Agriculture, Food and Landscape in Policy and Planning: Current Challenges

Dear Colleagues,

The relationships linking food, agriculture and places are at the core of future challenges towards the construction of a new complex paradigm of sustainability. The re-localization processes of food systems are a growing area of research attention. However, these processes have been investigated mainly through case studies and researchers have struggled to find an organic theoretical perspective, partly due to the difficulty of exploring the food phenomenon. The local food system, especially in the context of legislative initiatives, has led to the invention of numerous local development models: clusters, food districts, organic districts, agri-food, wine and typical product districts, involving stakeholders, operators and local administrations. These experiences reveal the value of local agri-food basins based on the valorisation of local production in both urban and rural contexts, but also the criticalities linked to management difficulties, the capacity of companies to aggregate, and the development of effective strategic developments.

On the other hand, food policies have accumulated an extensive body of literature, mainly in the urban context. These policies cover a range of issues related to public health, waste management, social justice and inclusion, short food supply chains, economic viability and environmental mitigation. Much more than for “food regions”, urban food policies are at the same time characterised by spontaneous and institutional processes. However, in the case of both food regionalisation processes and experiences and urban food policies, spatial and landscape reflexes are much less studied. In fact, these strategies could be read and studied as forms of the reinterpretation of planning and design tools suitable for integrating spatial strategies and agroecosystem governance. Future environmental, social and economic challenges require policies that bring together the local, regional, national and even international levels, that can adapt to the rural and urban dimensions, and that can read the spatial dimension of socio-economic processes.

Within the European framework, the proposals formulated in the new agricultural policy regulations take up the challenges posed by the European Commission's "Farm to Fork" strategy, overcoming the historical isolation of agriculture in community policies by framing it within a system of long-term objectives including health, food safety, the environment and competition.

The aim of this Special Issue is to collect theoretical and methodological contributions or local experiences related to policy capacity and food, agricultural and landscape planning. This Special Issue aspires to stimulate a transdisciplinary debate on the role and future challenges for planning and policies on the complex relationships linking agriculture, food and landscape.

Papers with a solid qualitative scientific basis, cartographic analyses, case studies and best practices will be welcome. This Special Issue investigates the following research topics:

• Innovating policy instruments to adapt them to integrate new governance models (between legislation and bottom-up actions) and cross-sectoral areas of intervention;
• The relation between food products and territories;
• Foodscapes;
• The role of typical production in the future challenges of agriculture;
• The spatial analysis of urban and peri-urban food distribution systems from a sustainability point of view.

References

• Sonnino R. Feeding the city: towards a new research and planning agenda. Int Plan Stud. 2009, 14, 425–435.
• Sonnino R, Faus A.M.; Maggio A. Sustainable food security: an emerging research and policy agenda. Int Soc. Agric. Food 2014, 21, 173–188.
• Ilieva R.T. Urban Food Planning Seeds of Transition in the Global North, 2016. Routledge: London, UK.
• Blay-Palmer A.; Renting H.; Dubbleing M. City-region food systems: a literature review, 2015. RUAF Foundation: Leusden, the Netherlands.

Dr. Aurora Cavallo
Dr. Francesco Maria Olivieri
Dr. Benedetta Di Donato
Guest Editors

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• landscape planning
• food planning
• urban–rural relationship
• urban food policies
• foodscapes
• competitiveness
• sustainability of agri-food chains