Rethinking Infrastructure Design - Rethinking Infrastructure Design for Multi-Use Water Services - page 19

Bene ts of urban agriculture

Providing additional and healthier food supply.

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Making material flow more ef cient by reducing food mileage.

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Organic waste can be processed (compost) and used directly for food produc-
tion, thus no transport is needed

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— leading to energy ef ciency.

Impacts on the thermal absorption capacity of cities and reduction in the urban
surface temperature, which has direct in

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uence on heat stress.

Being part of the city ' s green lungs and ventilation networks — more green has a

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positive effect on air quality.

Increasing pollination and thus biodiversity — particularly without the use of

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pesticides.

Having an educational value as well as the important role of social aspects.

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Urban agriculture can be practised in various urban spaces (Fig. 18 ): backyard
gardens, front gardens, multifunctional roofs, balconies (vertical gardens), even in
cellars (mushrooms). Optimised integration of urban farms into innovative urban
planning is art to be mastered.

4.8 Urban Amenity and Blue-Green Corridors Increase
Amenity and Urban Health: Job Creation, Reduce
Antisocial Behaviour and Crime

During the last decades, more and more data is available on the in uence of blue

and GI on people s behaviour and health. Most people naturally want to live in

greener districts, which will have more functions than conventional GI and will not
lose its vitality with

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first signs of droughts. Different drivers make cities go greener:
attract more people, both to work/live or holiday, or increase biodiversity and
reduce heat stress and not the least to improve quality of life and appeal of the city.
As mentioned before, GI cools down cities, thus providing more pleasant and
healthier microclimate. However to be more drought resistant they have to include
new (blue) functions.
In addition, the concept of a healthy environment cannot go without GI. It is
proven that vegetation helps people to recover faster (Ulrich 1984 ), thus health
costs are signi

cantly lower.
Green areas are places where people can be involved in positive urban regen-
eration activities (Fig. 19 ); go for recreation, exercise, to enjoy nature or to nd

some quiet and peaceful place. Urban vegetation decreases possibility of depression
and many other diseases (Maas 2008 ).
The parks as playgrounds are important for children for their social and com-
munication skills.

' In practice, the lack of suf cient vegetation means, among other