ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a case study of urban agriculture in Singapore, one of the most rapidly developing metropolises in the world. At the same time, it is an example of a city that relies almost completely on importing food from abroad. Its authorities have begun to take note of the fact that urban agriculture may offer a chance to improve food self-sufficiency and they have started promoting food production solutions based on modern technologies. Singapore’s example is an opportunity to present the role and position of urban agriculture amongst dynamic population growth, building expansion and limited space, starting with a detailed analysis of the features of urban farms and factors affecting their distribution within the city. Research has demonstrated that top-down administrative decisions of the authorities, which strictly control any business activity conducted within the city, are particularly crucial to the spatial distribution of urban farming. The next discussed issues will include structural and production as well as organisational features of individual urban farms, along with the functions they fulfil. The research described in this chapter shows that due to the dynamic changes taking place in the city’s spatial and functional structure, urban agriculture – especially instances of it that do not match the directions of development promoted by the authorities – is facing a number of challenges and will be undergoing both spatial and qualitative changes in the upcoming years.
