Scalability of Urban Agriculture

Urban Farm DB summary

Taking Alfred Caldwell's mid-century vision of small-scale farming as social empowerment as its starting point, this study examines three distinct urban farming approaches in Chicago—spanning raised-bed farming, aquaponics, hydroponics, and permaculture across a nonprofit, a community group, and a private entrepreneur—to assess their scalability and broader societal and environmental impact. It identifies numerous opportunities for scaling up and concludes that a multi-faceted, multi-scalar framework is needed to grow urban agriculture within resilient cities.