Soulard et al. - Peri-urban Agroecosystems in the Mediterranean
Uncorrected post-print version
Published in Regional Environmental Change (2017), DOI: 10.1007/s10113-017-1102-z
Accepted, 12, 2016
Peri-urban Agroecosystems in the Mediterranean: diversity, dynamics and drivers.
Soulard C-T.,1 Valette E.2, Perrin C.1, Abrantes P.3, Anthopoulou T.4, Benjaballah O.5, Bouchemal S.5,
Dugué P.6, El Amrani M.7, Lardon S.8,9, Marraccini E.10,11, Mousselin G.12, Napoleone C.13, Paoli JC.14
INRA UMR Innovation, Montpellier, France
CIRAD UMR TETIS, Montpellier, France
3
University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
4
Panteion University, Athens, Greece
5
RNAMS, Larbi Ben M’Hidi University of Oum El Bouaghi, Oum el Bouaghi, Algeria
6
CIRAD UMR Innovation, Montpellier, France
7
National School of Agriculture (ENA) of Meknes, Meknes, Morocco
8
INRA UMR Metafort, Clermont-Ferrand, France
9
Agroparistech, Clermont-Ferrand, France
10
UniLaSalle, Beauvais, France
11
Institute of Life Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy
12
UMR PASSAGES, University of Bordeaux Montaigne, Pessac, France
13
INRA UR Ecodeveloppement, Avignon, France
14
INRA LRDE Research Unit, Corte´, France
1
3
Abstract:
To address sustainability challenges of agro-ecosystems located in Mediterranean urban regions, this paper focuses
on the multidisciplinary subject of urban agricultural systems. To better understand the diversity and dynamics of
peri-urban agro-ecosystems and the main drivers of their sustainability, we compare six case-studies located in
Southern Europe (Montpellier, France; Pisa, Italy; Lisbon, Portugal; Athens, Greece) and the Maghreb
(Constantine, Algeria; Meknes, Morocco). The research is based on fieldwork in each urban region (qualitative
analysis) and literature analysis aimed to position each case study in its national and Mediterranean contexts. The
comparison between local contexts indicates large discrepancies in the integration of environmental focus among
the respective urban planning objectives. Generally, urbanization tends to accentuate agricultural diversity. The
different forms of peri-urban agriculture evolve despite their persistent decline, and they also show a capacity to
resist, and even new growth in response to urban demand.
Keywords:
Agriculture – Urbanization – Comparative analysis – Qualitative analysis – Public policy
Introduction
The Mediterranean region is one of the areas in the world most exposed to the combined effects of urban growth
and climate change. The Mediterranean region covers roughly 854 million ha, but only 118 million (14 per cent)
are suitable for agricultural production (Zdruli 2012). The population is expected to continue increasing (from 446
million in 2000 to 570 million in 2025) and remain concentrated in cities and on coastlines. The peri-urban agroecosystems face major global issues. In order to address these threats over the long term, three challenges must be
met: the conservation of ecosystem diversity, the scarcity of water resources, and food security.
Challenges for the peri-urban agro-ecosystems
The first challenge is the richness and vulnerability of Mediterranean ecosystems. According to Underwood et al.
(2009), the Mediterranean biome is richer in terms of biodiversity than Africa and tropical Asia combined.
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Soulard et al. - Peri-urban Agroecosystems in the Mediterranean
However, this biodiversity is at risk. Urbanization threatens biodiversity, first through the ‘artificialization’ of
land, and also through patches of urban development mixed with wildlands that fragment habitats and increase the
risk of fire (Spyratos et al. 2006). A second challenge is the scarcity of water resources. According to Garcia-Ruiz
et al. (2011), the overexploitation of water in plains and valleys comes as a result of (1) urbanization (including
tourism and industry) and (2) intense agriculture through irrigation. These factors act in concert with the reduced
water storage capacity of rural areas, plateaus and highlands, resulting from agricultural abandonment (erosion,
landslides) and climatic change (reduced rainfall and snowmelt consecutive to warming). The third challenge is
food security. Agricultural areas of the Mediterranean have always needed to engage in trade for food. According
to Turmo (2012), the Mediterranean diet derives from trade among agricultural areas of the basin. However,
population growth has increased food dependency. According to AgriMonde (2009), the Mediterranean is and will
be the region that is most dependent on imports for food. Therefore, the issue of food security arises at the level
of trade between Europe and the Southern Mediterranean shore, but also between the Mediterranean and other
exporting countries (Hervieu et al. 2006). Local and regional exchanges will play a key role as interfaces of social
and environmental sustainability.
Agriculture represents divergent interests in the analysis of environmental and food issues: providing
ecosystem services and food, yet generating threats to resources. The apparent contradictions in these issues
suggest the need to adopt a systemic approach. Conserving natural resources during production, ensuring food
security, allowing the supply and marketing of agricultural products, and elaborating strategies for developing
rural and urban territories, are all objectives that should be part of the search for sustainable solutions (MediTerra
2008). In this Mediterranean context, urban and peri-urban agriculture can be viewed as one means for agricultural
development to make more efficient use of land. The scarcity of arable land, water, and the fragility of cultivated
ecosystems hinder the development of agriculture in the Mediterranean (Ben Ali et al. 1996; Nasr et Padilla 2004).
This explains the focus of the literature on one hand on agricultural lands facing urbanization (Jarrige et al. 2003;
Elloumi et al. 2011; Perrin 2013), and on the other hand on the internal contradictions of Mediterranean
agricultures, where both productivist and non-productivist intertwined trends (Ortiz-Miranda et al. 2013). In
contrast, research works on the diversity of peri-urban agro-ecosystems and their development in the
Mediterranean remain sporadic.
The Mediterranean agro-ecosystems in the urban and peri-urban areas
Urban agriculture still exists. Nasr and Padilla (2004) have shown that its presence in Mediterranean cities is
historical. It has appeared in various forms that remain an integral part of society: gardens, huertas, oases.
However, it has declined sharply with agricultural modernization and urban development. At the cities’ periphery,
urban expansion absorbs agricultural and natural terrains. The peri-urban agricultural that was once rural and
primarily oriented towards national markets and exportation is now found within the jurisdiction of urban policies.
Some local experiments on the conservation of threatened urban agriculture have been studied: the Huerta of
Valencia and the agrarian park Baix Llobregat in Barcelona (Paül & McKenzie 2013), the peri-urban agricultural
parks in Italy and Spain (Giacché 2014), the plain of Mitidja and the Setif region in Algeria (Imache et al. 2010;
Boudjenouia et al. 2008), the Soukra plain in Tunis (Bouraoui 2013), the urban agriculture in Casablanca (Kasper
& Rau 2012). These works investigate local initiatives that seek to enhance the economic, social, and
environmental value of urban and peri-urban agro-ecosystems. The studies tend to be focused on symbolic
locations, and have little relationship with each other.
Some recent publications have compiled summaries of the agricultural dynamics in urban regions, showing the
key role of urban agriculture in the food security of southern Mediterranean cities (De Bon et al. 2010; Hamilton
et al. 2013), or analysing agriculture’s positive and negative contributions to the self-sufficiency of cities in
developed countries (Mok et al. 2013). However, recent comparative work on the Mediterranean region is almost
non-existent, even though the region offers a particularly interesting perspective with its amalgamation of Northern
and Southern countries with contrasting socio-economic profiles but quite similar problems of urban expansion,
agriculture and the environment.
The object of our paper is to compare the relationships between urban systems and agricultural systems in some
cities of the Mediterranean: Are there contrasts between Northern and Southern cities? Do we confirm the
differences reported in the literature between developed and developing countries? Are the differences between
local contexts stronger? Are there some specific issues due to the Mediterranean context? In order to give some
responses to these questions, we will compare six peri-urban agro-ecosystems in the Mediterranean region, and
analyse their diversity and evolutionary dynamics, through an agricultural-urban systemic approach.
Method
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Soulard et al. - Peri-urban Agroecosystems in the Mediterranean
The methodological challenge of our work is to better understand the relationships between urban systems and
agricultural systems by looking beyond the ‘rural-urban divide’ separating urban perspectives from agricultural
perspectives, and examining the interactions between these systems. We used this systemic approach in the
comparison of six urban regions on the northern and southern banks of the Mediterranean (Valette et al. 2012). In
each case study, we described agricultural-urban dynamics at three levels: farms, local community projects, urban
region. Sustainability was assessed at each level through global and local challenges, drivers, and actors that foster
(or not) the links between cities and agriculture. To do this, we analysed urban sprawl, peri-urban farmland use,
adaptation of farming systems, natural resources management, public policies, actors’ strategies and territorial
governance. This comparative approach (Perrin 2015) shows how local issues of urban and peri-urban agroecosystems reflect the ways in which global trends (on land, climate or political issues) impact specific agroecosystems throughout the Mediterranean region. It also highlights how local initiatives and policies actually deal
with these global trends.
We compare six case studies. In each, we use two elements to characterize the urban agricultural system: the
diversity in agro-ecosystems and the dynamics of evolution in the city-agriculture relationship. The case studies
were conducted in six countries from the northern and southern Mediterranean regions, located in the west and
centre of the basin (Table 1). The cities involved have all been subject to sustained population growth and the
dynamics of urban spread, both compact as in the Maghreb and more diffused as in Southern Europe.
Table 1 Six case studies
Case study
Study area
Area
(local name)
Population
Surface, km2
(density, inhab/km2)
Growth (10 last years)
Ecosystems
Geography
Water resource
Constantine
(Algeria)
Meknès
(Marocco)
Athens
(Greece)
Lisbon
(Portugal)
Montpellier
(France)
Pisa
(Italy)
City region
(wilaya)
Urban
development
plan (SDAU)
boundaries
599 555
Metropolitan
Athens area
Lisbon
Metropolitan
region (RML)
Montpellier
metropolitan
(MMM)
Urban region
(Unione dei Comuni
Area Pisana)
3 737 750
(2011)
42
(8700)
1,3%
3 436 948
(INE, 2011)
9 497
(362)
5,35%
434 100
200 000
938 400
(wilaya)
2297
(408)
2,2%
633
(947)
21,3%
Plateaus,
hills and
plains
Low
Plateau
Coastal plain
Alluvial plain,
coastal plain, hills
Irrigation and
rain
Olive trees!
Limited irrigation
River, aquifers,
irrigation
Forest (and
corktrees),
Wetlands
Biodiversity interest
Shrubland,
Aleppo pine
Natural hazards
Flooding,
erosion, high
temperature
Drought,
flooding, fire
Cereals
Vegetables
Cereals
Orchards
Small and
large scale
farms
Agricultural
national
plan,
Plan Maroc
Vert (2008)
Zoning
(weakly
enforced)
Agricultures
Main periurban
productions
Types of farms
(average farm size)
Public policies
Agrifood sector policy
Urban planning
Specialized
farms (dry
farming)
Agricultural
national plan
Zoning
coastal wetlandsNatura 2000
coniferous forests
shrublands
natural pastures
Fire
423
(356)
13,8%
Coastal plain
River, irrigation
Mattoral, Wetlands
500
(400)
3.5%
Alluvial plain, Hills
River, reclaimed area,
coastal lake
Coastal Forest,
Wetlands, 3 Natura
2000 areas, a Regional
Natural Park
Flooding, Fire,
erosion, streams
and aquifers
pollution
Flooding, Fire
Flooding, Landslide
Vine
Olive trees
Shrublands
Small scale farms
(vine), Part-time
farmers
Rice, Vine, Fruits
and Vegetables,
Cork, Olive trees
Specialized
farms, small scale
farms
Vine
Cereals
Shrublands,
Specialized farms
(vine)
Cereals
Industrial crops
Livestock (cattle, sheep)
Small and large scale
farming, Pluriactivity (14
ha)
CAP (general)
Social policy
which includes
urban municipal
gardens
Zoning weakly
enforced
Mega-projects
CAP (Rural
Development
Program 20142020)
Zoning (urban
growth; natural
agricultural z.))
CAP
Zoning (urban
growth, agricultural
and natural zones)
Published in Regional Environmental Change - 3
CAP, regional
agricultural and livestock
plan
Zoning (urban growth,
agricultural and natural
zones)
Soulard et al. - Peri-urban Agroecosystems in the Mediterranean
Agri-urban actions
No Agriurban public
actions
Emerging
agri-urban
public
actions
Urban gardens
Wine Attican road
CSA baskets
Wine road
Short food chains
Urban gardens
Wine road, Agriparks
Short food chains,
Urban gardens
County food plan, urban
gardens, olive oil road,
short food-chains
Although the case studies cannot pretend to represent the totality of Mediterranean contexts, they do present
different types of relationships between cities and agriculture: (1) separation and competition dominate the these
relationships in Maghreb, in Constantine (Algeria) and Meknes (Morocco); (2) the relationships in the two biggest
cities, Athens (Greece) and Lisbon (Portugal), are equally scarce but demonstrate a resurgence following the
economic crisis experienced by the countries of southern Europe; (3) Montpellier, (France) and Pisa (Italy), which
are middle size cities, are characterized by a city-agriculture relationship at the heart of public policies promoting
sustainable development.
Constantine, Algeria
Constantine is marked with a long history of specialization in cereal production, political upheavals creating
insecurity in access to land for farmers, and national urban policies dominated by housing and construction
objectives. The economic viability of local agricultural systems depends on markets found outside of the city, in
Algeria or internationally.
Periurban agriculture is dominated by cereal production
There is limited diversity among the agro-ecosystems surrounding Constantine (Fig. 1, a). The land, flat and fed
by winter rains, is well adapted to cereal cultivation. To the north of the city, a huerta was developed on an
upwelling of water at Hamma Bouziane, the historic garden of Constantine. There are also extensive forest zones
of Aleppo pine, eucalyptus, oak, and cork oak. Traditional agriculture was historically characterized by social
inequality and a system of tenant farming on the land. But after the country’s independence in the 1970s, the
government’s socialist policies led to large collective farms on nationalized lands of European colonists and
Algerian land-holders, or on public lands. By the end of the 1980s and during the 1990s, the failure of socialist
policies lead to the restitution of land to the original Algerian owners or the reorganization of socialist farms into
a different style of collective (Exploitations Agricoles en Commun) or individual activity (Exploitations Agricoles
Individuelles). The irrigated land of small traditional peri-urban agriculture of Constantine (market farms and fruit
trees) has been largely overtaken by development, and today, the cultivation of cereal alternated with fallowing is
the predominant system of agriculture. Any diversification towards fruit trees and market farming is limited to
irrigated areas around the ancient Hama Bouziane gardens. The province of Constantine holds 5,941 farms of
which only 492 (8%) are irrigated. Beyond the uncertainty of available land generated by urban growth, the
agricultural sector is weakened by the naturally poor soil, adverse weather conditions, and a lack of water
resources.
The agricultural terrains remain a reserve for planned urban expansion
As seen throughout Algeria, the focus is on clearing constructible land to absorb the considerable urban growth
that has occurred for the last 40 years. Urban planning is conceived as identifying land to reserve for habitation,
commercial development and infrastructure. Agriculture is not part of the formula for peri-urban space. As a result,
farmers in the area are constantly concerned about the vulnerable access to land. Beyond the typical coexisting
property markets with different price structures (agricultural versus urban) that favour urban development on
agricultural land, the national housing policy prescribes low prices for the transfer of State lands (usually
agricultural) with the specific intent of supporting construction efforts. This policy has increased development
pressure on public land and resulted in the integration of large tracts of agricultural land into the urban perimeter.
In the most recent urban plan, 1,676 ha of land previously designated as agricultural (part of a grouping of 2,099
ha of public and private land in the area of Constantine) were designated for urban development.
Few projects integrate rural and urban systems
There are, however, some farms geared towards diversification: arboriculture and market gardening in the irrigated
zones (ancient Hamma Bouziane gardens), dry arboriculture, legumes (in crop rotation rather than fallowing), and
a few instances of poultry and dairy farming. This diversification is not significantly linked to the city itself and
suffers from the uncertain access to land and a lack of capital investment. Our research (Bendjaballah et al. 2013)
shows that diversification appears to be more prevalent among the larger farms in the areas of Hamma Bouziane
and Aïn Smara. Small producers are interested in diversifying but generally don’t have the capital to make the
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Soulard et al. - Peri-urban Agroecosystems in the Mediterranean
investments necessary. Any attempts at diversification are even more difficult when the farmer does not own the
land.
Meknes, Morocco
The province of Meknes is located in the centre of the Saïs plain, one of the most fertile areas in Morocco, and
Meknes owes its reputation to the prosperous, surrounding agriculture. In 2011, there were approximately 36,285
ha of agricultural land in the urban and peri-urban area of Meknes and its adjacent municipalities (Valette et al.
2013), including around 1,800 ha within the urban perimeter. In 2004, the total surface was estimated at 31,900
ha, of which 10% was irrigated.
There is a gap between urban and peri-urban agriculture
Intra-urban agriculture occupies three valleys (non-constructible) holding very small farms (between 75 a and 3
ha) with limited production in market gardening and arboriculture, and a few head of cattle or sheep (Fig. 1, a).
The farms are irrigated with water from the wadi and with city waste water (which affects the sanitary quality of
the products). By contrast, the peri-urban zone encompasses vast, mechanised and well irrigated farms. These
farms are primarily producers of winter cereals (77% of all cultivation), market farming (13.2%), and arboriculture
(27,7%), intensified with irrigation and inputs, including a growing presence of olive production. These peri-urban
examples of highly productive agriculture are the target of the Moroccan national plan supporting agriculture (Plan
Maroc Vert) which aims to transform Moroccan agriculture into mechanised production for export.
Public action threatens agriculture
In spite of national programs, the major threat to the sustainability of urban and peri-urban agriculture is
urbanization. In Meknes, there is a sharp contrast between (1) national agricultural policies addressing food
security and water management issues at a national level, and (2) urban policies focusing on social housing and
economic development. A remote sensing analysis of land changes in the Meknes region showed that 2.4% of the
agricultural areas existing in 2001 became urbanized by 2011 and 6.1% was transformed into bare soil, which can
be considered as a first step towards urbanization. Despite a history of compact urban growth, land speculation is
extending the perimeter of the city of Meknes faster than required by the increase in population. This urbanization
and its impact on farmland is directly influenced by local and national public policies. In the early 1990s a trend
emerged in Morocco advocating the privatization of state, collective, and guich (religious orders) landholdings, as
one of the best incentives to encourage farmers to initiate improvements. This perspective leads to the main levée,
a law endorsed in 2005 that allows a cooperative’s beneficiaries to become private owners of their agricultural
land. However, most farmers refused to invest and either sold their land at very attractive prices or modified their
farming practices (annual crops, fallowing) in a strategy of land speculation. Prior to privatization, there were 32
cooperatives in the Meknes region covering a total surface of approximately 15,000 ha with a UAA (used
agricultural area) of 14,000 ha. Since being distributed among 1,119 assignees, at least 3 of the cooperatives located
closest to the city fringe have almost completely disappeared (as of 2014), and approximately 60% of the remaining
cooperative land has been sold (Valette et al. 2013).
The few agricultural urban projects are likely not to be implemented
The hard truth remains that very few projects have been well designed to develop the synergy between agriculture
and the city. Two emblematic examples stress the divergent issues of agriculture and urbanization that we have
observed in this case study. First, the landscape plan for the Oued Boufekrane valley, designed by the local urban
agency in 2008 attempts to integrate agriculture into the urban system as one of the structural elements enhancing
multifunctionality (conserving urban green space, and food production). This plan sets aside 25% of the project’s
surface for market gardening, but it doesn’t specify the source of farmers or the mechanism for supporting them.
In the real world application, there appears to be very little political will to see this project succeed, even now,
seven years after it was conceived. A more informal project introduced as intra-urban CSA (Community supported
agriculture) currently led by a local association claims to promote and support synergies between intra-urban
agriculture and the urban population. A closer examination suggests that rather than developing a genuine
agricultural-urban initiative, the project’s main objective is to establish roads, a water supply and electrical service
in the valley in order to make it attractive to investors and more suited to welcome urban activities such as
restaurants and playgrounds.
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Soulard et al. - Peri-urban Agroecosystems in the Mediterranean
Fig. 1 Periurban agroecosystems in Meknès/Constantine (a), Lisbonne (b), Pisa (c)
a) Maghreb: Social housing programs in the periphery of Meknes. Periurban market gardening in Meknes.
Olive trees groves surrounding Constantine. Photos: Dugué 2014, Bendjaballah, 2014.
Abrantes, 2012
Abrantes, 2015
Abrantes, 2014
b) Lisbon: Subsistence agriculture in the periurban town of Almeirim. Unplanned subsistence agriculture in
occupied areas in Almada. Hortas urbanas de Almada. Photos : P. Abrantes.
Marraccini, 2012
Marraccini, 2012
Marraccini, 2012
c) Pisa: Mosaic of land uses in the urban region. Pluriactivity: cattle and horse breeding, direct sales of meat,
rural tourism. Urban sprawl: the airport enlargement on an old area of family gardens. Photos: E. Marraccini.
Athens, Greece
Peri-urban rural and open space of the Athens metropolitan area (35% of the national population, Attiki Region)
is marked by pronounced urban sprawl at the expense of open space. This has been the result of a massive rural
exodus after the World War II and rapid urbanisation in the absence of a coherent and efficient institutional
framework regarding land use planning and control. The absence of a national cadastre and forest register has
allowed illegal construction and encroachment on public land resulting in fragmentation of agricultural land, forest
fires, and spatial discontinuities with alternating residential patches, degraded scrublands and fallows.
A diversity of family farming strategies face urban sprawl
Family farming practices use a diverse range of strategies to respond to a constraining context; they must manage
geo-climatic factors and local specificities such as soil fertility, farming specialization, and vulnerability to urban
expansion: (1) the use of intensive agricultural methods (greenhouse horticulture, poultry), innovative methods
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(organic, Attican wine tours, on-farm sales) and remunerative strategies (market proximity); (2) speculative land
management strategies such as leaving land fallow, flexible cultivation methods (short cycle crops), and income
support from pluriactivity; (3) abandonment of extensive agriculture (e.g. cereals, olive groves) through
progressive fragmentation and liquidation of farms lacking succession (proximity of urban labour market) or
deduction in agronomic value (urban ecological burden) (Moissidis & Duquenne 1997).
In the Messoghia plain, urban sprawl continues
In the late 1990s, these phenomena were more exacerbated in East Attiki, and especially the Messoghia plain
(38.900 ha belonging to 11 Municipalities). The construction of mega-projects in relation to the 2004 Olympic
Games in Athens (including the new airport and peripheral highways) triggered counter-urbanisation phenomena
causing a population shift from the inner city to peri-urban spaces, and encouraged the transformation of littoral
residences from seasonal to permanent, further shrinking farmland and degrading the natural environment
(Nikolaidou 2011). Between 1996 and 2006 the population on the plain of Messoghia increased by 42% and the
surface of agricultural land was reduced by 36%. In particular the emblematic vineyard (the famous “Retsina wine
of Attiki”- traditional appellation) decreased by 52%, especially in the expanded new airport area (land
expropriation to establish major infrastructures).
The economic crisis showed that another paradigm based on localised agri-food systems is possible
The outbreak of the public debt crisis (2009) and collapse of the real estate market has dampened the frenzied
urban development in the peri-urban region of Athens. The economic crises also led to a broader questioning of
the urban consumerist pattern and living conditions. However, the public debt crisis contributed to the relaxation
of the national urban development plan (including legislation on specific building conditions on coastal, protected
natural areas, agricultural land) in an effort to attract international investors through privatization or concession of
public land. The self-managed urban farm of “Agros in Ellinikon” is an emblematic grassroots movement
conceived in metropolitan Athens (2011) to combat the large scale fast track privatisation of public land (620 ha,
former international airport). The farm (2,600 m2, organic, traditional seeds, vegetables and olive grove) which
focuses on food production for educational and social purposes (Anthopoulou 2013), was originally planned to
become a high green Metropolitan Park. Municipal allotment gardens are the most widespread and popular form
of urban agriculture in Greece. They first emerged in 2011 as a spontaneous initiative of municipalities developing
social policy schemes to tackle the poverty and depression of urban dwellers affected by the economic crisis and
severe austerity measures. There are approximately 25 small-scale gardens in the metropolitan Athens area. They
are primarily oriented towards vulnerable social groups with the intention of easing family food expenses and
enhancing social solidarity in neighbourhoods (Anthopoulou 2013). All of these civic and institutional initiatives
confirm the social need for food re-localisation and reconnecting with agricultural land. The economic crisis
highlighted problems in the post-war urban development model in Greece and the absence of an agricultural-urban
perspective in spatial planning. It showed that another paradigm based on localised agri-food systems in peri-urban
areas is possible.
Lisbon, Portugal
In the Lisbon Metropolitan Region (LMR), one of the most fertile regions of the country, a highly professionalised
agriculture co-exists with small-scale subsistence agriculture, giving the landscape a somewhat rural quality
through the juxtaposition of agricultural and urban spaces, be it within city limits, in its outskirts or in peri-urban
spaces. Urban expansion and sprawl have not been pervasive enough for this type of traditional agriculture to
disappear (Abrantes et al. 2013). In fact the rural exodus during the 1960s and later in the 1980s, the return of
Portuguese nationals from the former African colonies, as well as the economic crisis since 2009 were key
elements keeping and boosting agricultural practices and the tradition of farming within the city and it surroundings
(Luiz & Jorge 2012).
The crisis has given rise to new types of small-scale subsistence agriculture
During interviews made throughout the LMR, we identified three types of subsistence agriculture related to the
type of farmer and the land tenure: (1) Traditional subsistence agriculture that is practiced on farms or on private
plots waiting for construction. This is practiced by farmers and by landowners as a complement to employment or
income (Fig. 1, b). According to INE data (2009), this type of agriculture within the LMR accounts for 7% of the
national utilised agricultural area dedicated to family farming. (2) Subsistence agriculture called “unplanned”
(Luiz, Jorge 2012), is carried out on utility and restricted areas (e.g. near roads, transportation routes) and on vacant
parcels, many of those areas without the knowledge of the property owner. This type of agriculture is usually
associated with an elderly or unemployed population and can be found throughout the region but mostly in
suburban municipalities. The municipality of Almada (a suburban area on the southern bank of the Tagus river)
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has 537 ha of agricultural terrain, 60 ha of which are dedicated to “unplanned” agriculture. (3) An agriculture that
we have called “planned” (hortas urbanas), is practiced in community gardens, most of them were originally
unplanned gardens that have been developed by the municipalities and replicated both in urban and peri-urban
contexts. These municipal agricultural-urban projects keep expanding both in offer and demand. The population
has diverse social-economical backgrounds, ranging from retirees and former agricultural or industrial workers to
younger employees in the services sector. In the case of all three types, the production accounts for 80% to 100%
of the food source of each family (3 to 5 family members on average); and in some cases surplus products are
either exchanged or sold out.
Small-scale subsistence agriculture is progressively integrated into municipal master plans
The expansion of the hortas urbanas and its progressive integration into urban planning through instruments like
the Municipal Ecological Structure (e.g. Lisbon and Almada masters plans) or the Metropolitan Ecological
Network become a factor of permanence of these areas. These types of agricultural practices benefit from the
sustainability dimensions that they can provide, their contribution to environmental issues such as the capability
to create, regenerate and/or maintain green corridors, and their impact on socioeconomic issues such as income
generation for the families. The uncertainty and fragility of traditional subsistence agriculture and the unplanned
agriculture is related to their dependence on the variations of the real estate market on one side, and socialeconomic conditions on the other. However, the current trend of acquisition by the municipalities increases the
chance that these unplanned agriculture spaces will be transformed into community gardens (e.g. 51 ha of the 60
ha of unplanned gardens will be integrated into the Almada community garden municipal network, thus
representing almost 10% of the total farming area in the municipality). The current orientation of National public
policies towards self-sufficiency and local food supply indicates a promising future for the sustainability of
subsistence agriculture and for the strengthening of the relationship between city and agriculture at the scale of
these urban regions.
Montpellier, France
The viticulture crisis leaves space for other agricultural dynamics
The Montpellier region has a long history of a wine grape monocrop, but there has been a recent trend in
diversification of peri-urban agro-ecosystems. Vineyards still occupy the majority of peri-ubran agricultural
terrains, however, the surface in grape production has decreased significantly since 1960, challenged by a
succession of crises in wine production. More than half of the vineyards in the Hérault department were torn out
between 1974 and 2010. This crisis is linked to a drop in the demand for table wines, but it has also been affected
by the rapid expansion of the residential and service sectors of Montpellier. The population of the metropolitan
region tripled in fifty years, from 145,000 inhabitants in 1960 to 432,000 in 2012. This demographic growth created
a striking urban spread around the city of Montpellier and the surrounding villages. During the same period,
declines in the wine industry left land available for other farming systems: horse farms and forage cultivation,
market gardening and cereal crops. The spread of these agro-ecosystems in the context of intense pressure from
urban expansion is based largely on spatial mobility: they use the land temporarily until urban expansion overtakes
them.
Agricultural spaces and natural spaces enter the realm of urban planning
The relationship between the city and agriculture were also evolving during this period (Perrin et al. 2013). Until
1960, the growth of Montpellier was linked to the expansion of the vineyard and wine economy. Then between
1960 and 2000, relations between the city and farming grew apart. But since then, the relationship between the
two has been on the rise, and the city of Montpellier has come to tie high quality wines to its image. A list of
community support for the industry bears witness to this relationship: a trail of wine and heritage, an annual festival
of vineyards and wine, the promotion of wine and direct sales, the addition of a ‘Grès de Montpellier’ wine at
official events. In 2006, the city adopted a metropolitan Master Plan which includes specific planning tools for
farmland conservation and urban containment. In a complete about face, agricultural and natural spaces have
become recognized as a framework of urbanization at the scale of the metropolitan region. These strict regulations
have been incorporated into local urban planning of the peri-urban municipalities and have slowed the rate of urban
expansion on agricultural terrains. Nevertheless, not even the strictest regulations favour the sustainability of an
agricultural presence in the absence of existing agricultural projects.
Agriculture, nature and food favored the emergence of multiple urban agriculture initiatives
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Soulard et al. - Peri-urban Agroecosystems in the Mediterranean
In recent years, many agricultural-urban initiatives have emerged. From a top down perspective, the city fosters
new multifunctional farming systems in order to address two major issues: (1) environmental issues, such as natural
hazards related to floods and fires, and (2) local food supply through short chains. Such issues are key drivers of
the reconnection between cities and agricultural sustainability. These intentions are manifested by several agripark projects on agricultural terrains acquired by the city or the metropolitan region, with the objective of
combining agricultural production, forest and environmental services (protection against natural risks) and
recreation spaces for residents. The quality of life and the environment as well as food sources (farmers’ market)
is making peri-urban agriculture an issue in the small peri-urban municipalities. Livestock has been introduced to
defend forest land from fire risks, and maintain grasses along river banks or in fields designated to hold flood
waters. From a bottom up perspective, the demands of city residents for access to nature and gardening has resulted
in a program initiated by the city in 2004 to create collective and shared gardens in the heart of urban space. The
sustainability of this amateur urban agriculture rests on its occupation of the interstitial spaces between habitations
and its social functions. The governance of these interactions between the city and agriculture is still under
construction. An agricultural and food production policy was developed in 2014 which represents the first effort
to link the different metropolitan services and the peri-urban municipalities to encourage a return to cultivation on
fallow agricultural terrains, and promote agricultural production to supply the local restaurant industry and school
catering.
Pisa, Italy
Urbanization has had a profound effect on peri-urban agriculture and on the competitiveness of Italian small-scale
farming.
The number of periurban farms are diminishing, the remaining survive by diversifying
The urban region of Pisa (Tuscany, Italy) is composed of a coastal plain with cereal and industrial crops, livestock
and vegetables, and hills exclusively planted in olive trees. The plain and the hills are connected by a complex
hydrological system composed of two sub-systems: a reclaimed area and a bench terraced-based drainage area.
Marraccini et al. (2013) analyse a combination of stakeholder interviews and policy documents to identify issues
for peri-urban agriculture in the region of Pisa. The most frequently encountered issues were the quantity and
quality of water resources, food production and the protection of farmland against urbanization. Farmland
protection is integrated into several institutional and planning documents, e.g. urban planning at the municipality
and county levels (Marraccini et al. 2013), and has also been the object of regional legislation on the establishment
of a land bank for the management of abandoned or unexploited agricultural areas. Despite the importance that
policies accord to peri-urban agricultural land, the last agricultural census highlighted a steady decrease in the
Usable Agricultural Area (UAA) (16% less) and the number of farms (71% less) in the urban region since the
1980s. This decrease affects more small and non-diversified farms, whereas larger and diversified farms are more
adapted to the urban context (Fig. 1, c).
The hydrological network links plain, mountains and the city of Pisa
Water issues are quite complex and heterogeneous in the area. They are both localized (e.g. nutrient leaching
within a lake basin, underground water salinization) and diffuse (e.g. flooding). Although these water issues are
the most recognized issues related to peri-urban agriculture in the area, they are poorly integrated into territorial
projects and when they are included, they relate exclusively to sectoral water policies (reclaimed area and
protection against natural hazards) or European Union water regulation implementation (water plans and
vulnerable area action plans) (Marraccini et al. 2013). However, farmers and other land managers need to use
different practices, at the individual and collective level. For example, to mitigate flooding risks farmers in the
plain have specific tillage practices and manage drainage channels to let water flow, whereas olive growers in the
hills need to conserve bench terraces and their drainage system. A land reclamation consortium is charged with
ensuring proper water drainage within the whole system and requires farmers to maintain these practices locally.
Food issue links agriculture and the city
Food production for the city has been the subject of several territorial projects joining institutional and local
stakeholders (e.g. road of the oil, local farmers markets, and local meat labels). These initiatives were unified under
the umbrella of a provincial food plan (Di Iacovo et al. 2013) to provide local food and sustain local farms. In this
context, we investigated the ability of peri-urban farms to feed the local population. Filippini et al. (2014)
highlighted that the potential food capacity depends not only on the effective size and number of farms but also
on the collective actions targeting a product. The analysis of the beef and lamb production from peri-urban farms
and sold in the local food supply chain showed that most local beef production was sold locally under a local label,
whereas most of the locally produced lamb, which is not labelled, was marketed through conventional food chains.
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Soulard et al. - Peri-urban Agroecosystems in the Mediterranean
The relationships between agriculture and the city (agricultural-urban system) are defined by different issues
(water, food production, and farmland protection in the case of the urban region of Pisa) which in turn are managed
at different levels (farming systems and local policies) and target different elements of the agro-ecosystems.
Conclusion
Agro-ecosystems differ depending on the urban region. Around Athens, Montpellier and Constantine, the farming
systems remaining are the ones which are the more adapted to the constraints in water and soil (grapes, olives,
winter cereals). The urban regions endowed with better agronomic resources allow more diversification as found
in Meknes (the Saïss plain), Lisbon (the Tejo valley) and Pisa (the Arno valley). But pressures from urban growth
are evident in all these regions: the city encroaches on agricultural land, engendering changes in land use well
beyond the limits of urban development. But the retreat of agriculture in face of this expansion is not the only
phenomenon that characterises the dynamics of peri-urban agro-ecosystems.
Urbanization accentuates the diversity of agro-ecosystems.
Our observations indicate that urbanization heightens agricultural diversity. The disruptions and opportunities
created by the pressures of urban growth encourage the development of hybrid agro-ecosystems that adapt to the
specific urban conditions or conserve more classical forms. These conditions also support the evolution of multiple
agricultural systems, some of which may be declining and others which show a capacity to resist or even expand
in response to urban demands. These dynamics are perceptible in all six city regions, though in different
proportions. In some cases we can identify the effects of agro-tourism or the promotion of regional products due
to the urban proximity. These positive effects co-exist with the challenges to agro-ecosystems that struggle with
varying success, or evolve towards more viable production strategies. Other ‘alternative’ agricultural systems have
appeared along with production efforts taken up by urban and periurban farmers to serve the urban market. The
transformations in Mediterranean agro-ecosystems are complex and merit further analyses, not only from the
perspective of productivity and land use, but also in view of the advantages of developing the relationship of
exchange between urban and agricultural systems.
Our comparison calls attention to the importance of the national contexts for three large types of regional
agricultural-urban system. Firstly the urban regions of Constantine and Meknes exhibit a divide between the city
and agriculture, leading to segregated sectoral policies and urban policies which ignore the problems of remaining
urban agriculture and treat peri-urban farmlands as a reserve of land for urban expansion. Without local support,
the peri-urban agro-ecosystems are weakened by urbanization. Secondly by contrast, the urban regions of Southern
Europe have witnessed a renewal of the links between urban development and agriculture. The urban regions
surrounding Athens and Lisbon have experienced this renewal in response to the economic crisis. The fall in
property values slowed construction and the growing poverty encouraged the development of subsistence forms
of agriculture and food initiatives. Thirdly, the mobilization of urban actors has influenced the regions around
Montpellier and Pisa, regions less affected by the urban economic crisis, but benefitting from local projects
established to address agricultural, food, and environmental issues. These urban demands stimulate the
development of diverse agro-ecosystems: urban or rural, professional or amateur, oriented towards food or social
issues. The ‘rural-urban divide’, the resurgence of urban agriculture in times of crisis, and new projects linking
agriculture, food and environment, all provide research avenues that should be further explored to reinforce the
typology of these contexts and identify Mediterranean specificities.
Global and local drivers: What are the peri-urban agro-ecosystems of tomorrow?
The future of peri-urban agro-ecosystems depends on evolving factors, both globally and locally.
On a global scale, the divergent or convergent trajectories of agricultural policies and urban policies are
powerful levers controlling the evolution (or disruption) of peri-urban agro-ecosystems. Neither the support
structure of the organisation for national industry and export in the Maghreb, nor the Common Agricultural Policy
(CAP) in Europe, offer particular support for peri-urban agro-ecosystems: the agricultural dynamics vary as much
whether a function of production networks or that of urbanisation dynamics. But the development priorities of
urban policies in the Maghreb are very different than those in Europe, where they promote (recently) the value of
agricultural and natural spaces in urban regions. Finally, the question of climate change is one that is just beginning
to be addressed in the support directives of local policies (e.g. the recent local climate and energy plans in France).
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Soulard et al. - Peri-urban Agroecosystems in the Mediterranean
The future research on the ability of Mediterranean farming systems to adapt to climate change (Inglesias et al.
2013) should be applied to peri-urban agro-ecosystems.
On the local scale, the comparison allows us to identify other factors controlling the evolution of urban agroecosystems. First, environmental issues are major factors in the fate of urban and peri-urban agro-ecosystems.
Water stands out as an important object at the interface between the city and agriculture, whether it is a question
of managing the quality of the water resource or the quantity of that resource. This question includes the likelihood
of increasing periods of drought as well as those of flooding and the related human and material losses (landslides).
Fire risk is also an issue at this interface, justifying the preservation of open space around habitations, or the
reintroduction of pasturing livestock. The issue of biodiversity can also be a source of local mobilisation, much as
seen in the Metropolitan Ecological Network of Lisbon where the project came about as a response to the explosion
in demand for gardens, and will serve as support for an urban agriculture strategy. Second, the social movements
act as another factor promoting evolution. In Southern Europe, they emerge as new forms of community driven
agriculture, and involve a diverse public: the urban poor, the affluent, investors in rural land, etc. Even in the
Maghreb, the possibilities for such an evolution are plausible, given recent urban agriculture initiatives developed
in Casablanca, Rabat and elsewhere. Finally, local policies represent a third factor influencing the evolution. When
policies are developed on a city-region scale as in Pisa or Montpellier, the recognition of agro-ecosystem
specificities allows these policies to simultaneously address urban issues (food security), agriculture issues
(opportunities for local farmers) and environmental issues (risk management). Placing these issues at the heart of
integrated policies emerges as a challenge.
In conclusion, ten years after a beginning overview of peri-urban agriculture in the Mediterranean (Nasr &
Padilla 2004), the resurgence of these peri-urban agro-ecosystems is driven by a transition towards urban policies
which include agriculture and food issues. This transition must take place on large scales of space and time. As
underlined by Braudel (1978), Mediterranean cities were built on constant exchanges with their rural hinterlands,
and trade with the countries of Europe and Africa. Being able to renew and reinvent these exchanges in the current
context of competing resources and threats of climate change is a challenge for the future.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the French National Research Agency (ANR) funding via the DAUME project n°ANR2010-STRA-007. They thank all the members of the DAUME project, Ben Boswell for English language revision
and the reviewers for their valuable advices.
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