Growing Food in the Suburbs: Estimating the Land Potential for Sub-urban Agriculture in Waterloo, Ontario

Urban Farm DB summary

A study used Geographic Information System analysis to measure land potential for urban agriculture in four sub-urban neighborhoods in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Findings show that 49-58% of the land measured has potential to support urban agriculture; in older post-war sub-urban neighborhoods this potential lies primarily in private yards, while newer sub-urban neighborhoods incorporating new urbanist ideals have smaller yards but more public green space, meaning challenges and opportunities for urban agriculture differ between older and newer sub-urban areas due to differences in neighborhood design.