Urban Agriculture

Community Gardens and Farms as Detroit Renewal Tools

As the city of Detroit struggles with population loss and dwindling industrial jobs, farms and community gardens offer the city a positive nudge.

May 20, 2011 - The New York Times

Pittsburgh Puts Urban Agriculture On The Books

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is promoting a number of green initiatives for the city, including new guidelines for the raising of chickens and honeybees in urban areas. The City Council approved the guidelines last week.

February 13, 2011 - Pittsburgh Post Gazette

'Urban Farming 2.0' Takes Off

CNN looks at the next wave in urban agriculture: commercial-scale indoor farms that are hydroponic, climate controlled, and LED-lit.

December 24, 2010 - CNN Money

Urban Agriculture Craze Boon to Farmers in Japan

Japan's yard-less city dwellers are increasingly drawn to "weekend farming" plots rented from commercial farmers on the urban fringe. Could it help the country's struggling agriculture sector? Kenji Hall reports.

December 6, 2010 - Los Angeles Times

Rethinking Detroit

Detroit reporter John Gallagher's new book "Reimagining Detroit" considers what it will take to remake The Motor City into a model that will work for the future.

November 17, 2010 - Model D

Urban Agriculture Program Gets Boost in Oakland

A small-scale urban agriculture project in Oakland, California is set to receive a $4 million grant to expand its work.

November 14, 2010 - Grist

What Urban Agriculture Means for Urban Design

Charles Waldheim examines the current trend's roots in design and architectural history and how it might alter city form.

November 9, 2010 - Places

Warehouses to Urban Farms

Yesterday's infrastructure can become tomorrow's agriculture, says Ed Harwood, by converting underused industrial warehouses and factories to hydroponic and aeroponic growing.

September 27, 2010 - Ed Harwood

The Local Food Movement Goes Online

Online tools designed to connect local farmers with consumers are helping sustain the local food and urban agriculture movements.

September 16, 2010 - Next American City

The Past and Future of Urban Agriculture

Urban agriculture is not a new idea. Grist's Tom Philpott says the renewed interest in the idea should look for good ideas from its past.

August 10, 2010 - Grist

Eating a "Town Meal" With Local Food

To publicize an urban agriculture project in Middlesbrough, England, organizers threw a town meal for 8,000 people sharing the food grown by the gardens. The growing experiment was so popular that many locals don't want it to stop.

August 4, 2010 - The Guardian U.K.

Urban Farming Rising

Urban agriculture is becoming a well-known idea all around the world. Most of it is done at the small-scale, but there's still the idea of creating large skyscraper farms to feed our cities. Smithsonian takes a look at the idea.

August 4, 2010 - Smithsonian

Innovative Ideas for Urban Agriculture

Non-profit TerraformOne held a design contest for ideas for creating productive green spaces in cities. Winners include plans to put seniors to work as farmers and a global system of levees.

July 29, 2010 - ASLA's The Dirt blog

Stackable Agriculture

Famed architect Richard Meier was commissioned by Wallpaper Magazine to design a model for raising animals in an urban environment. The result is a design with agriculture stacked up on different planes of a skyscraper.

July 23, 2010 - Architizer

A New Direction for New Urbanists

At the 18th Annual Congress for New Urbanists, Andres Duany announced 'Agrarian Urbanism' as his new planning emphasis. He believes that the success of New Urbanism has stultified its progress and reduced its potential.

June 15, 2010 - Fast Company

Locavore Movement, Ecological Concerns Spur Urban Apiaries

In an effort to help rebuild bee populations and support healthy diets and urban ecosystems, more cities are encouraging efforts at urban beekeeping.

May 21, 2010 - The Globe and Mail

Could Detroit Feed Itself?

It may be one of the worst food deserts in the country, but Detroit has enough open land in the city's 103,000 vacant lots to become self-sufficient in terms of food production, argues Mark Dowie.

May 1, 2010 - AlterNet

A Self-Sustaining Urban Fish Farm

The Massachusetts Avenue Project in Buffalo's West Side is an urban fish farm designed to be a completely self-sustaining ecosystem, with food for the fish grown on the premises.

April 28, 2010 - Buffalo News

Subdivisions Built Around Agriculture

This article from GOOD wonders whether farms could become the new cornerstone amenity in suburban residential communities.

April 21, 2010 - Good

Farming Settles into the City

The idea of urban farming has gone from fringe to functional, with backyards plots and small infill operations teeming across North America. Lloyd Alter takes a look at the trend.

April 7, 2010 - Azure Magazine

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.