From Community Gardens to a Metropolitan Food System

Year: 2019
Role: Author
Web: https://www.landscape-collaborative.org/publications/project-one-9xpbb
In: From the South. Global perspectives on Landscape and Territory. Sciaraffia et al. (Ed.) ISBN: 9789563740295

From Community Gardens to a Metropolitan Food System. Analysis of the Development of Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture in Santiago de Chile and its Future Opportunities.

The contemporary phenomenon of Urban Agriculture in Santiago de Chile has a diverse and complex origin which, unlike other Latin American cities, has never had food production as a central goal. Its discourses have been rather centered on social, ecological, political-economical, or health aspects, constituting a dynamic and growing constellation of green points in backyards and brownfields in the city. After over a decade since its practice was widely adopted, this urban phenomenon —at times articulated and at times fragmented—has managed to permeate only the first layers of the public agenda and to be a part of a few local and central government programs. Notwithstanding these achievements, today it is hard to talk about Urban Agriculture in Santiago, and it seems to be that the initial civic impulse that originated it has not been enough to generate a food system articulated at the urban scale. Along with this, the recent institutionalization process that has taken place seems to have stalled the potential impact that the diverse actors involved set out for themselves at some point, regarding transforming the way in which the city is built. This paper will make a revision of the recent history of Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture in Santiago de Chile and a comparative analysis of this phenomenon in the cases of Santiago, Havana, and Rosario under two criteria: the motivations that originate it and the role of public policies in the persistence of the activity. Finally, guidelines and considerations are proposed to enable this activity to become a viable food system.