Roles of urban agriculture in ecological transitions

Over 50% of the world's population lives in (peri-)urban areas, and this trend is growing. That's why many (peri-)urban agriculture (UA) projects are being developed under the impetus of citizens wishing to improve their living environment. To meet the needs of residents – housing, food, JEVI (gardens, green spaces and infrastructure) – while respecting environmental public policies, such as Law no. 2023-630 of July 20, 2023 known as the "ZAN Law" (which aims to facilitate the implementation of the goal of zero net artificialisation by 2050 set by Law no. 2021-1104 known as "climate and resilience" of August 22, 2021), local authorities are supporting UA projects as part of renaturation approaches. Proposing UA projects that make sense, participating in decisions, taking action and interacting with one's environment does indeed help people feel better integrated into it, and, moreover, living, non-artificialized soils provide ecosystem services that are crucial to strengthening urban resilience according to Dumat et al. (2024). In the chapter entitled "Urban agriculture, a vector for agroecology serving One Health: focus on France and India" (included in the book: For local food systems: A discussion on food sovereignty and the agroecological transition, Orient BlackSwan), the authors explain the ecological issues raised by UA projects in different contexts. There is a wide variety of UA projects, as they are constructed according to territorial specificities and associated social dynamics. Consequently, there is no single definition of UA. This is why we often speak of "UA" in the plural, to underline the vast range of projects: open-ground, soilless or hydroponic cultivation, reconstituted soils (technosols) with (in)organic materials from the local circular economy and techniques close to permaculture... UA can be low-tech, based on the recovery of materials, or high-tech, using the latest technologies, artificial intelligence (e.g. automated vertical farms) and robotization. For rural agriculture, there are also many variations, depending on the size of the farm, the type of production, the economic model and practices: conventional, integrated, organic or agroecology. But in the case of UAs, even more variants exist, as projects can be professional or amateur, hydrid or mixed forms (production, recreational and/or training area), more technological forms to solve space problems and enhance the site's attractiveness to the general public: vertical farms, aquaponics demonstrators, containers for mushroom cultivation on supports derived from urban waste.

These UA projects offer concrete solutions to the challenges of sustainable cities, providing complementary services such as local food production, waste recovery, strengthening social ties and environmental education. As a result, citizens...