Understanding resilience: Contributions of urban agriculture to the resilience of urban landscapes

Abstract Urban agriculture (UA) has been explored as a nature‐based solution to address metropolises' socioecological challenges. The current study strives to determine which dimensions and components of socioecological resilience are most affected by UA in urban ecosystems. Q‐methodology was a...

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Main Authors: Vahid Ghahremani, Omid Noori, Reza Deihimfard, Hadi Veisi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-01-01
Series:Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/uar2.70003
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author Vahid Ghahremani
Omid Noori
Reza Deihimfard
Hadi Veisi
author_facet Vahid Ghahremani
Omid Noori
Reza Deihimfard
Hadi Veisi
author_sort Vahid Ghahremani
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Urban agriculture (UA) has been explored as a nature‐based solution to address metropolises' socioecological challenges. The current study strives to determine which dimensions and components of socioecological resilience are most affected by UA in urban ecosystems. Q‐methodology was applied to identify shared discourses between experts in UA and to provide insights into how experts perceive resilience in socioecological ecosystems. The data were gathered by completing the Q table (41 statements) and interviewing experts (29 participants) in agriculture, urban planning, environmental science, urban landscape, and urban practice. The results revealed seven distinct perspectives possessed by experts with eigenvalues of 11.23, 2.37, 1.94, 1.48, 1.39, 1.25, and 1.11 and explanatory variances of 0.387, 0.08, 0.067, 0.05, 0.04, 0.04, and 0.03, respectively. The perspectives included (1) promoting a happy and healthy life, (2) integrating land use, waste, and energy management, (3) ensuring food security and protection of production resources, (4) promoting social interaction and relaxation, (5) improving biodiversity and picture quality, (6) motivating creativity for community health, and (7) reducing the ecological footprint and cost and food insecurity. Each perspective entails a different understanding of the role of UA on socioecological resilience in metropolitan areas. The results contribute to the ongoing theoretical discussion regarding the nature of the current UA in metropolises, its development, and potential conventionalization. Overall, these findings suggest a role for UA in promoting resilience in metropolises to make them socially and ecologically better places for life.
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spelling doaj-art-1e84d208480246e2acac4c18b9b458782024-12-27T05:18:46ZengWileyUrban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems2575-12202024-01-0191n/an/a10.1002/uar2.70003Understanding resilience: Contributions of urban agriculture to the resilience of urban landscapesVahid Ghahremani0Omid Noori1Reza Deihimfard2Hadi Veisi3Oilseed Crops Research Department Karaj IranDepartment of Agroecology Environmental Sciences Research Institute Shahid Beheshti University Tehran IranDepartment of Agroecology Environmental Sciences Research Institute Shahid Beheshti University Tehran IranDepartment of Environment and Society University of Wisconsin Stevens Point Stevens Point Wisconsin USAAbstract Urban agriculture (UA) has been explored as a nature‐based solution to address metropolises' socioecological challenges. The current study strives to determine which dimensions and components of socioecological resilience are most affected by UA in urban ecosystems. Q‐methodology was applied to identify shared discourses between experts in UA and to provide insights into how experts perceive resilience in socioecological ecosystems. The data were gathered by completing the Q table (41 statements) and interviewing experts (29 participants) in agriculture, urban planning, environmental science, urban landscape, and urban practice. The results revealed seven distinct perspectives possessed by experts with eigenvalues of 11.23, 2.37, 1.94, 1.48, 1.39, 1.25, and 1.11 and explanatory variances of 0.387, 0.08, 0.067, 0.05, 0.04, 0.04, and 0.03, respectively. The perspectives included (1) promoting a happy and healthy life, (2) integrating land use, waste, and energy management, (3) ensuring food security and protection of production resources, (4) promoting social interaction and relaxation, (5) improving biodiversity and picture quality, (6) motivating creativity for community health, and (7) reducing the ecological footprint and cost and food insecurity. Each perspective entails a different understanding of the role of UA on socioecological resilience in metropolitan areas. The results contribute to the ongoing theoretical discussion regarding the nature of the current UA in metropolises, its development, and potential conventionalization. Overall, these findings suggest a role for UA in promoting resilience in metropolises to make them socially and ecologically better places for life.https://doi.org/10.1002/uar2.70003
spellingShingle Vahid Ghahremani
Omid Noori
Reza Deihimfard
Hadi Veisi
Understanding resilience: Contributions of urban agriculture to the resilience of urban landscapes
Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems
title Understanding resilience: Contributions of urban agriculture to the resilience of urban landscapes
title_full Understanding resilience: Contributions of urban agriculture to the resilience of urban landscapes
title_fullStr Understanding resilience: Contributions of urban agriculture to the resilience of urban landscapes
title_full_unstemmed Understanding resilience: Contributions of urban agriculture to the resilience of urban landscapes
title_short Understanding resilience: Contributions of urban agriculture to the resilience of urban landscapes
title_sort understanding resilience contributions of urban agriculture to the resilience of urban landscapes
url https://doi.org/10.1002/uar2.70003
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