A dual trend for urban agriculture: the case of Montpellier

Although peri-urban agriculture has received substantial attention in France, very little research or public support has been dedicated to urban agriculture, defined as agriculture located within the boundaries of the city. The challenges and transitions required to support urban agriculture in the cities are poorly understood. This paper covers a case study on agricultural spaces in Montpellier, France. We included exhaustive mapping of all agricultural land within the city limits and twenty interviews to further explore diversity in urban agriculture. Our dual approach, geographical and social, intends to characterize spaces, practices, and representations of the actors involved, with an iterative view of the respective contributions of each of these dimensions. Within the municipal boundaries of Montpellier remain fields of annual crops, vineyards, truck farming, olive groves, gardens, and cultivated plots for research. In addition to traditional farms were identified and examined various types of community gardens and allotments cultivated by urban residents, and an agricultural park developed by the municipal council as recreational and educational public space. These agricultural areas are valued in particular for their landscape qualities, which grants them a privileged function in the city’s urban planning. Gardens are also developed by the municipality to enable the local residents to meet in a friendly place for communal gardening, hopefully encouraging communication between generations, and social integration. The agripark combines agricultural, recreational, and educational activities for residents and in particular, schoolchildren: it is a former vineyard acquired by the municipality to “encourage the presence of nature in the city, to preserve a quality landscape, and create a reservoir of biodiversity, providing a place for walking and recreation in a preserved vineyard landscape”. With this project, the city has integrated agriculture into its policy for biodiversity and green spaces. On all sites, the municipality requires participating gardeners to follow the practices and principles of organic farming. The results show that urban agriculture performs a variety of functions including and beyond traditional food production. All the forms of agriculture claim a stake in city planning, environmental issues, socialization, and in general, the quality of life of urban residents. But there are divergent trends in urban agriculture as evidenced by the diminishing presence of professional farms and the emergence of new forms of specifically urban agriculture. Understanding this dual trend, and the dynamics of the actors and stakeholders involved, is one step in any effort to assure the sustainability of the city.