L’agricultura en els espais metropolitans. El cas de la regió metropolitana de barcelona
- Autores: Xavier Recasens Gracia
- Directores de la Tesis: Oscar Alfranca Burriel (dir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) ( España ) en 2020
- Idioma: español
- Materias:
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- Resumen
Urban agriculture is defined, as the agricultural and livestock activities that are carried out within or around cities. FAO's definition includes those services offered by agrarian activity that benefit the society.
In the global north countries, urban agriculture has been divided into urban agriculture and peri-urban agriculture. Urban agriculture is carried out within the cities and has no commercial purpose. Urban agriculture looks for other aims such as personal relationships, social inclusion and education.
Peri-urban agriculture is carried out in the spaces that surround the cities. It has a commercial and business purpose. The border between peri-urban and rural areas has no clear definition in literature and commonly accepted.
The problems of peri-urban farmers are the same as those of rural farmers, although we must add urban pressure, high land prices, human pressure and job opportunities offered by the city. But on the other hand, to be close to consumers offers opportunities for peri-urban farmers, if they adapt their business model to meet the needs of their closest neighbors.
In the European Project COST - Action Urban Agriculture Europe, we defined different strategies that can be chosen by peri-urban farmers for their farm holdings. These strategies are: a differentiation of production; a diversification of the activity with off-farm activities; a production at low cost, that is, an intensification of production for products with high added value such as vegetables or ornamental plants; Communes, in which members take advantage of the alternative food networks and the relationships that can be established between producers and consumers,; and finally the experience where it is more important to sell an experience than to sell a product.
If we apply the criteria of the OECD to establish the boundaries of peri-urban areas and the limits of urban / rural, we find that all the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona (RMB) can be considered peri-urban.
Crops represent around 7 - 11% of the RMB surface. This territorial occupation makes agriculture indispensable both for the configuration of diverse habitats, and as the landscape.
There are no climatological conditions that limit agricultural activity. There are several courses of water and underground water reservoirs for irrigation. Good evidence of this are the various irrigator communities and the groundwater uses.
Agriculture in peri urban areas of developed countries has little weight in job opportunities as well as in the Gross Added Value if we compare it with other sectors of the economy.
Territorial planning must include, among other objectives, balanced territorial development and a responsible management of natural resources.
In the territorial planning of the RMB a set of agricultural interest areas are defined. These areas of interest do not have a uniform distribution in the territory. They are basically related to irrigated areas, orchards and ornamental plants crops. The water masses, from where irrigation water is extracted, are threatened by saline intrusion or overexploitation. This distribution of areas of agricultural interest does not take into account climate change and the problems it can cause in peri-urban agricultural areas.
Two very specific sectors of peri urban agriculture of the RMB have been studied. These sectors are wine production within the Protected Denomination of Origin. Alella and the ornamental plant crops. Both sectors have a relevant history in the area of study and take advantage of their situation in a peri urban space. The wineries take advantage of the demand for new products such as single wines, natural wines, as well as the need to receive cultural and leisure experiences in the world of wine and vines. On the other hand, the ornamental plant sector takes advantage of the infrastructures within and around cities, which allow both to receive the necessary materials for its productive process and to sell its produce.
