Urbānās lauksaimniecības koncepts, potenciāls un attīstības perspektīvas Latvijā = The concept, potential and development perspectives of urban agriculture in Latvia : promocijas darbs zinātnes doktora grāda zinātnes doktore (Ph.D.) sociālās zinātnēs iegūšanai

Culturally and historically, agriculture is a traditional occupation of the population of Latvia, but the improvement of the standard of living reduces the individual scope of practice and economic motivation. Growing food in Latvia is a cultural-historical and often family tradition. However, urban agriculture in its latest global trends, as an urban sustainability, technologically innovative and community cohesion-building practice, is a new, not yet widely adapted agricultural approach in Latvian cities and is mostly implemented for household self-consumption, therefore it is essential to evaluate the aspects and possibilities of urban agriculture in the Latvian situation. Thesis hypothesis: urban agriculture in Latvia has development perspectives, which are directed towards solutions to the problems of a socially active and involved society, the viability of households and the resilience and sustainability of the urban environment. The aim of thesis is to determine the aspects affecting development and the potential of practice in Latvia by studying the types of urban agriculture and international research experience. Tasks developed and solved to achieve the aim: 1) to research and summarize the scientific theoretical guidelines, conceptualization, development of urban agriculture and determine the role of urban agriculture in sustainable development; 2) to collect and determine the legal framework affecting urban agriculture in Latvia; 3) to identify and analyse the factors affecting urban agriculture in Latvia and the potential of functions; 4) to characterize the experience of urban agriculture in Latvia and determine the development perspectives. To achieve the goal, the research outline is structured in four chapters with sub-chapters. The first chapter describes the development of urban agriculture, its functions in urban development and sustainability. The scientific studies of various authors on the aspects of urban agriculture – factors, functions, motivation, examples of practice – have been analysed. The functions of urban agriculture have been identified and explored. The second chapter analyses the role of urban agriculture in the sustainability of cities and Latvian and international development strategies, identifying the potential of urban agriculture in the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. The legal aspects affecting the urban agriculture of the Republic of Latvia have been analysed and the institutional framework of urban agriculture in Latvia has been defined. The third chapter describes urban agriculture in Latvia and analyses the external environmental factors affecting urban agriculture. An analysis of the implementation of the functions of urban agriculture in Latvia was carried out, using expert structured interviews and content analysis. The fourth chapter analyses the practice of urban agriculture and its characteristic aspects in Latvia, using case analysis for the analysis of exemplary examples of community and commercial practice and a survey of Latvian residents for the analysis of the extent, motivation and attitude of the practice. Three perspectives for the development of urban agriculture in Latvia have been developed – the dominant one has been determined using the analytic hierarchy process. The thesis formulates the main research results, conclusions, identified problems and put forward proposals for solving them. The thesis for obtaining the scientific degree of Doctor of Sciences (Ph.D.) consists of 204 pages. The work contains 35 tables, 36 figures, 29 appendices, 464 sources of information are used, including 243 sources in English.