Alternative Foodscapes: The potential of food in sustainable urban development through an increase in organoleptic quality and social cohesion

Other conference contribution, 2013

This paper will maintain that the increase of quality and embeddedness involves an increase in organoleptic urban qualities leading to improvement of the urban quality and enhancement of sustainable urban lifestyles. Organoleptic urban qualities refer to spaces in cities that are capable of stimulating the senses, which we believe, is achieved through bodily engagement and participation. Such aims initiate with including AFN’s in the urban planning process and the necessity for design of a persuasive design agenda. By using a platform of theory, practice and education, we demonstrate how ‘food’ could be included in city making and design as a viable ingredient in sustainable urban development. We hope to underpin this through the vital role of design-based research and transdisciplinary methods, as well as practice-based case studies. A theoretical project highlighted will be ‘Foodprints’, which applied concepts from biomimicry, systems thinking and scenario building to demonstrate the development for new urban food models to policy-makers. The toolkit produced a methodology to map the behavior of citizens, politics, architecture, logistics, food, farming and ecology within the urbanscape. It devised a catalyst to help navigate through the diversely complex issues surrounding urban agriculture creating a discussion platform for the potential of ‘food’ in crafting resilient cities. Practice-based research will include Swedish examples from Stockholm and Gothenburg, including the Hornstull Stadsodling in Högalidsparken, Linholmen Konsthallen and På Spåret Tradgården interventions. Finally, the necessity for urban agriculture as an active and practical ingredient in academia will be shown through the on-going Stockholm University practice/theory course on urban agriculture. It is our aim to show that by rendering the inclusion of food as an essential urban infrastructure, reimagining the urbanscape as partially a ‘food’ and ‘farm’scape, could render these spaces (AFN’s) as active and participatory social entities, producers of new knowledge in urban design, and instigate sustainable awareness surrounding food production, consumption and distribution.