Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
patterns, but others represent new developments. Examples of the former case can
be seen in countries such as Japan with its limited flat land area, where it is rare
to find vacant lots or waste areas; instead many towns and cities have highly cul-
tivated plots between the buildings, a feature that is also found in many towns in
Holland. Such examples of a surviving agricultural presence in cities is also increas-
ingly seen and promoted in many tropical and sub-tropical countries. Indeed
urban
agriculture
, often on quite small plots in and around cities in the underdeveloped
world, has always flourished, helped by the possibility of multiple cropping given
the length of growing seasons in warm climates. Agriculture within cities is now
being encouraged by many aid agencies in the last decade, especially to supply
fresh vegetables and to provide more local employment and cash returns (Smit et al.
1996
; Mougeot
2005
). In cities such as Accra in Ghana a high proportion of the veg-
etables on sale in local markets come from the informal plots bordering what used
to be waste land along the city's watercourses or drains. Unfortunately the polluted
nature of these watercourses casts doubt upon the health of the crops, although now
the city has recognized the value of these plots it is now making big efforts to reduce
pollution levels in the streams.
At a household level in developing countries there is an increasing use of bags
full of fertilized earth to grow fresh food, since they need little space outside the
house and provide useful crops of such products as tomatoes, herbs and legumes.
In western countries, of course, pressures for growth from the industrial period
onwards led to the loss of most agricultural land in older cities. Yet it is worth
remembering that agriculture in western cities is not new, for historically urban
gardens produced many food crops. Even in the late nineteenth century dairy cows
and chickens could be found in small enclosures in the big centres, fed from feed
brought into the city and with a ready market for such products within the local
area, thereby saving the time and transport costs of milk and eggs and, by reducing
delivery time, ensuring that the products were fresh. But these animals were gradu-
ally excluded by local health bye-laws, often due to failures to effectively dispose
of the waste from these animals, which led to noxious smells and breeding areas
for flies and diseases. However, there are many signs that chickens, at least, will be
increasingly tolerated in cities as a source of fresh eggs in particular. For example,
several Canadian municipalities have changed their local bye-laws to allow limited
numbers of these birds in the back yards of the houses, so long as they are large
enough for the birds and neighbours do not raise objections.
More generally, the presence of increasing agricultural activity in urban areas
within western towns and cities, other than in the private gardens of houses, can be
seen by the revival of interest in what are called
allotments
in the U.K., with differ-
ent names in other countries, such as kolonihave in Denmark or
community gardens
in the U.S.A. (Crouch and Ward
1997
). These small plots, rarely over 250 sq metres
in the case of Britain, produce a variety of vegetables and flowers, are usually more
intensively cultivated than back or front gardens. Websites designed to offer advice
to allotment users have also grown up (A-UK
2012
). Most of the plots are rented
from municipalities at a small annual fee, although some historic ones are owned
by the allotment association. This trend is not a new one. Allotments have always
been present in Britain, frequently outside the old medieval cores of cities, but the
