Integrating urban agriculture and urban planning in Mashhad, Iran; a short survey of current status and constraints

Urban Farm DB summary

A study addressing the role of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in Mashhad, Iran, from a sustainable development perspective, aimed at identifying conditions hindering and factors favoring its development. After framing the UPA phenomenon with reference to significant planning experiences in Western and Islamic countries, the study outlines Mashhad as a "city in transition," describes the institutional framework of its present urban planning, and shows the weak enforcement mechanisms of planning policy for UPA. It then presents a conceptual and material network of un-built areas potentially suitable for agriculture, organized into three classes from the compact city center to its periphery, summarizing physical characteristics, ownership, and resources for each, and concludes that policy, education, and social commitment are the three domains that can favor effective UPA policies and practices.