Integrating Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture into Public Policies to Improve Urban Growth: São Paulo as a Case Study Thiago Soares Barbizan Prof. Dipl-Ing Undine Giseke Integrating urban and peri-urban agriculture into public policies to improve urban growth: São Paulo as a case study THIAGO SOARES BARBIZAN PROF. DIPL.-ING UNDINE GISEKE February 17th 2011 Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the “Degree of Master of Science” at the University of Technology, Berlin Technische Universität Berlin Urban Management Studies Berlin, Germany 2011 BARBIZAN, T. S. (2011) Integrating urban and peri-urban agriculture into public policies to improve urban growth: São Paulo as a case study, unpublished thesis, TU Berlin Thiago Soares Barbizan (329519) Technische Universität Berlin Urban Management Master Studies Fakultät VI Berlin, Germany STATEMENT OF AUTHENTICITY OF MATERIAL This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any institution and to the best of my knowledge and belief, the research contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text of the thesis. Thiago Soares Barbizan Berlin, February 17th 2011 “A man needs to travel to places he doesn't know for breaking this arrogance that causes us to see the world as we imagine it, and not simply as it is or may be. That makes us teachers and doctors of what we have never seen, when we should just be students, and simply go there and see it." Amyr Klink ABSTRACT In the last decades increasing support for and promotion of urban and peri-urban agriculture has been made, but little research investigates its political and policy dimensions. This research aims to contribute in this sense. Therefore, it underlines the topic of pro-urban agriculture policies aiming to investigate the extent to which the provision of agricultural use to idle, vacant and underutilized land close to informal settlements in urban areas and the preservation and conservation of agricultural land in peri-urban areas could prevent informal expansion. The study focus on the conceptualization of urban and peri-urban agriculture provided by the Urban Agriculture Casablanca project and the Continuous Productive Urban Landscapes proposal to explore and analyze a NGO initiative in São Paulo, Brazil, through the Cities without Hunger and Community Gardens project. Hence, the research is based on qualitative methods such as literature review, observation, subjective viewpoints, mapping and interviews. The research findings suggests that a multi level strategy approach, integrating bottom-up and top-down actions, is necessary to better explore the true scope that urban and peri-urban agriculture would have if applied as a policy mechanism related to urban growth, integrating existing agricultural productive land into the urbanization process while transforming the cities open spaces into productive green infrastructures and resource efficient systems. Keywords: urban and peri-urban agriculture, public policies, urban redevelopment, community organization, land governance, food and nutritional security, urban and rural linkages ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “What I do not know is my best part.” Clarice Lispector I would like to thank Prof. Undine Giseke for her incentive to the research as well as her patient, informative and honest advice; and the essential support from the Urban Agriculture Casablanca project staff. Mr. Hans Dieter Temp for having me in São Paulo and facilitating my fieldwork while presenting the Cities without Hunger and Community Gardens project, providing relevant and important guidance that often went even beyond the content of this thesis. I am also very grateful for the interviewees who, with their expertise, provided new insights for the research. Dr. Bettina Hamann, Katarzyna Golab and Carsten Dittus for the constant attention and support. Sven Gauder, Fernando Haddad, Beata Bison, Pedro Caixeta and Nikolas Granitza, for being my family in Berlin. Special thanks to my master‟s colleagues: Abakisi Lincoln Brown, Altami Chrysan Arasty, Ana Isabel Ruiz Remolina, Ana Laura Felix Carlos, Carolina Vanderhuck, Claus Rabe, Febyana Suryaningrum, Izabel Torres C. Rennó, Karima Momen, Kurdo Ihsan Abdullsamad, Luis Beltran del Rio Garcia, Mohammad Ishtiuq Hossain, Paula Vianna Queiroz e Souza, Rui Santos, Soo Hyun Kim and Vicente Sandoval Henriquez; for sharing their wisdom while teaching me to see and experience the world through their eyes. Lastly, I would like to dedicate this thesis to my parents, José Antônio Barbizan and Suely Rodrigues Soares Barbizan, and my siblings Robson and Yasmin, who enable and support all my dreams and with whom I share the happiness of my achievements. Thiago Soares Barbizan TABLE OF CONTENT 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 2 1.1 Background ......................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Problem Discussion ............................................................................................. 4 1.3 Hypothesis and Research Questions .................................................................... 6 1.4 Research Design .................................................................................................. 7 1.5 Research Methods .............................................................................................. 9 1.6 Research Content .............................................................................................. 11 2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ........................................................................... 13 2.1 Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture...................................................................... 14 2.1.1 Definitions .......................................................................................................................... 15 2.2 Informality as a mode of urbanization ............................................................... 18 2.3 Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture: Potentials and Constraints ............................ 19 2.3.1 Food Security ..................................................................................................................... 20 2.3.2 Poverty Alleviation ............................................................................................................ 21 2.3.3 Environment and public health ......................................................................................... 22 2.3.4 Achieving Sustainability .................................................................................................... 24 2.4 Urban Agriculture Casablanca ............................................................................ 29 2.5 Multifunctional Urban Spatial Systems and Continuous Productive Urban Landscapes (CPULs) ....................................................................................................... 36 2.6 Land Governance and Property Rights ............................................................... 40 3 CITIES WITHOUT HUNGER AND COMMUNITY GARDENS PROJECT .................... 46 3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 46 3.1.1 São Paulo............................................................................................................................ 46 3.1.2 Not Rural or Urban: The Peri-Urban Interface .................................................................. 51 3.1.3 Land Market ....................................................................................................................... 54 3.2 Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture in São Paulo .................................................. 57 3.2.1 Cities without Hunger and Community Gardens Project – Early Years and Establishment 57 3.2.2 The East Zone – Urbanization Process .............................................................................. 58 3.2.3 The East Zone – Socio Economic Profile ............................................................................ 61 3.2.4 The Gardens – PROMORAR II Community Garden ........................................................... 63 3.2.5 Linking urban and rural – Horta Sete Cruzes ..................................................................... 74 3.3 Analysis of Findings: the impacts of Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture ............... 78 3.3.1 Urban Agriculture as space for regional food production. ............................................... 78 3.3.2 Urban Agriculture as beautiful, productive and recreational space. ............................... 81 3.3.3 Urban Agriculture and resource efficient urban-rural cycles. .......................................... 84 3.3.4 Urban Agriculture and ecosystems services. .................................................................... 85 3.3.5 Urban Agrictulture as rurban living space. ....................................................................... 86 4. PUBLIC POLICIES ON LAND AND FOOD SECURITY .............................................. 89 4.1 Land Policies and Land Governance ................................................................... 89 4.1.1 Programa de Agricultura Urbana e Peri Urbana (PROAURP) ........................................... 93 Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture Program ...................................................................................