TY - JOUR
T1 - Optimize urban food production to address food deserts in regions with restricted water access
AU - Tong, Daoqin
AU - Crosson, Courtney
AU - Zhong, Qing
AU - Zhang, Yinan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2020/10
Y1 - 2020/10
N2 - Adequate access to healthy, affordable food remains a great challenge in many urban areas. Among a range of interventions, urban agriculture has been identified as an important strategy to help address urban healthy food access. While urban food production is growing in popularity, the use of potable water in traditional urban agricultural installations will exacerbate gaps in water demand and availability in water-stressed cities. This paper examines the sustainable capability of urban agriculture through an integration of alternative water resources, urban vacant land and local nutritional needs. A spatial optimization model is developed to best allocate limited resources for maximal food production to address urban food deserts. The new model is applied to test the capability of relocalized food production in Tucson, Arizona, a semi-arid region with the longest continuously farmed landscape in North America. Results highlight that urban areas with restricted water access can substantially enhance their local food production capacity in an ecologically responsible manner.
AB - Adequate access to healthy, affordable food remains a great challenge in many urban areas. Among a range of interventions, urban agriculture has been identified as an important strategy to help address urban healthy food access. While urban food production is growing in popularity, the use of potable water in traditional urban agricultural installations will exacerbate gaps in water demand and availability in water-stressed cities. This paper examines the sustainable capability of urban agriculture through an integration of alternative water resources, urban vacant land and local nutritional needs. A spatial optimization model is developed to best allocate limited resources for maximal food production to address urban food deserts. The new model is applied to test the capability of relocalized food production in Tucson, Arizona, a semi-arid region with the longest continuously farmed landscape in North America. Results highlight that urban areas with restricted water access can substantially enhance their local food production capacity in an ecologically responsible manner.
KW - Alternative water resource
KW - Food desert
KW - Spatial optimization
KW - Urban agriculture
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U2 - 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2020.103859
DO - 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2020.103859
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85085750361
SN - 0169-2046
VL - 202
JO - Landscape and Urban Planning
JF - Landscape and Urban Planning
M1 - 103859
ER -