Designing a Sustainable
Urban Agriculture
Sarah Taylor Lovell, Assistant Professor
Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois
Landscape Multifunctionality
offers a framework for design

Landscapes that integrate
ecological, cultural, and
production functions,
considering the site-specific
context and needs of the users
LANDSCAPE
PERFORMANCE
Production Functions
Ecological Functions
Cultural Functions
Landscape Multifunctionality
offers a framework for design
LANDSCAPE
PERFORMANCE
Environmental
Economic
Social
Multifunctional
= Sustainable
Production Functions
Ecological Functions
Cultural Functions
Landscape Multifunctionality
offers a framework for design
Production Functions
Ecological Functions
Cultural Functions
•Fresh food, herbs
•Food for processing
•Medicinal products
•Fuel and firewood
•Feed for livestock
•Fiber in many forms
•Cut flowers
•Biodiversity
•Nutrient cycling
•Microclimate control
•Water quality
•Carbon sequestration
•Soil conservation
•Water storage
•Recreation
•Visual Quality
•Artistic Expression
•Education
•Historic Preservation
•Ethnic reflection
•Cultural heritage
Urban agriculture represents a
multifunctional land use alternative
…producing food in the city
Cities are highly modified,
offering unique characteristics

Urban Ecosystems









Fragmented habitats
Competition for land
Impervious surfaces
Heat island effect
Waste products
Anthropogenic soils
Dense populations
Political boundaries
Cultural networks
Types and Extent of
Urban Agriculture
Research in Chicago indicates urban
agriculture is an important land use type



Satellite imagery scanned for signature food
production sites, including backyard gardens
Known community garden sites were verified
Distribution correlated with demographic data
Many previously undocumented food
production spaces were identified
Taylor & Lovell 2012
Food production was extensive,
and residential was contributing
Backyard gardening was found
to be unequally distributed

Correlations with backyard gardens per HH



% born in eastern or southern Europe (r2 = 0.23)
% born in Poland (r2 = 0.28)
% born in China, Taiwan, or Hong Kong (r2 = 0.44)
Potential to Expand
Urban Agriculture
Extensive green space is available
for expansion of urban agriculture






Public parks
Natural areas
Forest preserves
Boulevards
Campus Parks
Commercial space
Extensive green space is available
for expansion of urban agriculture

Vacant lots and underutilized space

70-80,000 vacant lots in Chicago; 11,000 city-owned
City of Chicago is promoting a
plan to expand local food

CMAP: “Promote Sustainable Local Food”





Modeling suitable and available land
Projecting food production capacity
Connecting consumers and producers
Identifying the roles of community gardens
Protecting and conserving water resources
Design Guidelines for
Urban Agriculture
Landscape designs focus on
perennial plants and built features

Designate areas for annual production, but
avoid prescribing specific crops or management

Focus on plant materials that will provide
continuous cover and improve site over time

Establish zones for a variety of functions,
considering surrounding landscape context

Consider margins and edges where synergistic
or antagonistic interactions occur
Integrate floral plantings to draw in
pollinators and beneficial insects

Prairie plantings attract predators as biological
control agents.
Bennett and Lovell, 2014. Insect Conservation & Diversity. In press.
Integrate floral plantings to draw in
pollinators and beneficial insects

Site characteristics impact pollinator abundance
Bennett and Lovell, 2014. In preparation.
Integrate floral plantings to draw in
pollinators and beneficial insects
Include buffers for stormwater
management and other functions

Buffers provide a wide
range of functions to
support healthy sites





Microclimate
Filtering runoff
Filtering air
Productivity
Visual quality
•
Wortman and Lovell, 2014. Journal of
Environmental Quality 42:1283-1294
•
Lovell and Sullivan, 2006. Agriculture,
Ecosystems & Environment 77:152-166.
Improve visual quality of the site
as viewed from the outside


Urban agriculture can interface with community,
but visual quality will impact public perception.
A creative design encourages public education.
•
Lovell, 2010. Sustainability Journal 2(8):2499-2522
•
Lovell and Johnston, 2009. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 7:121-220.
Respect and reflect the cultural
heritage of urban stakeholders

Various ethnic groups have different preferences
for crops and planting structure.
Taylor and Lovell, 2014. Renewable Agriculture & Food Systems. In press.
Taylor and Lovell, 2014. Renewable
Agriculture & Food Systems. In press.
Built infrastructure can be used to
add value and reduce risk




Hoop houses extend the growing season
Washing stations can improve food safety
Storage sheds shelter and hide tools/equipment
Creative marketing stations mobilize sales
Urban ag faces challenges, but
sustainable design offers solutions
MLAD lab website:
www.multifunctionallandscape.com







Bennett, A.B., Lovell, S.T. 2014. Comparison of arthropod abundance and arthropod mediated
predation services in urban green spaces. Insect Conservation and Diversity.
Lovell, S.T. 2010. Multifunctional urban agriculture for sustainable land use planning. Invited
submission for Sustainability 2(8):2499-2522
Lovell, S.T. and Johnston, D.M. 2009. Creating multifunctional landscapes – How can the
field of ecology inform the design of the landscape? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
7(4):212-220.
Lovell, S.T. and Sullivan, W.C. 2006. Environmental benefits of conservation buffers in the
United States: Evidence, promise, and open questions. Agriculture, Ecosystems &
Environment 112(4):249-260.
Taylor, J.R., Lovell, S.T. 2012. Mapping public and private spaces of urban agriculture in
Chicago through the analysis of high-resolution aerial images in Google Earth. Landscape &
Urban Planning 108(1):57-70.
Taylor, J.R., Lovell, S.T. In press. Urban food production in the Global North: A mixed
methods study of ethnic and migrant home gardens in Chicago, IL. Renewable Agriculture &
Food Systems.
Wortman, S.E., Lovell, S.T. 2013. Environmental challenges threatening the growth of urban
agriculture in the United States. Journal of Environmental Quality 42(5):1283-1294.