Urban food security, urban resilience and climate change - weADAPT

4.2.5 What is the extent and the impacts of urban agriculture inMelbourne and the Gold Coast?Almost all interviewees mentioned community gardening when asked to state whatsorts of activities and practices they would include under the umbrella of urbanagriculture, however almost without exception they went on to list a much wider rangeof activities, which we have summarised as follows:Table 1: Activities and practices of urban agricultureAquaponics / hydroponicsGuerrilla gardeningBackyard gardensChicken-keeping and micro-livestockCity farmsCommunity compostingCommunity gardensCommunity nurseries and plantexchangesFarmers’ marketsFood forestsFood swaps / exchangesGreen roofsMarket gardens / peri-urban productionRestaurant gardensSchool gardensSeed sharingStreet gardening and nature strip plantingTree graftingUrban beehivesUrban mushroom farmsUrban orchardsVertical gardensAs this list illustrates, the interviewees, both individually and collectively, had a veryinclusive and expansive conception of what urban agriculture is, and what it couldbecome. One expressed a vision of a city overflowing with food in many sites, a senseof sustainable abundance:I see it very broadly – community gardens, school gardens, restaurant gardens,market gardens, home gardens, office gardens, rooftop gardens, verticallyintegratedagriculture, gardens in aged-care homes, gardens for people withmental health issues, social enterprises incorporating food production – you cango on and on, the sky’s the limit. There would be food everywhere – the true ‘ecocity[Manager, social enterprise].Urban food security, urban resilience and climate change 47