Growing Food in the Suburbs: Estimating the Land Potential for Sub-urban Agriculture in Waterloo, Ontario

Abstract

This study uses Geographic Information System analysis to measure the land potential for urban agriculture in four sub-urban neighbourhoods in Waterloo, Ontario. Findings show that 49–58% of land measured has potential to support urban agriculture. In older post-war sub-urban neighbourhoods, the land potential is primarily in the form of private yards. Contrary, newer sub-urban neighbourhoods, incorporating new urbanist ideals, have smaller yards but more public green space. Challenges and opportunities for urban agriculture will differ between new and older sub-urban areas due to differences in neighbourhood design. The findings have implications for planning practice in terms of linkages between neighbourhood design and urban agriculture potential. Promotion of urban agriculture could be beneficial in post-war sub-urban neighbourhoods, which experienced decline in several North American cities. Conceptually, consideration of sub-urban agriculture opens up the possibility of exploring a novel dimension of the now internally diverse sub-urban landscape and the changing functions of suburbs within metropolitan areas.

Keywords::

• urban agriculture
• sub-urban
• neighbourhood design
• green space
• food

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the students in the graduate seminar on Canadian sub-urbanisms in the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo for helpful feedback and discussions related to this paper.

Additional information

Funding

Funding

This research is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada through funding from the Major Collaborative Research Initiative Global sub-urbansims: governance, land and infrastructure in the twenty-first century (2010–2017).