The Agropolis: Mapping a blueprint for climate-resilient agri-urban development

Description

Agropolitan is a term created by John Friedmann (1979). An Agropolis – essentially an agricultural city - can be defined as a city in which agriculture is an intrinsic part of its autonomy and its development, influencing its urban design and providing the main source of food for its residents. Over the past decade the idea of the Agropolis has found new resonance in the context of concerns over food security, and the lack of preparedness for climate change or catastrophe. These concerns are inherently linked to increasing urbanisation, or rather, the specific nature of that urbanisation.

Various blueprints for an Agropolis have been proffered, as typified by the case studies within Luc Mougeot’s Agropolis (2010). Similarly, a vast array of activities that can be called agri-urban have developed across the globe. (See Caroline Brand’s Designing Urban Food Policies, 2019). Such projects vary from underground micro-greens growing, to city farms, to vertical production on high-rise blocks. Consequently, each different type of project comes with its own rationale, aims, and ethos (see World Bank report, 2013).

This paper attempts to analyse such initiatives and blueprints, tease out the strands in common, and come up with the beginnings of a common imagination for the Agropolis so that agri-urban activities can build towards climate-resilience. However, this is not only an exercise in imagining a new type of city. The United Nations is keen to support the creation of ‘resilience hubs’, which would work together in areas including food security. So, the Agropolis is a vision for international political cooperation as much as it is one for the operating of a city.

Period	14 Jan 2025
Event title	BISA 2025 Conference – Global Political Imaginations: Towards a More Inclusive World
Event type	Conference
Degree of Recognition	International