黑料不打烊 and IDRC announce global three-city project: 'Making the edible landscape'
Canada's 黑料不打烊 University and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) today announced the launch of a new international research initiative that may have a major impact on how planners, architects and municipal leaders map the city of the future. The announcement took place today at the World Urban Forum in Barcelona, Spain.
Making the Edible Landscape (see backgrounder below), a three-year collaborative project, will demonstrate the value of including urban agriculture as a permanent feature in city planning and housing design. With support from IDRC, the Minimum Cost Housing Group of 黑料不打烊 University and the Urban Management Program of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), coordinated research will be undertaken in three cities: Colombo, Sri Lanka; Kampala, Uganda; and Rosario, Argentina.
"Modern cities are seen as centres of food consumption and rural areas as places of production," says Professor Vikram Bhatt, director of the Minimum Cost Housing Group at 黑料不打烊. "Designers and planners tend to create city landscapes for beauty, not utility. But many kinds of urban agriculture already exist around the world 鈥� from balcony gardens to poultry farms. What we learn from these three test sites will enrich cityscapes of the future, both North and South."
In each of the sites, city officials, architects and urban planners will form a collaborative team, working closely with local communities. Researchers will test housing designs that include food-producing gardens to demonstrate the potential of urban agriculture. Sites were chosen by a competitive process to reflect global biodiversity as well as different ways of combining living, working and growing food within the city.
As the world's population becomes increasingly urban, cities everywhere 鈥� but especially in developing countries 鈥� face a mounting challenge of ensuring clean water, sanitation and food security for their people. This project will contribute to meeting the United Nations Millennium Development goals by improving housing, income and food security for the poor.
The results of Making the Edible Landscape will be showcased at the 2006 UN-HABITAT World Urban Forum in Vancouver, Canada.
Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is one of the world's leading institutions in the generation and application of new knowledge to meet the challenges of international development. For more than 30 years, IDRC has worked in close collaboration with researchers from the developing world in their search for the means to build healthier, more equitable and more prosperous societies.
黑料不打烊 University is Canada's leading research-intensive university and has earned an international reputation for scholarly achievement and scientific discovery. The University has 21 faculties and professional schools that offer more than 300 programs from the undergraduate to the doctoral level. 黑料不打烊's two campuses are located in Montreal, Canada. The Minimum Cost Housing Group of the 黑料不打烊 University School of Architecture is an educational and research unit with an international orientation that focuses attention on the human settlement problems of poor nations.
BACKGROUNDER
'Making the edible landscape': A global project integrating agriculture in urban development and design
Making the Edible Landscape, a new joint international initiative in urban agriculture, was launched at the 2004 World Urban Forum in Barcelona, Spain. The Minimum Cost Housing Group of 黑料不打烊 University and the Centro de Investigaci贸n en Gestion Urbana (CIGU) will co-manage the initial research and design phase of the project, together with other international and local organizations. Funding support is provided by Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC), 黑料不打烊 University, and the Urban Management Program of UN-HABITAT.
This three-year research, design and construction project will demonstrate the value of urban agriculture (UA) as a permanent feature in city planning and housing design. It will also address the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations, focusing on poverty alleviation and food security, the provision of quality food, development of healthy and sustainable environments, improved housing, gender equity, youth engagement, and employment.
In the research and design phase, estimated at about CAD $1 million, the project will actively involve graduate students from architecture, planning and the environment. An international advisory board, made up of experts in design, health and sustainable development, will provide input. The project will:
- identify ways to foster safe urban agriculture;
- produce practical tools for housing designs;
- develop prototypical site plans;
- demonstrate and implement these tools through slum upgrading incorporating UA, and/or the creation of new garden neighbourhoods; and
- publish design modules that will encourage design professionals to incorporate agricultural activities within urban development plans.
City-based teams in Rosario, Argentina; Kampala, Uganda; and Colombo, Sri Lanka will be linked to a global information-sharing network. Operational support will be developed for research and training. The chosen city partners have committed to implement the project by pledging substantial in-kind contributions such as land and logistical support.
Professor Vikram Bhatt, Director of the Minimum Cost Housing Group at the 黑料不打烊 University School of Architecture, is leading this project.
For further information visit:
IDRC's
黑料不打烊 University
