2 Reassessment of Urban Sustainability …
41
on transport and planning dimensions. Among those, he accentuated that a city having
a compact, mixed-use urban form has to efficiently protect the natural environment,
biodiversity and food-producing areas, and the city space in and around the city has
to be used judiciously for catering to the food needs. Trindade et al. [55] provided a
systematic review of the literature selected from three databases covering six hundred
and thirty articles using ‘smart city’ and ‘sustainability’ as keywords; addressing
the relationship between smart city and environmental sustainability as portrayed
by the selected papers and cited the issue of green economic strategies too. As
due to the ongoing processes of industrialisation, urbanisation and globalisation, an
increasing share of the goods consumed in the city is produced far away making
urban sustainability an issue beyond borders having global consequences.
2.5 Cities and Food Resource
For the first time in 2007, greater number of people started living in urban areas than
in rural regions as the population density is very high in the former one. The total
urban population per cent recorded in 2018 was fifty-five and absolute number of
people living in urban areas globally is more than four billion. It is projected that in
2050 it would reach close to seven billion [59].
Cities which house large number of people require vast areas of land for their
sustenance which are often not available within their limits and have to depend
on imported food. So, presently they are completely dependent on retailing food
distribution systems, based on motorised transport accentuating fossil-fuel use and
in turn air pollution. In general, the main problems that had been identified in cities
across the globe were home foreclosures and resulting vacant land, lack of access to
healthy food, hunger and even obesity. The vacant lands, open spaces of residential
plots and industrial and commercial rooftops have to be utilised to generate fresh
produce of vegetables and fruits through conventional gardening, intensive gardening
or hydroponics; to create poultries to cater to basic meat and egg demand and to pursue
apiculture for generating honey for achieving the desired level of self-sufficiency.
Food items are broadly categorised into—a. grains, b. vegetables, c. fruits, d.
milk and dairy products, e. meats, eggs and nuts and f. fats and oils [56]. Food
and Agricultural Association recommended a minimum of 73 kg/person/year each
of vegetables and fruits for a healthy livelihood [56]. Barrs [5] reasoned that grain
production is not appropriate in urban areas as the yield is low and production of
hardy crops are less necessary within the city limits. A portion of vegetables, fruits,
small livestock and honey which are part of dietary requirements can be produced
within urban limits.
41
on transport and planning dimensions. Among those, he accentuated that a city having
a compact, mixed-use urban form has to efficiently protect the natural environment,
biodiversity and food-producing areas, and the city space in and around the city has
to be used judiciously for catering to the food needs. Trindade et al. [55] provided a
systematic review of the literature selected from three databases covering six hundred
and thirty articles using ‘smart city’ and ‘sustainability’ as keywords; addressing
the relationship between smart city and environmental sustainability as portrayed
by the selected papers and cited the issue of green economic strategies too. As
due to the ongoing processes of industrialisation, urbanisation and globalisation, an
increasing share of the goods consumed in the city is produced far away making
urban sustainability an issue beyond borders having global consequences.
2.5 Cities and Food Resource
For the first time in 2007, greater number of people started living in urban areas than
in rural regions as the population density is very high in the former one. The total
urban population per cent recorded in 2018 was fifty-five and absolute number of
people living in urban areas globally is more than four billion. It is projected that in
2050 it would reach close to seven billion [59].
Cities which house large number of people require vast areas of land for their
sustenance which are often not available within their limits and have to depend
on imported food. So, presently they are completely dependent on retailing food
distribution systems, based on motorised transport accentuating fossil-fuel use and
in turn air pollution. In general, the main problems that had been identified in cities
across the globe were home foreclosures and resulting vacant land, lack of access to
healthy food, hunger and even obesity. The vacant lands, open spaces of residential
plots and industrial and commercial rooftops have to be utilised to generate fresh
produce of vegetables and fruits through conventional gardening, intensive gardening
or hydroponics; to create poultries to cater to basic meat and egg demand and to pursue
apiculture for generating honey for achieving the desired level of self-sufficiency.
Food items are broadly categorised into—a. grains, b. vegetables, c. fruits, d.
milk and dairy products, e. meats, eggs and nuts and f. fats and oils [56]. Food
and Agricultural Association recommended a minimum of 73 kg/person/year each
of vegetables and fruits for a healthy livelihood [56]. Barrs [5] reasoned that grain
production is not appropriate in urban areas as the yield is low and production of
hardy crops are less necessary within the city limits. A portion of vegetables, fruits,
small livestock and honey which are part of dietary requirements can be produced
within urban limits.