Summary
Since their origins, cities and agriculture have evolved in close interdependence, shaping each other’s forms and functions, and revealing a shared history. This book explores the relationships between cities, architecture, and agriculture from the Middle Ages through the end of the 20th century. It draws on an examination of the many interactions between cities and the countryside, as well as the various types of cultivated spaces in urban settings. It highlights the major transformations and significant shifts in these relationships, whether food-related, social, economic, or environmental. This book also invites readers to immerse themselves in the urban atmospheres across the centuries.
By adopting this historical perspective, the book brings spatial and temporal depth to what is now referred to as “urban agriculture.” It aims to stimulate reflection among researchers, practitioners, students, and readers interested in this subject regarding the need to reestablish strong ties between cities and their local agriculture. This examination of the continuities and historical changes in intra- and peri-urban agricultural practices provides essential support for inspiring and transforming our contemporary urban landscapes.
Table of contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Rupture and reconciliation
History as a source of meaning
Immersive explorations
Travel guide
1. Agricultural cities from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance (15th–16th centuries)
The Lyon countryside and the horizon of the city walls
From rural fields to urban fields
Enclosed urban gardens
In the vegetable gardens of townhouses
The food and economic contribution of the vegetable garden
An ensory garden
A detour to the imaginary Abbey of St. Gall
Checkpoint
2. Cities and their market garden belts from the Grand Siècle to the Enlightenment (17th–18th Centuries)
The market garden belt of Paris
The atmosphere of the streets and markets
The need for market gardeners-waste collectors
Agricultural experiments in the gardens of aristocratic mansions
The artificialization and control of nature
The food and economic functions of the bourgeois garden
A detour to the Kitchen Garden of the King at Versailles
Checkpoint
3. The first distinctions during the Industrial Revolution (19th Century)
Urban markets and the presence of animals
The rise of the market gardener-waste collector
Resort living and urban parks
In industrial neighborhoods, where people “live in the factory”
In workers’ allotment gardens
A detour through Howard’s garden city theory
Checkpoint
4. The rupture between cities and agriculture (20th Century)
The urbanization of the Lyon countryside during the Interwar Period
Affordable housing and allotments
Farming for survival during World War II
The Glorious Thirty or the break between cities and agriculture
Large housing estates and their proximity to agriculture
A detour to Le Corbusier’s Village Radieux
Checkpoint
Conclusion
Food, economic, and social values
Sensitive and imaginary values
From break to renewal
Bibliography
Illustrations
