Regulation of Farmland Conversion on the Urban Fringe: From Land-Use Planning to Food Strategies. Insight into Two Case Studies in Provence and Tuscany

Abstract

In the literature on urban sprawl, few studies have looked at possible connection between effective protection of agricultural land and urban or community food strategies. Our case studies in Provence and Tuscany show that planning prescriptions and land-market control are insufficient to protect farmland on the urban fringe if regulatory approaches are not integrated into a global strategy for agriculture and food based on community involvement. Farmland protection policies are more effective if they combine top-down policies with bottom-up initiatives and if they recognize the multifunctional character of urban agriculture, especially with processed goods such as wine or olive oil.

Acknowledgements

We highly appreciated the constructive criticism of the anonymous referee. We would also like to thank Dr Christophe Soulard and Prof. Christopher Bryant for their useful comments on an earlier draft of this paper and a native English-speaker, Leigh Kamraoui, for her assistance in proofreading the final version. We remain responsible for any errors and omissions.

Notes

Municipal zoning was set up in 1967 at a national level by the loi d'orientation foncière in France (law 1967/1253) and the Ponte law in Italy (law 1967/765).

Law 1983/8 and 1983/663.

The date may vary by region in Italy, because planning powers were first transferred from the Central State to the Regions in 1972 (decree 1972/8). Then Tuscany decided to transfer them to municipalities in 1995 (regional law 1995/1).

The Aix-Marseille metropolitan area encompasses 140 municipalities from the three départements of Bouches-du-Rhône, Var and Vaucluse (INSEE PACA 2003).

The Florence metropolitan area encompasses the three provinces of Florence, Prato and Pistoia, it was defined by the regional decree 2000/130.

‘il territorio e i paesaggi sono variabili dipendenti rispetto alle esigenze della crescita e della modernizzazione’.

‘la alterazione profonda del suo territorio o la sua distruzione’.

http://www.parcodellapiana.it.

http://www.rururbal.eu/.

‘Un enjeu identitaire, reposant sur cet équilibre entre urbanité et ruralité, un enjeu territorial et environnemental, fondé sur une occupation et une utilisation dynamique des espaces naturels et agricoles, face à une très forte pression foncière, un enjeu social et économique, en générant un chiffre d'affaires annuel de près de 180 millions d'euros et près de 10 000 emplois, directs, indirects et induits. (www.rururbal.eu/paysdaix/)

In France, the agricultural census counts only farms above one hectare of UAA. In Italy, there is no such minimum. It is therefore difficult to compare census data between France and Italy, especially those related to the number of farms.