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Urban agriculture (UA) has been researched in terms of how it contributes to a community’s health, esteem, resilience, bonding and autonomy. It has also been explored in terms of its environmental and ecological benefits. This research digs deeper into the mechanisms of socially-motivated UA operations that also provide ecological benefits to the city – such as increased habitats for wildlife and pollinator-friendly plant species. Through interviews with UA leaders, this research highlights how some Toronto UA operations might contribute to the City’s policy, planning and public space design responses to upcoming climate-related challenges. Socially-motivated UA operations do have the potential to be a positive ecological response to climate change in the City of Toronto.

Urban agriculture (UA) is one way in which designers and planners can address the sustainability of food supply in cities. A well-designed UA site contributes to urban ecosystem health, and provides social and economic benefits to residents. This research aims to create a set of UA design principles that enhance the environmental, social and economic services at the site and community level by examining the interplay of sustainability, aesthetics and associated values. Methods include reviewing UA literature, examining exemplary case studies, conducting site inventories, and performing key informant interviews. The data is presented in a sustainability criteria matrix, as aesthetic principles, and in a design element inventory. Analysis of the criteria contributed to guiding design principles that can enhance site and community level sustainability services. The research examines the proposed design principles in the context of Agricultural Urbanism principles, and outlines suggested research opportunities integrating UA and aesthetic consideration.

The goal of this research is to locate sites suitable for urban agriculture in the City of Nanaimo, B.C., and to identify those that enhance the city's greenspace network. Urban agriculture as a form of greenspace can provide multiple social, ecological and economic benefits and yet, urban agriculture planning is rarely included within community or greenspace planning. Through a focused literature review, three key informant interviews, and geographic information system (GIS) mapping, this study uses biophysical and urban-context criteria to identify public and private areas suitable for growing food within the City of Nanaimo. Seventy-five percent of parcels, or 47.5 percent of assessed land, contain suitable area for urban agriculture in general. Community garden and backyard sharing suitability constitutes 15.8 percent of parcels in the Townsite Planning Area (49.4 percent of assessed land) and 19.3 percent of parcels (41.0 percent of land) in the Harewood Planning Area. This research recommends that site-by-site assessments are required to confirm site suitability. The relationship between greenspace and urban agriculture requires further research at multiple scales.