Food systems lie at the intersection of sustainability, food security, and climate change. In Western societies, consumption patterns have a significant environmental footprint, yet only a small proportion of consumers prioritize seasonal and locally produced food. Urban areas are more susceptible to food insecurity, with certain populations facing greater challenges in accessing healthier and...
Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of our time, with scientists and experts emphasizing the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, given the already devastating effects caused by global warming to our planet (IPCC, 2023). Food systems are increasingly recognized as major contributors to global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, with food production alone...
Despite its profound implications for sustainability and public health, food planning emerged as a distinct area of focus only in the early 2000s (Pothukuchi and Kaufman, 2000). Existing studies predominantly address the spatial perspective of foodscapes such as retail outlets (e.g., supermarkets, restaurants, and fast food) and their health implications (Mejean and Recchia, 2022). However,...
The pressures on globalised, tertiarised, and privatised food systems are intensifying within a context of escalating environmental, socio-economic, and political tensions as planetary boundaries are exceeded. These systems face criticism regarding environmental issues (environmental pollution, soil erosion, biodiversity collapse, deforestation), spatial concerns (increased cultivated land...
Since the advent of industrialization, food production and distribution systems have prioritized profit over social and environmental considerations. In response, alternative business models that emphasize community-oriented, environmentally sustainable, and socially conscious approaches to food systems have received increasing academic and practical attention. Even though cooperatives are not...
Since October 2019, Lebanon has been witnessing radical crises that revealed the fragility of the mainstream food system. The collapse of the banking sector, political instability, and the COVID-19 pandemic have drastically reduced purchasing power and exacerbated socio-economic vulnerabilities. Compounded by geopolitical tensions and the influx of Syrian refugees, these crises have...
This paper explores the integration of gender mainstreaming in urban food policies (UFPs) through
case studies of three Spanish cities: Barcelona, Valencia, and Zaragoza. While UFPs are pivotal for
addressing sustainability in urban food systems, attention to gender disparities within these
frameworks remains insufficient. Using a qualitative comparative analysis of policy documents...
The food system accounts for one-third of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with significant contributions from agricultural production, land-use changes, and supply chain logistics, highlighting its critical role in the climate crisis (Crippa et al., 2021). Reports such as "Sustainable and Resilient City Region Food Systems" by FAO and RUAF underscore the need for...
Over the past two decades, food policy networks have significantly contributed to transforming food systems globally. However, there remains a critical gap in understanding the precise impact and scope of these transformations, particularly when considering the diverse interfaces within the triad of science, policy, and action. This challenge becomes more pronounced during periods of...
This contribution is derived from my broader doctoral thesis on "Urban Food Policies" developed within the context of Turin, Italy, where the local food system and its emerging food policy are investigated using a City-Region Food System (CRFS) approach. The focus of this presentation is the effort, conducted in collaboration with colleagues involved in several projects within the Turin Food...
In face of compelling socio-ecological urgencies, including conditions of persistent food insecurity and (planetary) health crisis, cities are confronted with the mounting challenge of guaranteeing access to healthy and sustainable food for all (HLPE, 2024). Thousands of urban food policies and initiatives have emerged in the last decade to incorporate food related concerns into urban agendas,...
Agroecological rewilding can be understood as the integration of productive food plants into everyday landscapes to reinstate the latent, ancient understanding of the provenance of food, medicine, fibres and energy sources (Jin et al., under review). The deliberate collocation of the terms โagroecologyโ and โrewildingโ is employed to stimulate an inquiry on the conceptual boundaries of...
Soils are pivotal to multiple environmental processes and services, including carbon sequestration, water buffering, biodiversity, and food production. Yet they remain marginalized in planning practices, which, if they do, predominantly focus on erosion control and avoiding soil sealing. In the age of "wicked problems", the need for innovative and systemic approaches, i.e. a nexus approach, is...
The Paris sustainable agri-food strategy: the role of public lands and the rural-urban linkages.
Since 2008, the City of Paris has been working on a food policy for the procurement of public canteens, urban agriculture and open-air markets. This food strategy has recently been extended to the Seine basin, with the support of AgriParis Seine. Based on a cooperative and interterritorial...
In some territories, food systems characterised by highly competitive agricultural productions (as for instance grape and wine) have favoured โ over the last years โ a cascading local development process, projecting premier wine-regions into a global market. Supported by pro-growth local and national agendas, these territories โ often referred to as agro-industrial โ represent, to all intents...
At the threshold between city and countryside, peri-urban spaces embody a complex interplay of tensions and possibilities. These territories, caught between land speculation, environmental degradation, and urban expansion, are also sites where alternative food futures are being envisioned. The case of Carpaneda, Vicenza (Italy) exemplifies this duality. Here, a grassroots movementโAssemblea...
The pervasive influence of social media is fundamentally reshaping the logic of urban space (re)production and (re)consumption. As physical spaces are increasingly mediated through social media platforms, their value and meaning become progressively contingent upon digital dissemination effects, transforming tangible spaces into consumable images and symbols. Within this digital-spatial nexus,...
The circular economy is increasingly recognized as an important approach for mitigating resource depletion in cities. In urban planning, Williamsโs circular development framework extends this concept beyond economic processes to encompass ecological and social dimensions, highlighting three core processes: resource looping, ecological regeneration, and adaptive action (Williams, 2021)....
The โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโfood environment is a critical determinant of residents' nutrition and health. With the changing lifestyles and the rapid development of food delivery services in China, the food environment has expanded beyond traditional in-person dining and home cooking, necessitating a redefinition...
Whilst cities increasingly develop urban food policies to promote sustainable food systems, the role of local food-sharing landscapes remains underexplored, particularly in understanding how diverse urban populations engage in food-sharing activities.
In response, this paper examines local food-sharing initiatives (FSIs) as key actors in engaging diverse communities. By analysing FSIsโ roles...
Universities can play a pivotal role in advancing sustainable urban food systems by combining research, education, and strategic alliances to enhance community awareness and foster innovative practices. The Off-Campus initiative, launched in 2018 by Politecnico di Milano, exemplifies this potential, serving as a laboratory for piloting innovative approaches to support local...
Food security is integral to national economic stability, livelihoods, and sustainable development, serving as a foundation for Chinaโs modernization. The population-cultivated land-food (PCF) system is a complex, semi-open framework operating within specific geographical boundaries. It relies on cultivated land resource utilization, with food production, consumption, and distribution as core...
โRelationship Between Spatial Disparities, Unsustainable Food Environments and Obesity Contingencyโ
Due to population growth, uncontrolled urbanization, climate change and insufficient governmental supports, the food security concerns are becoming more important around the world. As a result of major global events (e.g., environmental issues, economic shocks and conflict) and...
Food has emerged as a critical element of urban systems, gaining increasing attention in urban planning discussions from various perspectives. Among the key concepts gaining prominence in this discourse is "food deserts." In the literature, food deserts are commonly defined as areas where access to a variety of healthy foods is significantly limited. In essence, food deserts pertain to the...
The paper presents the results of a project to co-design and develop recommendations for food emergency planning that also promote longer term and deeper change for food and health justice, while fostering resilient communities in places in England. It sets out the conceptual and practical findings underpinning the resulting โcall to actionโ for planning beyond emergency food. This arises from...
Traditional planning narratives often rely on binary distinctions, such as rural versus urban and human versus nature, which obscure the complex interrelations shaping contemporary landscapes. In light of climate change, biodiversity loss, and food system challenges, planning must shift towards a socio-ecological systems (SES) perspective that recognizes human settlementsโwhether rural or...
Urban farming plays a significant role in developing resilient cities by increasing food security, supporting local economies, and enhancing adaptability to climate-related stresses, especially when adopting agroecological practices. When the local community is engaged, urban farming can also strengthen social cohesion and bonding among farmers and neighbours, which is crucial for resilience....
In recent years, Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) have garnered significant attention for their potential to advance sustainable agricultural, social, and environmental practices. Against the backdrop of a centralised and industrial food governance regime characterised by concentrated economic and political power, AFNs offer a critical and practical response. AFNs are community-based...
Addressing food insecurity and optimizing food production in urban farming requires innovative, scalable solutions. This study presents an interdisciplinary approach integrating planning, geography, and data science to develop a drone image-based methodology for vegetable detection and yield estimation on mid-size urban farms. The research focuses on three urban farms located in or near...
Sweden depends on international markets to meet its current food demands. The development towards the present degree of import dependence began in the mid-1900s, with a political shift towards structural transformation and industrialization of the agri-food sectors. Alongside shifting domestic consumption habits towards resource-intensive foods, this has caused Swedish food consumption to...
Chinese food markets serve as the infrastructural nodes binding and solidifying diverse urban-rural flows through the agri-food exchange while experiencing continuous state-led remoulding. This paper examines a specific food market as the dynamic node embedded within broader city-region food systems, emphasising its role in fostering more justice and inclusive food networks. Based on the...
The urban model and the globalised food system are key factors in crossing several of the planetary boundaries. The food system directly affects several of the planetary boundaries and biophysical integrity: climate change, novel entities, biogeochemical fluxes, biodiversity, and changes in freshwater and land use. (Kronenberg et al., 2024(. Reducing pressure is essential, since the biosphere...
Recent disruptions in global food supply chains have highlighted the issue of food self-sufficiency as an important part of the public debate. While many measures of food self-sufficiency exist, the literature highlights the problem with aggregating food self-sufficiency in individual food commodities to a country's overall food self-sufficiency. This paper presents an alternative measure of...
