Designing Urban Agriculture: A Complete Guide to the Planning, Design, Construction, Maintenance and Management of Edible Landscapes

by April Philips

A comprehensive overview of edible landscapes—complete with more than 300 full-color photos and illustrations Designing Urban Agriculture is about the intersection of ecology, design, and community. Showcasing projects and designers from around the world who are forging new paths to the sustainable city through urban agriculture landscapes, it creates a dialogue on the ways to invite food back into the city and pave a path to healthier communities and environments. This full-color guide begins with a foundation of ecological principles and the idea that the food shed is part of a city's urban systems network. It outlines a design process based on systems thinking and developed for a lifecycle or regenerative-based approach. It also presents strategies, tools, and guidelines that enable informed decisions on planning, designing, budgeting, constructing, maintaining, marketing, and increasing the sustainability of this re-invented cityscape. Case studies demonstrate the environmental, economic, and social value of these landscapes and reveal paths to a greener and healthier urban environment. This unique and indispensable

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Mills College Library]

630.91732 P554 2013

[J.S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I was expecting something like those Ortho guidebooks you see in the nurseries, with all kinds of helpful how-to advice for the home gardener. Instead, this is an in-depth and detailed textbook for designing and creating urban gardens on a much larger scale than the average home gardener. It covers a lot of the fundamentals of *why* community-based gardens should be built in poor urban areas such as reversing the "food desert" trends to educating disadvantaged youth on the relationships between communities and nature to reducing the effects of climate change. It also covers things like attracting sponsors and fund-raising as well as how to best address the needs of those being served. But while the focus is generally on poorer urban areas, some examples of more upscale projects are also highlighted. Unfortunately, not all the projects spotlighted in the book are completed or functioning - many are still only projects on paper waiting for a sponsor or public funding.

I assume this is meant to be a textbook, and as such I think it works very well. The prevalence of color photos and graphics enlivens the topic as well as illustrating the end goal. It may also be useful to community organizers and activists. The projects profiled in the book range from planned communities and expensive roof-top gardens over gymnasiums to a very ambitious (and beautiful!) school garden and an urban parking strip (even the parking strip garden was designed by an architect). Although I was looking for enlightened ideas for my (sub)urban garden, it's a very nice book for those contemplating more ambitious projects.