ABSTRACT

Urban agriculture (UA) can be perceived as inconsequential to the immense industrial food system, yet is far from insignificant. UA offers considerable financial returns, production volumes of selected produce, sustainability benefits and prospects, and is of vital social value worldwide. This chapter frames UA’s dominant ideologies, influences, discourse, and value through six key dimensions: spatial, economic, social, environmental, practical, and intellectual. This multidimensional overview of the burgeoning field facilitates an inclusive perspective through which to critically examine dominant perceptions and better assess its possibilities and shortcomings in a developed world context. A clearer understanding of UA’s worth within governance, academia, and communities is imperative, together with an increase of skilled professionals instigating systematically designed and coordinated systems and infrastructures to overcome regulatory barriers and better harness its growing momentum.