The focus of the Food Urbanism Initiative (FUI) is the influence of agriculture on urban design, and in particular new architectural and landscape-planning strategies to integrate food production, processing, distribution and food consumption in Swiss cities.
Background
More than half of the world’s population today live in urban environments. Because of continual urban expansion, landscapes around heavily urbanised areas are increasingly coming under pressure from peri-urbanisation. In parallel with this development, food consumption is also increasing with the rise in population.
In order to be able to sustain the quality of urban life, and also to secure urban food supply systems and safeguard the global environment, we must reconsider the relationship between supply and urban development.
Aim
FUI is studying current Swiss urban development with regard to its potential for integrating agricultural production. In doing so, design strategies on several levels
(building, neighbourhood, city) are to be drawn up and guidelines developed for future urban planning, which integrate city life and food production in harmony, and which facilitate solutions that are both economically and ecologically responsible.
FUI is conducted by urban planners, architects and landscape architects and is supported by scientists who cover a wide range of fields of research from agriculture to digital culture. FUI is analysing existing urban starting points, agricultural production systems, questions of attitude towards consumption and agricultural and spatial planning policies. The new design concepts based on these attitudes are to be incorporated into urban development, architecture and landscape design, as well as public discussion.
Significance
Projects aimed at promoting an urban agriculture require support, development and testing – the purpose of FUI is to contribute to this new field of research. The two areas of food supply and urban planning, which, though complementary, have up to now been considered quite separately, and are to be discussed in a constructive manner so that the complex relationship between agriculture and the city can grow and lead to new strategies for urban quality.
Original title: Food Urbanism Initiative (FUI)
Grant: CHF 547'955.-
Duration: 36 months
Project leaders
- Craig Verzone, M.A., Verzone Woods Architectes
- Dr. Lukas Bertschinger, Federal Department of Economic Affairs FDEA, Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil Research Station ACW
- Prof. Jeffrey Huang, Media and Design Laboratory (IC/ENAC), ETH Lausanne
- Prof. Bernhard Lehmann, Agri-Food & Agri-Environmental Economics Group, ETH Zürich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich)
- Cristina Woods, M.Arch., Verzone Woods Architects