Urban Agriculture in Tokyo

Photo: Staff of NTT Facilities, Junko Kariu (left) and Masahiro Nagata, check the roof-top potato farm in Tokyo, in October. Launched by two subsidiaries of Japan’s telecommunications giant NTT Corp., “Green Potato” project could help prevent overheating of Tokyo as well as harvest sweet potatoes in autumn. By TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/ AFP/

Research Plan

Within our research in urban green we want to put focus upon urban agriculture, specifically on projects in Rotterdam and Antwerp. Both cities differ from each other in size and approach of urban agricultural projects. In Rotterdam a large scale project called Eetbaar Rotterdam (this project wants to bring the food production near to its city inhabitants and therefore contribute to a sustainable world) is organized. This project is subsidized by the government and has several locations throughout the city. In Antwerp small projects like the Moestuinbox (individuals are able to let vegetables grow in boxes with hydraulic systems) are organized in the urban agriculture field. The comparison between urban agriculture in Antwerp and Rotterdam would exist of the facets:

• Organisation: who and how?
• In what way does urban agriculture contribute to the city and its population?
•  How can the differences in approaches between Antwerp and Rotterdam be explained?

Urban agriculture is defined by Mougeot in 2000 as: “Urban Agriculture is an industry located within, or on the fringe of a town, a city or a metropolis, which grows and raises, processes and distributes a diversity of food and non-food products, (re)using largely human and material resources, products and services found in and around that urban area, and in turn supplying human and materials resources, products and services largely to that urban area.” We will use this definition throughout our research. Due to the fact urban agriculture is for every single person different, this definition which is general as well it covers most aspects of urban agriculture, seemed very useful.

Taking into consideration our interest in urban agriculture and these projects our research question is; in what way does urban agriculture influence city dynamics in neighbourhoods in Antwerp and Rotterdam?

For the purpose of this research we want to be in contact with both city municipalities to investigate their role in urban agriculture. We also want to contact Pieter Max who is responsible for the Moestuinbox project in Antwerp. Next to that we want to get in touch with people involved in the project Eetbaar Rotterdam, people of the management but also those who actually bring the projects into practice. Moreover, we need to interview citizens in neighbourhoods to understand how they see and experience urban agriculture.

In the making process of this research plan, we contacted Maarten Loopmans, among all his titles he was also an urban agriculturist, and he shared with us a lot of information on urban agriculture in Antwerp. We will use his information as a great starting point and possibly as a source.  

Literature review

Rotterdam:

http://www.rotterdam.nl/stadsinitiatief

http://www.eetbaarrotterdam.nl/wat-heeft-eetbaar-rotterdam-gedaan/

Antwerp:

http://www.greenmarx.be/index.php?page=De-Moestuinbox (Pieter Marx is into UA)

http://www.moestuinbox.be/pagina15.html

http://www.volkstuinendeurne.com/

http://debeek.edosia.org/

General links:

City harvest. Demonstrating and promoting the benefits of Urban Agriculture. Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming. 16 Nov. 2011. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. Retrieved from < http://www.sustainweb.org/cityharvest/>

Deleware Valley Regional Planning Commission. Food System Planning: Municipal Implementation tool #18. April 2010. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. Retrieved from < http://www.ruaf.org/ruaf_bieb/upload/3304.pdf>

Articles:

1.    van Veenhuizen, R. ( 2006) Introduction to cities farming for the future. In: van Veenhuizen, R. (ed.): Cities Farming for the Future - Urban Agriculture for Green and Productive Cities , pp. 2-17. RUAF, IDRC and IIRR, Leusden, The Netherlands, Ottawa, Canada, Silang, The Philippines.

2. Drescher, A.W., Jacobi, P. & Amend, J. ( 2000) Urban food security. Urban agriculture, a response to crisis? Urban Agriculture Magazine, 1, 8-10.
3. Maxwell, D.G., Levin, C., Armar-Klemesu, M., Ruel, M., Morris, S. & Ahiadeke, C. ( 2000) Urban Livelihoods and Food and Nutrition Security in Greater Accra, Ghana. International Food Policy Research Institute , Washington DC, USA.
4. Mougeot, L.J.A. ( 2000) Urban Agriculture: concept and definition. Urban Agriculture Magazine, 1, 5-7.
5. Schiere, H. & Van der Hoek, R. ( 2001) Livestock Keeping in Urban Areas: A Review of Traditional Technologies Based on Literature and Field Experiences. FAO - La Ventana Agricultural Systems, Rome, Italy - Wageningen, The Netherlands.
6. Undp (1996) Urban Agriculture: Food, Jobs and Sustainable Cities. United Nations Development Programme, New York, USA.
7. Van Herzele, A. & Wiedeman, T. A monitoring tool for the provision of accessible and attractive urban green spaces. Landscape and Urban Planning, 63, 109-126.

Yvette, Annabelle and Melanija 

Fact of the Day

"There is increasing evidence that access to high quality green spaces can produce measurable improvements to stress levels in a relatively short space of time."

Julia Thrift, Journal of Public Mental Health (2005)

Hi guys,

I have been doing some research for our field research plan and I found some interesting websites. They are mostly specified on urban agriculture because that seems to me the most interesting subject. Here they are:
- http://www.sustainweb.org/cityharvest/  (Urban agriculture in reality. Case studies as well as the benefits of urban agriculture are discussed)
- http://www.urbaniahoeve.nl/ (Dutch urban agriculture project, there is even a video about it because Princess Maxima visited the project.)
- http://www.ruaf.org/ruaf_bieb/upload/3304.pdf (This is a pdf document about urban agriculture)

Good luck!
Yvette

Quote of the day

"The chief function of the city is to convert power into form, energy into culture, dead matter into the living symbols of art, biological reproduction into social creativity."

Lewis Mumford

Summary of the article 'A monitoring tool for the provision of accessible and attrative urban green spaces' by Ann van Herzele and Torsten Wiedemann.

Hi guys,

Here is a small summary of the article 'A monitoring tool for the provision of accessible and attrative urban green spaces' by Ann van Herzele and Torsten Wiedemann. The article is about the quality, accessibility and attrativeness of urban green in four cities in Flanders, Belgium. I hope that it will be informative to you! 

Yvette  

1. Introduction

Need for urban green: families tend to leave cities due to the lack of green space à urban sprawl. There is little attention for urban green in urban planning.

2. Concepts and definitions

Principles of urban green

-          Citizen-based

-          Functionality: ‘[G]reen spaces (…) aim[ed] to reflect the community’s needs.’ There are hierarchy systems for city neighborhood, a whole city etc.

-          Preconditions for use: (walking) distance, safety.

-          Variety of qualities: appreciation depends on culture, more visits when a green space has diverse facilities.  

-          Multiple use

Accessibility depends on mobility. Due to the fact that young children as well as handicapped or elderly people are less mobile, ‘small green spaces on the doorstep’ should be available.

Attractiveness depends on the relationships between elements in a landscape, park etc. As a result local surroundings should be taken into account:

-          Space: boundless green space.

-          Nature: connection to other organisms, variety in animals and plants.

-          Culture and history: social and cultural activities, landscape reflects its use.

-          Quietness: ‘soundscape’, people are longing for peaceful places. 

-          Facilities: supporting.

3. Study Area

Antwerp, Ghent (large cities), Aalst and Kortrijk (towns) are the cities included in this research. In the light of expansion, much open, green space is consumed.

4. Working procedure

Research done by observations of maps, in the field and by airplane. The study area consists of the urban core and 5 km of land around it. This can be split up into:

-          Urban Core: high density build areas. 

-          Green spaces: open spaces > 10 ha with biological value, sometimes fragmentized. 

-          Barriers: mainly infrastructure.   

-          Crosswalks: barriers mostly overcome.

The accessibility was computed by means of different maps in which green spaces, barriers and crosswalks were visualized. Attractiveness was measured by parameters of space, nature, culture and history, quietness and facilities.

5. Results

There are differences in availability of green spaces in the four cities.

a)      Due to the fact that Antwerp has a ring within the city centre, many green spaces can be found around and close to the city. Compared to the other cities, that have a ring much further away from the city centre, the quietness of the landscape is disturbed;  

b)      All of the cities: barriers to quarter green which is a problem;

c)       Kortrijk, green spaces only available outside the core city;

d)      There are differences in availability of green spaces within a city;

e)      Quietness is difficult to pursue;

f)       Building zones in plans reduce the availability of open, green space.

6. Discussion

      Indicators do not always give a complete overview, however adding more indicators would complicate the model. This undesirable as the model has to be an easy way of communicating about urban green;

      Values that are used with measuring attractiveness in a place vary, to solve this problem averages have been applied;

      Barriers are not impossible to overcome;

      Study uses simplifications;

      ‘Quality of the green spaces will’ be more important in futuristic urban planning, however ‘urban density’ absorbs the green spaces.

Quote of the day

"This City is what it is because our citizens are what they are."

Plato

Changes in the location and income of shops in and around the Lange Delft

  For this pilot study we decided to conduct a research upon the location of the shops in Middelburg. We focused on the Lange Delft and its side streets. When looking at the streets, our initial hypothesis was that; local shops have been replaced by the bigger brand shops and moved to the side streets.

For this pilot research we looked at and interviewed 16 different shops in different locations, in and around the Lange Delft. During our observations we compared bigger brand shops on the Lange Delft to the smaller local shops in the side streets (Appendix Map). Several questions were asked to conduct this research:

1.      How long is this shop settled at this location? 

2.      Has your shop been located at the Lange Delft once? 

3.      Did the big brand shops replace some local shops? 

4.      Do you observe RA students as your clients? And yes, how many? 

5.      Has the replaced affected the income and the number of clients?

11 of the shops observed at are found in the Lange Delft (Appendix Figure 1). These shops are: H&M, Blokker, Eyewish, Jamin, Jackpot, Didi, Gimbrere, Free Record Shop, Coolcat and Etan. The remaining 4 shops are found in Sint Janstraat and Herenstraat, these shops are; Adriaan & Olivier, Ryokucha, Wereld Winkel, Beau, Beau + and Stoffen Winkel

When interviewing the shops in the Lange Delft it was found that there were two time periods when news shops where located in Middelburg. The most recent time period was 6 years ago, around that time Jackpot, H&M, Cool Cat and Etan were initially located in Middelburg. However, they themselves don’t think it is because of the establishment of the university since RA students were not initially considered. The second time period was around 1980, most respondents, both in the Lange Delft and in the side streets, said that around that time most of the previous shop owners retired and didn’t find successors. The owners of the shops in the side streets also added that the renting prices became so high that it was impossible to open a new shop in the Lange Delft. Bigger brands bought the places and most of the little shop owners also stated that they did not wish to go back to the Lange Delft as the side streets would get better known seeing as the bigger brand shops located in the Lange Delft are the ones found in most main shopping streets in the Netherlands. However, it was said that some very successful shops moved back to Lange Delft and some shops like the Free Record Shop and the optician Groeneveld have always been a music shop and optician but became part of a bigger “corporation” after some years. An interesting dynamic in the Lange Delft is that the bigger brand shops are constantly competing for the best and biggest shop. A few years ago the V&D left Middelburg and immediately shops started changing locations. This made room for some new shops and again the shift of location occurred. Another interesting fact to keep in mind is that the shops in the side streets have no intention to compete with the bigger shops in the Lange Delft, and vice versa, but that they do compete fiercely with each other.[1]

To better understand the dynamics of these small local shops, found in the side streets, here is a short summery of what the owners of two shops shared with us. Firstly, Adriaan & Olivier (Appendix Figure 2) has been open from April 2011. This recently opened shop was first located under the Lange Jan, the owner then decided to start selling from her house but eventually opened a new shop in the Sint Janstraat. The decision of settling on this street was a positive one because it brought new clients and the shop got better known. The owner said that opening the shop in the Lange Delft was too expensive and so opted for this smaller side street. The RA students were never a target for this small shop and therefore the clientele is older and more local.  Ryokycha (Appendix Figure 3) is another small shop which sells ecological clothes and it is also located in the Sint Janstraat. Ryokycha is also a very new shop. The shop owner states that it is an advantage for her sort of shop to be located in a side street. Due to the fact she has a real specific target group, she does not feel like being located on the Lange Delft is necessary. The shop owner states that she does not compete with the shops located in the Lange Delft, but more with a similar shop located in the same side street.

In conclusion, the bigger brands did replace the smaller shops but mainly for the reason that most of the small shop owners retired. Some of these smaller local shops did move to the side streets but most of them are now pleased of their location, their income and type of clientele because they feel that they make contribute to the city’s culture and uniqueness which the big brands do not have.

Appendix

Map

  Figure 1           

  

 Figure 2

Figure 3                                                                             

Results Table

Name of Shop	Years in building	Years been on lange delft	Years been in the alleys	Place of previous shop	Audience
Jackpot	5	5	n/a	First shop here	Mixed*
Didi	14	30	n/a	Lange Delft (unknow where)	Mixed*
Yamin	14	? (more than 20)	n/a	Lange Delft ( Didi Building)	Mixed*
Blokker	6	15+ years	n/a	Lange Delft (H&M building)	General**
H&M	6	6	n/a	First shop here	Mixed*
Gimbrère	25	25	n/a	n/a	Female 30+
Eyewish opticien	67	Has been there before the war	n/a	n/a	General**
Free record shop	25+	25+	n/a	n/a	Mixed*
Cool cat	7	7	n/a	First shop here	Young 22-
Etam	5	5	n/a	Lange Delft (Building promiss)	Mixed*
Beau	4	n/a	4	First shop here	Female 30+
Beau+	0.5	n/a	0.5	First shop here	Female 30
Wereld winkel	15	n/a	15	First shop here	General**
Stof &co	28	n/a	28	First shop here	Special interest***
Adriaan en Olivier	0.75	n/a	0.75	First shop here	Special interest***
Ryokocha	0.33	n/a	0.33	First shop here	Special interest***

* Roosevelt students do come but they are not the targeted clientele

** All kinds of people but not RA students

*** Specialized shop, only people who have a specific interest generally come here

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[1] A summery of these results can be found on the table in the Appendix