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Innovative Commercial Urban Agriculture in the Paris Metropolitan Area

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Toward Sustainable Relations Between Agriculture and the City

Part of the book series: Urban Agriculture ((URBA))

Abstract

For centuries, Paris and its Region were hot-spots of innovative agriculture, chiefly in market-gardening production. In the past 5 years, as part of the global movement reconnecting consumers with food production, innovative commercial forms of urban agriculture have been emerging inside the city Through systematic surveys, regular meetings and direct involvement in the experimental design of new cropping systems on rooftops, we have studied the growing number of UA projects in Paris and its region. Three types of project can be distinguished regarding their relationship to cropping support: on-the-ground farms, “low-tech off-soil” systems with open-air cropping systems on rooftops, and “high-tech” greenhouse systems. Project leaders are from widely diverse backgrounds, generally have no agronomic skills, have a high level of academic education, and are very much in tune with the city way of life. Our first estimations may be used to measure the possible contribution of these forms of Urban Agriculture to the city’s food supply – a contribution that is still quantitatively small. Parisian and regional authorities are now supporting this emergence in various ways. Yet these projects still face some challenges, including difficulties in securing access to open spaces or buildings, and the current suspicion about the safety of agricultural products grown inside reputedly polluted urban region.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INRA, AgroParisTech, University of Paris-Saclay, UMR SADAPT, Paris, France

    Christine Aubry & Anne-Cécile Daniel

Authors
  1. Christine Aubry
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  2. Anne-Cécile Daniel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christine Aubry .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Innovation, INRA, CIRAD,, Montpellier Supagro, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France

    Christophe-Toussaint Soulard

  2. Innovation, INRA, CIRAD,, Montpellier Supagro, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France

    Coline Perrin

  3. ART-DEV, University of Montpellier, CIRAD,, CNRS, University of Paul Valery, University of Perpignan, Montpellier, France

    Elodie Valette

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Aubry, C., Daniel, AC. (2017). Innovative Commercial Urban Agriculture in the Paris Metropolitan Area. In: Soulard, CT., Perrin, C., Valette, E. (eds) Toward Sustainable Relations Between Agriculture and the City. Urban Agriculture. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71037-2_9

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