Sceptical of the narrative that cities have wholeheartedly embraced urban gardening initiatives, Matt DelSesto spies a connection between city crackdowns on urban gardens and police crackdowns in poor communities. He argues that we should seek to connect urban movements rather than simply count and control them with abstract policy.
Whereas governments are quick to scapegoat the chop bar owners of Accra, in reality they spend onerous sums of money on sanitation, an effort which should be supported by health policy.
Two conferences suggest a growing interest in the field, but more must be done to acknowledge and provide for the complexities of food systems within city planning.
Green space throughout Kinshasa is being transformed into lucrative small urban farming enterprises.
Recent research has demonstrated that official counts of poverty in Cairo are grossly underestimated.
Mike Duff (Twitter: @MrMikeDuff) is a consultant on strategy, planning and sustainability for cities at WSP, based in London.
Sign up here for email updates
The Global Urbanist is an online magazine reviewing urban affairs and urban development issues in cities throughout the developed and developing world.
Its readers are drawn from the urban policy and international development sectors, and include urban planners, officers in local, national or international government agencies, civil society leaders, and researchers.
