City planners and municipal leaders
For public decision-makers coordinating land use, permitting, food policy, infrastructure and accountable urban-agriculture portfolios.
Standard Book
Urban Agriculture
Planning Productive, Equitable, and Resilient Food Systems in Cities
ISBN 978-1-991367-06-8 · Global Climate Solutions · First EditionKnowledge for practical climate action.
Cities are turning to food production to improve access, resilience, public space, and local enterprise. Yet visible projects can conceal hard questions about land, water, safety, energy, finance, and who benefits.
Written for planners, policymakers, food-system practitioners, researchers, community leaders, and informed readers, this book offers a practical framework for choosing and governing urban growing systems. It connects soil-based gardens, rooftops, controlled environments, resource loops, markets, institutions, and investment to the conditions that shape real performance.
Robert C. Brears shows how to compare production models, assess trade-offs, protect health, structure partnerships, and measure outcomes without overstating what local cultivation can deliver. Evidence from cities and research worldwide grounds the analysis in implementation.
Readers gain a disciplined way to design portfolios of projects that fit local needs, manage risk, and strengthen urban food systems over time.
A framework for informed decisions and accountable action.
- 01
Define urban agriculture as a city-system capability and distinguish its public value, limits and opportunity costs.
- 02
Evaluate land, tenure, zoning, safety and urban-design conditions before selecting sites or production models.
- 03
Compare soil-based, rooftop, building-integrated and controlled-environment systems using operational performance evidence.
- 04
Assess water, nutrients, energy and organic-waste loops while applying health, environmental and resource safeguards.
- 05
Design food-access, aggregation, procurement and market arrangements that connect production to reliable local value chains.
- 06
Build governance, finance, equity, monitoring and implementation portfolios that fit local capacity and manage risk over time.
Contents
View the full contents 11 sections
- Introduction
Urban Agriculture as a City-System Question
- 01
Defining Urban Agriculture and Its Public Value
- 02
Land, Space, and Urban Form
- 03
Production Models, Technology, and Operational Performance
- 04
Water, Nutrients, Energy, and Circular Resource Systems
- 05
Food Access, Markets, and Local Value Chains
- 06
Governance, Institutions, and Regulation
- 07
Finance, Investment, and Economic Viability
- 08
Equity, Inclusion, and Community Capability
- 09
Planning the Next Generation of Urban Agriculture
- Conclusion
Urban Agriculture as a Governed Urban Capability
For readers turning evidence into action.
Food-system and public-health practitioners
For professionals linking production choices to access, nutrition, safety, distribution, procurement and community outcomes.
Urban growers and community organisations
For practitioners assessing tenure, operating models, partnerships, resource needs and durable stewardship arrangements.
Investors and development professionals
For teams evaluating capital requirements, operating economics, blended finance, non-market value and implementation risk.
Researchers and advanced students
For readers seeking an evidence-led framework spanning technology, urban form, circular resources, governance and equity.
Robert C. Brears
Robert C. Brears is the founder and editor-in-chief of Global Climate Solutions. His work connects climate resilience, water security, nature-based solutions, sustainable finance and the transition to more resilient cities and industries.
View author profile →Publication information.
- Format
- EPUB · Paperback
- Edition
- First Edition
- Publication
- 2026
- Publisher
- Global Climate Solutions
- eBook ISBN
- 978-1-991367-06-8
- Paperback ISBN
- 978-1-991367-07-5
- Language
- English
Explore the subject.
Urban food systemsLand and tenureCircular resource useFood access and local value chainsGovernance, finance, and equity
Read the book
Urban Agriculture
Readers gain a disciplined way to design portfolios of projects that fit local needs, manage risk, and strengthen urban food systems over time.
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