Potential residential spaces for local food production in a suburban municipality

Abstract

This case study aimed to examine the potential areas for local food production in the City of Langford, a suburban municipality on southern Vancouver Island, Canada. To this end, initially, different zones of Langford were inspected to identify the areas with potential for growing food. After the selection of the city center, neighbourhood, and hillside/shoreline as three city zones to be used as research cases, the data related to their various spaces, including roofs, balconies, and yards (back or front yards), were collected using field observations and aerial images. The obtained data were then utilized to estimate the area of the places with potential for local food growing. The results demonstrated that the total usable private open spaces in the City of Langford for local food production represents an area between 1.125 km2 and 2.25 km2 in various productivity scenarios. Based on the research findings, around 35% of residential open spaces might provide some areas for local food production in this city. This research also discusses the importance of urban gardening for global economic and social sustainability issues and offered some initiatives to encourage communities to take advantage of the current possibilities for local food production.