Urban lands for agricultural use: soft management of the ecology state

Agricultural lands occupy a special place in the structure of urban lands. There are horticultural and gardening associations on these lands. The “belts” of horticultural associations surround large cities and small settlements; dachas and vegetable gardens play the role of individual subsidiary farms and recreation areas. In Russia, the area of such lands is about 1.5 million hectares; in the Orenburg region - 18.7 thousand hectares. Studies show that horticultural ecosystems differ significantly from the adjacent urban and agricultural ecosystems in terms of the characteristics of soil and plant cover. The reason for this is private investment in the development of these territories, which needs to be managed. For the consistent development of these socio-ecological systems (SES), it is necessary to implement a soft management system. The purpose of creating and supporting of socio-ecological systems in the agricultural use zone and suburbs is the formation of a sustainable complex of natural and social conditions for gardening and recreation of residents; optimization of the belt of lands separating the city from agricultural land to reduce the impact of adverse environmental factors on urban ecosystems (wind restriction, fire safety, pests, etc.); use of these lands as carbon polygons for capturing and retaining of carbon dioxide