Urban food security, urban resilience and climate change - weADAPT

6. GAPS IN RESEARCH AND POLICY AND FUTUREDIRECTIONSIn this final section we describe the main gaps apparent in two domains: in researchand in policy and practice. The research gaps stem from our review of existingliterature which, while not claiming to be a fully-fledged systematic review, is sufficientlyrobust to identify areas where further research could fruitfully be undertaken. In thedomain of policy and practice, our identification of gaps is inevitably more contentious,as it involves suggesting areas of current policy weakness, areas where policy may behaving unintended and undesirable impacts and areas that may presently bedesignated as not appropriate for policy intervention.Moreover, in practice the distinction between research and policy development is notalways clear cut. Research often entails the study of food growing and processing inpractice – policy development usually makes some reference to existing research; andpolicy implementation invariably requires some changes to established practices aswell as the assessment of what works.These suggestions are intended to stimulate debate and do not represent acomprehensive profile of research or policy gaps.6.1 Research gaps and future directionsThe following topics are currently the subject of extensive research and could usefullybe addressed in future work:research on soil quality and contamination in urban areas, and on the impact ofairborne particulates on food grown in urban areas;down-scaling to the metropolitan level of climate change impact models withparticular attention to those factors important in determining the viability andproductivity of food growing;detailed regulatory impact studies of measures that govern the production offood in urban settings, including growing animals, food processing and theregulation of food sales;research on actual and potential yields from various types of urban plots andforms of urban agriculture, including aquaponics and intensive permaculturemethods.These scientific studies could best be undertaken as joint ventures between universitybasedresearch teams, bodies such as the CSIRO and research units withgovernments.Local mapping exercises will also be important in establishing the evidence base forlocal policy development:charting the extent and location of different forms of food production,processing, distribution and sale within cities and their peri-urban hinterlands;Urban food security, urban resilience and climate change 66