydroponics, with what each suits.
What changes when small growing projects become commercial urban farms: capital, labor, markets, regulation and whether the business can be viable.
A beginner-friendly introduction to why and where people grow food in cities, from balconies and yards to community plots, rooftops and vacant lots.
The policy levers cities use to enable local food production, including zoning, land leasing, permits, water access and incentives, with their limits.
Using vacant lots for growing as a revitalization tool, with attention to risks such as temporary land use, displacement and uneven benefits.
The full chain from growing to processing, distribution, retail and waste in a city, and where urban renewal can step in to improve each link.
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