Edible Landscapes 1 Report (EL1)
Traditionally, cities have served as centres of commerce and manufacturing, and of course, they have and continue to function as seats of power and culture. On the other hand, agriculture is primarily a rural activity. Hence, the term "urban agriculture," sounds oxymoronic. Nevertheless, research has shown that urban and peri-urban areas were always used for growing purposes, and there is rising evidence that many cities are actively engaged in urban agriculture. The degree and intensity of urban agriculture varies considerably from one country to another; it can be related to geographical location; the level of economic development; traditions of agriculture, government policies, and many other factors. Edible Landscapes refer to the visual, physical and social impacts of producing food in urban land. The Edible Landscapes 1, Paysage Solidaire, Making the Edible Campus and Nutri-Centre projects explore the benefits and ways of integrating agriculture into the urban fabric.
The Edible Landscapes 1 report (EL1) shed light on the joys of growing one's own food, and its neighbourhood impacts. Hopefully, it will also inform planners, city officials and architects about the potential of gardening on under-utilized urban land. First, the global impacts of these landscapes in different parts of the world are observed. Then observations and lessons from field-trips made to community gardens in Montreal are presented. Finally, social benefits, challenges and costs associated with growing food in the city are highlighted. For matters of simplicity, the report focuses on built forms, human interactions and neighbourhood impact.
Following the publication of EL1, the MCHG kickstarted several community based urban agriculture projects in Montreal. The Paysage Solidaire, Making the Edible Campus and Nutri-Centre projects explored ways of increasing food production in cities, particularly in under-used urban spaces such as rooftops, balconies and paved areas, commonly found in Montréal and other urban centers.
This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.
Working Team:
Editors: Vikram Bhatt and Rune Kongshaug
Project Team:: Jingwei Cui, Yingzhou Du, Qiang Fu, Xiao Tong He, Rune Kongshaug, Sachin Narkar, Li Xiao
Teaching Assistant: : Jean D'Aragon
Professor: : Vikram Bhatt
Paysage Solidaire
“Paysage Solidaire” is a community based greening project that aims to integrate urban agriculture in the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough of Montreal. The project consists of cultivating fruits and vegetables on underutilized urban spaces with the participation of citizens and community groups. Sites selected and designated as urban agriculture zones will be transformed into open public gardens. As a result, sites will be revalorized and will contribute to embellish, animate and exploit underused urban spaces.
The aim of the action-research project is to regenerate neighborhoods through urban horticulture with the participation of the community. This pilot project is also part of a food chain: with the help of local partners and food security organizations of each neighborhood namely: Mercier-Est, Mercier-Ouest and Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, a portion of the harvest will be processed and delivered to a targeted clientele which includes: the elderly, mobility-impaired people, poor families, young people, as well as to collective kitchens.
As a first step, but not exclusively, ecological growing containers will be favored. They enable the cultivation of fruits and vegetables on brownfields, contaminated urban spaces and empty concrete areas. The project seeks greening solutions which address how to reduce water consumption and maintenance costs and which are adaptable to selected sites and flexible enough to be re-located. Special attention will also be given to environmental design in order to increase their accessibility and to make these places user friendly, in particular by the inclusion of urban design installations and of urban furniture.
Making the Edible Campus
In the spring and summer of 2007, volunteers and researchers from Alternatives and Santropol Roulant (two leading NGO’s) and the Minimum Cost Housing Group of McGill University’s School of Architecture incorporated productive growing in a concrete covered, prominent urban corner of the University’s downtown campus. The result, the Edible Campus, was a 120 square meter container garden that involved citizens in the creation of green, edible community spaces. The Edible Campus has also demonstrated how productive planting can be woven into urban spaces without diminishing the utility or functionality, while exploring strategies for increasing food production in the city and improving spatial quality by exploiting underutilized and neglected space. Further project details can be found in the Edible Campus Brochure, and information on the initial site analysis can be found in the Site Survey.
Goals
To make the benefits of cultivating in cities widely recognized in terms of its environmental, economic, social, recreational and health related roles, so that it can be used to its maximum potential by cities everywhere, in the North as well as in the South.
Creation of the Edible Campus (May 19th, 2007)
Media Coverage
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7482670.stm
Awards and Recognition
Winner of the 2008 National Urban Design Award
In 2008, the Making the Edible Campus project was awarded the National Urban Design Award in the category Urban Fragments by The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP), and Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA).
From the jury comments:
Amongst the interesting “fragments” submitted from across the country, the jury appreciated the social foundations and community/volunteer involvement as well as the sustainable urban objectives of this scheme. With simple, direct layouts it aims to employ underused corners and spaces within the public realm to grow produce linked to a food collection and meal delivery system, creating a sustainable prototype that could potentially be expanded to other university campuses and across the city.
Nutri-Centre
In 2008, the Minimum Cost Housing Group partnered with Nutri-Centre, a community development organization, to re-think and upgrade a collective garden in Lasalle, one of Montreal’s poorest boroughs.
We interlinked sustainability, food security and environmental quality through innovative urban design to enhance food production in the city.
The intervention included: a redesigned garden, with a doubled planting area and new fruit-bearing bushes and trees; the introduction of an outdoor community-kitchen within the gardening space; a rest area; a meeting space; a planting area specially reserved for children; and the better integration of mobility-impaired clients.