Potential for Sustainable Urban Food Production in a Medium Scale City in Germany

Abstract

In Germany, the percentage of sustainable food production like organic farming increased in the last decades, but is generally still low in comparison to conventional farming. Organic farming provides an approach to increase the sustainability potential of the food supply in the frame of bioeconomy. The assessment of the potential of sustainable urban food supply was in the focus of the present investigation, having as investigation scale the city of Magdeburg in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Scope of the investigation was the feasibility assessment of implementation options as well as the perception of the consumers. Following systems were investigated for Magdeburg: urban farming, vertical farming and aquaponics. In terms of the use of urban spaces were considered roof farming, land recycling, as well as the refurbishment of former farms and greenhouses. The feasibility analysis was supported by an option analysis regarding the potential for the use of renewable energies. The results show that even the consumers are willing to pay for organic food, but there are too few sustainable, organic and local urban food products on the market yet. The needed energy for modern urban farming projects is still high in climate areas like the north of Germany. New technologies and the assessment of renewable energy source potential for urban food production is a site specific decision, which might ensure the support of the operational cost of the urban food production systems.