Reintegrating Urban Agroecology in the Western Cape - An Urban Design Investigation of Productive Landscape Strategies for a Resilient Cape

Looking at South African cities through the food lens, the high levels of inequality experienced by city dwellers are starkly reflected in the urban food systems and urban environments (SA Urban Food & Farming Trust, 2021). Since two-thirds of households that experience hunger lives in cities, food security is a critical and predominantly urban issue (Haysom et al, 2020). The urban food question requires a holistic perspective on the wider food system, and the urban form and socio-political systems that underpin it. Agroecology presents an opportunity for transformative action at the intersection of food, urban and natural ecosystems (Haysom & Battersby, 2020). This research will be conducted in two urban sites in the Western Cape, as a comparative design-research exploration of how agroecological principles can be adapted as food-sensitive urban design strategies and tailored to the specificity of each case. The sites are in the Cape Flats in Cape Town, and Worcester in the Breede Valley Municipality.