Urban Agriculture: A Multifunctional Approach - Case Studies: Brussels and Paris

In 2015, the famous French documentary “Demain” brought to the light certain solutions that aim at solving the ecological, economic and social crises that our countries are going through. Among the solutions, the urban agriculture is considered. The movie presents this practice as a multifunctional approach that enables to create jobs, boost local economy, improve education and strengthen social bonds. Through this thesis, we have decided to put the phenomenon into context and answer the following question: “How do urban agriculture projects influence the current environmental, social and economic conditions of the cities in which they are implemented?” To be able to draw precise conclusions and depict verified trends, we focus our attention on three projects that take place in our precious capital Brussels and in Paris. Regarding the organization of this thesis, it has the peculiarity to be structured into two distinct parts. The first part consists in a literature review that allows us to draw up an inventory of the available information and extract concepts related to our subject. This part is split into three subparts. First, we provide the definition of the urban agriculture that outlines the concepts and the different typologies of projects. Second, we make a comparison between rural and urban agriculture in order to understand their relations – competition or complementarity? Third, we proceed to the theoretical study to determine if urban agriculture is a fad or if it has real environmental, social, health and economic implications. In the end, this work makes us able to the formulate a problematic with an international dimension and related research questions. The second part consists in a detailed report presenting a methodology and empirical results answering the problem. As far as we are concerned, we opted for a qualitative study that relies on three case studies. That is to say, we have studied three concrete and contemporary projects of urban farming, namely the REcylcerie in Paris and the urban farms Nos Pillifs and Neder Over Hembeek in Brussels. We have examined each project according three axes, its working, its goal(s) and its implication(s). In order to answer these questions and gather consistent information, we have relied on direct observations and proceeded to interviews. Finally, we have put in relation the theory with our findings to determine the potential influences that urban agriculture projects have on the environmental, social and economic conditions of the city where they are implemented