Urban harvest: An urban agriculture research and innovation centre for the University of the Witwatersrand

Abstract

Historically people have had a close relationship with food, with food being grown in near proximity to where people lived. However, through the industrialization of farming processes, people in cities have become isolated from the food networks they were once connected to, now only seeing the final product in the isles of a supermarket or informal trade spaces. Due to this disconnect, we have lost our appreciation for food, which results in huge amounts of waste. At the same time, industrialization means that food is controlled by large corporate companies, which has caused food to become too expensive for many households. This along with rising populations has meant that food insecurity has become a problem for many South Africans. And with the populations in urban areas steadily rising, many believe that inner-city urban farms might be the solution to food insecurity. With the recent focus toward sustainability, current agricultural systems have been questioned, creating a push for the use of less harmful growing methods and more efficient technologies. As a result, efficient organic farming is now a possibility in the inner-city, and Johannesburg has seen an increasing number of farms being set up on rooftops all over the city. This provides opportunities for connection and integration between this community of urban farms. The thesis explores how people in urban areas can be reconnected with the food production systems that they rely on. Through principles of organic farming, building integrated agriculture and urban farming, this thesis aims to find what the role of architecture is in this equation