Agricultural Urbanism: Lessons from the Cultural Landscape of Messinia

Agricultural urbanism is an emerging movement based around the idea of integrating sustainable food-systems and education with the design of the urban environment. A food-system includes the infrastructure and processes of feeding a population, from growing to processing, distributing to consuming, and finally, from recycling back to growing. However, a study of the cultural landscape of Messinia, Greece, provides lessons on how food-systems can be successfully utilized in the shaping and making of places. A case study method is employed in the analysis of three projects in Messinia ? Trion Navarchon Square (Pylos), Ammothines Restaurant (Petrochori), and Navarino Dunes Resort (Romanos) ? revealing design lessons that are at the foundation of agricultural urbanism. The lessons are applied to the design of the Greenpoint Food District, Brooklyn, New York, a proposed pedestrian oriented, compact, regenerative community that has a clear identity with food cultivation. Using a four-storey, mixed-use building typology that includes civic, retail, office, and residential spaces, the building form and landscapes are carefully interwoven to create the Food District. A rooftop urban farm, supported by regenerative infrastructure and agricultural practices, contribute to a sustainable community by providing opportunities in the neighborhood for social engagement, urban regeneration, and the fostering of a local economy. As the world’s population increases and the amount of farmland shrinks, there must be a shift in how we shape our urban environments. The lessons learned from the cultural landscape of Messina, provides an opportunity to better understand how to successfully integrate food with our urban environments. Food provides the opportunity to restore, invigorate, and transform how we make our communities and cities better places to live, learn, work and play. Addressing these challenges through agricultural urbanism provides the mechanism to shape the city into a distinct place dedicated to food.