Development Mechanism of Urban Farming with the Commodification of Rural Space in the Urban Fringe of Tokyo Metropolis: Case Study of the Sunagawa Area, Tachikawa City

Urban Farm DB summary

A case study of the Sunagawa area in Tachikawa City, in the Tokyo metropolitan fringe, analyzed the mechanism sustaining urban farming through the relationship between the siting of farm-product direct-sale stands and the commodification of rural space. Urban farming's persistence in the area depends heavily on the location of these direct-sale stands: because the stands sell directly to urban residents and are maintained to meet their needs, agricultural production continues. As a result, not only the rural landscape and agricultural land use but also the rural community itself are sustained, and as urban residents visit and buy from the stands, the rural space comes to be understood as both a production space and a consumption space.