Speaker
Description
Integrating health issues into planning and urban development is becoming urgent (UN-Habitat and WHO; 2023) in this context of concurrent crises and climate change. It is about understanding how to minimize the exposure of populations to risk factors (pollutants, social isolation, etc.) while maximizing exposure to protective factors (practice of physical activities, access to green spaces, food security etc.). Through its multifunctionality and diversity, urban agriculture is likely to act on several health determinants (well-being, physical activity, diversified diet, job creation) (Audate et al., 2019) by responding to major challenges (food supply, sustainable development, social cohesion) as well as climate change challenges (urban heat island, food insecurity) of contemporary cities (Pradhan et al., 2024).
This contribution aims to gain an understanding of the academic literature which explores the links between planning, health and urban agriculture. In order to do this, we undertake a systematic review of the literature based on PICO protocol (Eriksen and Frandsen, 2018) including peer-reviewed articles demonstrating that urban agriculture has one or more effects on human health or its determinants using qualitative and/or quantitative analyses. We have selected scientific articles published in English up to December 2024 and referenced by PubMed and ScienceDirect. Starting from an in-depth reading of 98 articles selected out of the 1026 identified, some findings could be addressed to planning. Almost two-thirds of the articles were published since the covid health crisis, showing how these topics have had a renewed interest. Most of the studies report case studies revealing concentration on studies set in certain geographical areas (United States and Europe) or concerning few forms of urban agriculture (family and community gardens).
Ours first results show that urban agriculture is a practice that can contribute significantly to urban sustainability and population well-being, but also lead to some risks that should not be underestimated. We observed that the risk factors (pollutants, social isolation, exclusion, etc.) and protective factors (physical activity, healthy eating) associated with urban agriculture vary according to the forms (family or shared gardens, peri-urban farms, indoor farms, etc.), the levels of influence (individuals, households, neighborhoods), the types of actors (communities, project leaders, city dwellers, socio-economic partners), the spatial scales (plots, projects, neighborhoods, territories) and temporal scales (project design, implementation, operation). Our literature review also illustrates the prominence of certain approaches and determinants of health (pollution, food supply, nature-based solution), in contrast to others subjects and population (urban agriculture mobilizations, disadvantaged groups) that are more original, but less studied (gentrification, environmental justice).
Finally, based on those results we operate a first attempt to associate the constitutive elements of urban agriculture (types, scale, actors, etc.) with the determinants of health to provide planning guidance. We will also be able to show at which scales it seems more relevant to develop policies to promote urban agriculture.
References
Audate Pierre Paul, Fernandez Melissa, Cloutier Genevieve, Lebel Alexander (2019) Scoping review of the impacts of urban agriculture on the determinants of health BMC Public Health, 19, 672
Eriksen Mette Brand, Frandsen Tove Faber (2018) The impact of patient, intervention, comparison, outcome (PICO) as a search strategy tool on literature search quality: a systematic review. J Med Libr Assoc. 106(4) pp. 420-431
Pradhan Prajal, Callaghan Max, Hu Yuanchao, et al. (2023) A systematic review highlights that there are multiple benefits of urban agriculture besides food Global Food Security, 38
UN-Habitant, WHO (2023) Integrating health in urban and territorial planning: A sourcebook for urban leaders, health and planning professionals. [Online] available at: https://unhabitat.org/integrating-health-in-urban-and-territorial-planning-a-sourcebook-for-urban-leaders-health-and
| Keywords | urban agriculture; healthier cities; health determinants; urban planning; climate change |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
