Edible Garden Cities

The latest TCPA Practical Guide “Edible Garden Cities” shows how the planning process can help to bring about sustainable local food systems in new communities.

The idea of a sustainable local food system for a new community incorporates everything from encouraging healthy eating and community food-growing, to thinking about the commercial opportunities for growing, processing and distributing food within and beyond the new community.

While this Guide is focused on opportunities in new communities, the majority of its content is equally applicable to the retrofitting and renewal of existing places.

It is accompanied by an extensive list of resources.

At a time when new housebuilding is being prioritised and communities are increasingly concerned at the design and layout of new estates and the lack of design standards for individual dwellings, we are reminded that the Garden City pioneers recognised the importance of integrating planning and design with the way we produce, process and consume food.

The guide provides an overview of the policy requirements, background principles and current practices for embedding sustainable food systems from the outset in new development. Case studies show that designing places which include sustainable local food systems can also help to create healthy and vibrant places. The multiple benefits include:

• improved health and wellbeing;
• inclusive and sociable communities;
• environmental restoration and sustainability, including resilience to climate change;
• opportunities for economic development, investment and skills development; and
• improved amenity and good urban design.

Sustain has long supported this approach to creating Sustainable Food Cities. Our online toolkit encourages communities wishing to engage in local plan making.