Agriculture at the Metropolitan Edge Program

In recognition of agriculture as an integral system for sustaining metropolitan regions, the Center for Global Metropolitan Studies is pleased to initiate the Agriculture at the Metropolitan Edge (AME) program. The AME program will engage faculty, students, and practitioners in an in-depth investigation of systems-based and place-based urban-rural interface issues. Through research projects, symposia, publications, outreach, and demonstration projects, the program will explore periurban agriculture as one of the basic frameworks for understanding and managing the growth of metropolitan regions worldwide.

AME projects will investigate urban-rural interface issues including land use policies and economics, role of local food systems and artisan foods, environmental services and impacts, and vitality of rural communities. Specific research topics identified to date include assessment studies of a proposed urban-rural interface intermediary land-use designation, and the quantification of values and functions of urban edge agriculture. A primary AME program focus for the coming year will be producing a symposium called New Ruralism: Planning for Agriculture at the Metropolitan Edge. The purpose of this symposium, scheduled for April 5th and 6th, 2007 at UC Berkeley, is to bring together researchers, practitioners, producers and policy makers involved in bridging sustainable agriculture and smart growth.

The AME program builds on last year's collaboration between the local nonprofit SAGE (Sustainable Agriculture Education) and the Institute of Urban and Regional Development (IURD). SAGE and IURD developed the concept of New Ruralism, beginning with a vision to preserve and enhance urban-edge rural areas as places indispensable to the economic, environmental, and cultural vitality of cities and metropolitan regions. This initial investigation engaged students in producing case studies, a preliminary bibliography, and a workshop for researchers and practitioners.

The AME program will be directed by Sibella Kraus who initiated the New Ruralism Project for SAGE. As a nonprofit director, journalist, and project developer, Ms. Kraus has received national recognition for her contributions to the advancement of sustainable agriculture. Recent awards include a Charter Award from the 2005 Congress for the New Urbanism for participation in the Coyote Valley Vision Plan; the Steward of Sustainable Agriculture in 2003 from the Ecological Farming Association; the Catalyst Award for Leadership from Project for Public Spaces in 2002 for developing the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market; and the Kathleen L. Barsotti Pioneering Agriculturalist Award in 2001 from the UC Small Farm Center.

The Center for Global Metropolitan Studies (GMS), one of five new interdisciplinary initiatives at the University of California, Berkeley, investigates the implications of worldwide growth in metropolitan areas. The Center develops strategies for better managing urbanization to achieve sustainable outcomes through research in environmental planning, metropolitan infrastructure systems, comparative metropolitan geography and development, comparative metropolitan sociology, and comparative metropolitan politics and policy.

For further information, contact us.