* landscape | Productive Urban Landscapes

Cortijada Los Gázquez is an ‘off-grid’ rural farm in the heart of the Sierra María-Los Vélez Natural Park, Almería, Spain. (image: Simon and Donna Beckmann 2010)

Discussing productive urban landscapes with artists in Andalucia

Last week, Katrin gave a lecture about Bohn&Viljoen’s work as part of her writing retreat in the artist-led Los Gázquez international residency in Andalucia, Spain. Using our work as a reference, Katrin spoke about the evolution of urban agriculture from a “fringe subject” in the 1990s to talking centre stage in urban design and planning…

Katrin Bohn • 22nd October 2018

The increasing number of exhibitions about urban agriculture and CPUL hosted by arts and architecture institutions and galleries indicates how these subjects are entering the international architectural and urban design discourse. (source: Bohn&Viljoen 2009, as used in the article)

连贯式生产性城市景观 (CPUL): 关键基础设施的设计 Continuous Productive Urban Landscape (CPUL): Designing essential infrastructure

During my research, I came across this article written by Katrin and André published in 2010 by one of the best landscape magazines in China – Landscape Architecture China (LAC) (now renamed as LAF) -, which most Chinese architects, landscape designers and city planners subscribe to. The main idea of this paper has been a…

Dong Chu • 8th October 2018

A field can be viewed from a platform. (Source: Biennal Internacional de Paisatge Barcelona, 2022)

Belvedere Agricultural Park, Germany

The Belvedere Agricultural Park sits on the Western edge of Cologne. It completes the outer green belt of Cologne, which was initially conceived in 1917. The Belvedere Agricultural Park received public fund in 2010 in order to be realised, after being a part of the Regionale 2010. The Belvedere Agricultural Park approached the design of…

Jasmine Cook • 1st December 2017

On the Brighton Greenway – vegetable beds and apartments to the left, wild flower patch and old locomotive track pillars to the right. (source: Jasmine Cook 2022)

Brighton Greenway, Great Britain

Brighton Greenway is a narrow strip of brown-turned-green spaces with a walking path through the centre. It leads from New England Road all the way to Brighton Station, though there are plans to extend it to the Preston Park area. The greenway runs mostly between 5-10 story apartment buildings. The central location and the heavy…

Jasmine Cook • 1st December 2017

Devil’s Dyke in the South Downs shows the hilly grasslands which so much of Changing Chalk will be focused around. (Source: Countryside Jobs Service, 2022)

Changing Chalk Partnership, UK

The South Downs National Park is situated on the Northern urban fringes Eastbourne and runs all the way across Brighton and Hove up to Winchester, spanning 140km. Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and led by the National Trust, Changing Chalk is a partnership soon to be undertaken across the downs with 18 interlinked…

Jasmine Cook • 2nd November 2017

The map of Land Use of the Down. (source: Brighton and Hove City Council 2020)

City Downland Estate Plan, UK

As rural estate covers much of the urban fringe of the city Brighton and Hove, the City Council has developed a green infrastructure project for it – the City Downland Estate Plan. The communally-owned farmland to the North consists of approximately 12,800 acres within the South Downs National Park. Acquired by the Council in the…

Jasmine Cook • 2nd November 2017

(source: International Bauausstellungen www 2022)

Emscher Park, Germany

Beginning in 1989, the declining industrial Ruhr region of Germany underwent a transformation as part of the Internationale Bauausstellung (IBA) Emscher Park. After the closure of most industrial plants and mines, there were many open spaces left and much wasteland. The IBA Emscher Park project was initiated by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with the aim to repair…

Jasmine Cook • 2nd October 2017

Drawing highlighting the permaculture system. (Source: The Food Forest Project, 2022)

The Food Forest Project, UK

This project in Somerset uses permaculture techniques to create productive plots of land. Aiming to benefit communities, they offer the opportunity to harvest free and organic fruits and vegetables, to engage themselves through a volunteering program which aims to improve mental health and to increase biodiversity and enhance the ecology of the areas they work…

Jasmine Cook • 1st October 2017

A wooden footpath leads through a grassy field with cable cars seen above. (Source: GrunBerlin, 2022)

GrunBerlin, Germany

GruneBerlin is a state-owned company delivering green infrastructure throughout Berlin. They operate over 700 hectares of urban open spaces such as ‘squares and parks, tourist guidance systems, sustainable mobility offers, [and] memorials’. With every project they undertake holding a shared goal of ‘to change Berlin in a sustainable way’. Their projects within Berlin have led…

Jasmine Cook • 2nd September 2017

A wheat field can be seen behind a trees. (Source: On the Grid, 2022)

Herzberge Landscape Park, Germany

Herzberge Landscape Park in Berlin replaces a former 100 hectare industrial space. What used to be a railyard and stadium is now orchards, paddocks and livestock. From 2003 the site has been redeveloped into urban agricultural lands and park lands. Sheep have been grazing the paddocks on a rotation system since 2009 and they’re one…

Jasmine Cook • 1st September 2017

A bridge connects to the city over a very large park area. (Source: Arena Zone Hotel 2022)

Jardín del Turia, Spain

The Jardín del Turia in Valencia is a park created on the old riverbed of the Turia River after the city diverted it’s path to prevent flooding. In 1957 the river flooded ¾ of the city, causing severe damage and 60 deaths, and so a plan was conceived to prevent future flood damage and ensure…

Jasmine Cook • 1st August 2017

Aerial photo showing expanse of the symbiotic landscape (source: Zhejiang China 2022)

The Mulberry Dike Fish Pond System, China

One of the food production systems we explored recently is the Mulberry Dike Fish Pond System. Being a productive agricultural landscape in its own right, Dong Chu suggested to revisit it as part of a potential Productive Urban Landscape. In 2017, the Mulberry Dike Fish Pond System in Huzhou, Zhejiang province, was identified by the…

Dong Chu • 2nd June 2017

The architects' vision of the park show the multiple functions productive urban landscapes can have. (source: VWA 2022)

Parc Agro-Urbain Bernex, Switzerland

In 2013, the state of Geneva opened an international competition with an open program brief. The competition asked for proposals that aimed to encourage interaction between the urban population and the agricultural industry, to offer a new ‘vision of the relationship between city and the farmed territory’ and to be a model of a response…

Jasmine Cook • 1st May 2017

Image of footpath through a space with garden beds either side. (Source: Jasmine Cook 2022)

Preston Park Demonstration Garden, UK

The Preston Park Demonstration Garden is run by the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership and maintained by a team of local volunteers. The garden is situated on the south-eastern edge of Preston Park, Brighton & Hove’s largest urban park. Brighton and Hove Food Partnership is a non-profit organisation which works with local businesses, other local…

Jasmine Cook • 1st May 2017

People stand on hte ground level and on a suspension bridge in a green landscape.

Productive urban landscapes, Peru

Over the past 50 years, the city of Lima has undergone a process of rapid urbanisation that has seen millions of people migrating from rural areas to the capital. Widespread urbanisation has deprived the city of much of its natural land, crucial for both agriculture, the environment, and citizen’s wellbeing. This devastating effect is now…

Jasmine Cook • 1st May 2017

Valley with rice paddies in the foreground and mountains in the background. (source: National Agricultural Exhibition Centre & China Agricultural Museum 2019)

Rice-fish aquaculture systems, China

The symbiotic rice-fish aquaculture system is an agriculture landscape in Qingtian County, Longxian Village, Zhejiang Province, China, which was listed by the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations ) among the first five globally important agricultural heritage systems (GIAHS) in 2005. The rice-fish farming, which could be traced back to 1200 years…

Dong Chu • 1st April 2017

Image: Aerial shot of Houtan Park (source: Turenscape 2022)

Shanghai Houtan Park, China

Turenscape landscape architects lead the renewal project of the Houtan Park’s Huangpu riverfront. Shanghai Houtan Park was built on a brownfield site in 2010. It is a regenerative landscape on Shanghai Huangpu river bank and won the ASLA professional awards. Its urban agriculture, ecological flood control and wetland water purification components are working as an integral…

Jasmine Cook and Dong Chu • 2nd March 2017

Map of the South-East London Green Chain (Source: Gov.Co.Uk, 2022)

The South-East London Green Chain, UK

The South-East London Green Chain was created in 1977 by the Greater London Council and four London boroughs – Bexley, Bromley, Lewisham and Royal Greenwich in order to protect the green areas from inappropriate building. Today it includes a fifth borough – Southwick – and links over 300 open spaces. The spaces are a combination…

Jasmine Cook • 2nd March 2017

Cyclists on their way through a wheat field, the city can be seen in the background (source: With Locals 2022)

South Milan Agricultural Park, Italy

The South Milan Agricultural Park is made up of 47,000 hectares of land including agricultural and forested areas, rivers and historic estates. It sits along the peri-urban belt of South Milan. The main activities undertaken throughout are agricultural and include the management of silvicultural resources, crop production, livestock breeding, and the ‘transformation and management of…

Jasmine Cook • 2nd March 2017