TY - JOUR
T1 - Urban horticulture for food secure cities through and beyond covid-19
AU - Khan, Muhammad Mumtaz
AU - Akram, Muhammad Tahir
AU - Janke, Rhonda
AU - Qadri, Rashad Waseem Khan
AU - Al-Sadi, Abdullah Mohammed
AU - Farooque, Aitazaz A.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This research study was supported through a research project “EG/AGR/CROP/12/03”.
Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: We greatly acknowledge the Sultan Qaboos University, Oman for financial and academic support.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/11/2
Y1 - 2020/11/2
N2 - Sufficient production, consistent food supply, and environmental protection in urban +settings are major global concerns for future sustainable cities. Currently, sustainable food supply is under intense pressure due to exponential population growth, expanding urban dwellings, climate change, and limited natural resources. The recent novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic crisis has impacted sustainable fresh food supply, and has disrupted the food supply chain and prices significantly. Under these circumstances, urban horticulture and crop cultivation have emerged as potential ways to expand to new locations through urban green infrastructure. Therefore, the objective of this study is to review the salient features of contemporary urban horticulture, in addition to illustrating traditional and innovative developments occurring in urban environments. Current urban cropping systems, such as home gardening, community gardens, edible landscape, and indoor planting systems, can be enhanced with new techniques, such as vertical gardening, hydroponics, aeroponics, aquaponics, and rooftop gardening. These modern techniques are ecofriendly, energy-saving, and promise food security through steady supplies of fresh fruits and vegetables to urban neighborhoods. There is a need, in this modern era, to integrate information technology tools in urban horticulture, which could help in maintaining consistent food supply during (and after) a pandemic, as well as make agriculture more sustainable.
AB - Sufficient production, consistent food supply, and environmental protection in urban +settings are major global concerns for future sustainable cities. Currently, sustainable food supply is under intense pressure due to exponential population growth, expanding urban dwellings, climate change, and limited natural resources. The recent novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic crisis has impacted sustainable fresh food supply, and has disrupted the food supply chain and prices significantly. Under these circumstances, urban horticulture and crop cultivation have emerged as potential ways to expand to new locations through urban green infrastructure. Therefore, the objective of this study is to review the salient features of contemporary urban horticulture, in addition to illustrating traditional and innovative developments occurring in urban environments. Current urban cropping systems, such as home gardening, community gardens, edible landscape, and indoor planting systems, can be enhanced with new techniques, such as vertical gardening, hydroponics, aeroponics, aquaponics, and rooftop gardening. These modern techniques are ecofriendly, energy-saving, and promise food security through steady supplies of fresh fruits and vegetables to urban neighborhoods. There is a need, in this modern era, to integrate information technology tools in urban horticulture, which could help in maintaining consistent food supply during (and after) a pandemic, as well as make agriculture more sustainable.
KW - Cropping systems
KW - Ecological sustainability
KW - Hygienic food
KW - Sustainable food supply
KW - Urban horticulture
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096185239&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85096185239&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/afbeb1b1-437f-355a-bc4f-f1480d3ef06f/
U2 - 10.3390/su12229592
DO - 10.3390/su12229592
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85096185239
SN - 2071-1050
VL - 12
SP - 1
EP - 21
JO - Sustainability (Switzerland)
JF - Sustainability (Switzerland)
IS - 22
M1 - 9592
ER -