Metodología de caracterización de la agricultura periurbana. Aplicaciones para la planificación de la alimentación del área metropolitana de Madrid

Abstract

So far, agriculture has been addressed by urban planning through its landscape dimension, as a component of open‐ space areas. Today, collective issues linked with the multifunctionality of agriculture and raising urban concerns on food safety, legitimize the consideration of agriculture in territorial planning through its productive dimension. However, even if existing planning tools based on zoning can be used to protect the agricultural land, they hardly take into account the specificities of agriculture as an evolving economic activity within cities’ sphere of influence. In this context, we propose a systemic methodology for characterization of peri‐urban agriculture units (USAPU), from criteria based on the structure, the functioning and the management of the landscape. Our methodology is appropriate to the scale of public action and operational for the practice of planning, and refers to operational levers that can be used as an alternative or as a complement to zoning. We will present the application of this approach to work in food planning issues of the metropolitan area of Madrid, and to evaluate the possibilities for relocalizing food systems following diverse scenarios at the regional level.