Technical tools for urban land use planning

In spite of ongoing research, in most cities throughout the world, little is known about the actual extent and spatial distribution of urban agriculture in inner city areas. Many questions arise: Where are urban agricultural activities concentrated and why? Who is involved? What kinds of crops are grown and by which groups of city dwellers? What contribution does the product make to nutrition and food security? What kinds of soils do urban agriculturalists prefer? How available is water and what is its quality? How far does the producer have to travel to market the products grown? In many countries, an important and so far unsolved problem is how to devise appropriate methodologies to integrate agricultural activities in cities into urban planning processes. 1. The basic principles and tools of urban planning The most commonly used planning tools are master plans, strategic plans and structural plans (Dowall & Giles 1997), including different zoning measures. Experience has shown that general and master plans tend to be static and prescriptive, based on the assumption that cities grow slowly. They also tend to ignore how household and commercial-sector demands for land change in response to price fluctuations (VAN DEN BERG 2000)