Edible Garden Cities: Rethinking Boundaries and Integrating Hedges into Scalable Urban Food Systems

Adams, David; Larkham, Peter J; Hardman, Michael

Abstract

Connecting to and extending recent debates around more-than-human thinking, this paper explores how porous boundary treatments and plot layouts might encourage ecological exchanges within new urban and peri-urban developments. This study therefore responds to suggestions for innovative plot designs that facilitate positive trans-species interactions, especially considering wider anxieties surrounding biodiversity loss and recognition of the need for climate-resilient garden spaces. Focusing on a recent example of a large-scale residential development in the English midlands, this paper outlines the socio-economic, cultural and ecological significance of embedding different hedgerow designs into early planning considerations; revealing the need to move beyond current models. The discussion then turns to how such ambitions might encourage sustainable land use, particularly through creating potentially scalable urban agricultural systems that sustain healthy food choices.

Citation

Adams, D., Larkham, P. J., & Hardman, M. (2023). Edible Garden Cities: Rethinking Boundaries and Integrating Hedges into Scalable Urban Food Systems. Land, 12(10), 1915. https://doi.org/10.3390/land12101915

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 10, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Oct 12, 2023
• Publication Date: Oct 12, 2023
• Deposit Date: Oct 10, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 12, 2023
• Journal: Land
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 10
• Pages: 1915
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/land12101915
• Keywords: Nature and Landscape Conservation, Ecology, Global and Planetary Change