CITY IN A FARM: NURTURING URBAN FARMERS

Abstract

“And it is He who causes gardens to grow, [both] trellised and untrellised, and palm trees and crops of different [kinds of] food and olives and pomegranates, similar and dissimilar. Eat of [each of] its fruit when it yields and give its due [zakah/charity] on the day of its harvest. And be not excessive. Indeed, He does not like those who commit excess.” (The Qur’an, 6:141)

Singapore has been facing the twinning issue of food waste and food insecurity in recent years. Just last year, 800,000 tonnes of food waste were generated, which is equivalent to each person throwing away 2 bowls of rice per day. Singapore adopts a technopolitical approach to this matter – top-down and heavily reliant on technological solutions. To meet Singapore’s local food demand, efforts have been ramped up to intensify the agri-tech solutions while public participation remain low. The lack of involvement from the ground is due to the lack of policy for segregation and infrastructure in place to facilitate sustainable behaviours. Citizen consumers have become detached from the processes in the food chain, not fully understanding the bigger role and impact they can have. According to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the food waste generated in affluent countries is greater in the downstream part of the food chain, especially at the consumer level. With consumers being in the middle of the food production and food waste, they become potential agents of change if given the opportunity to be involved in championing a sustainable food system.

How can future neighbourhoods be transformed into a City in a Farm? Can we rewrite our food story - empowering citizens as narrators of this story by bringing this issue from “fringe interest” into the centre of public attention/ our every day?

This thesis seeks to explore the ways in which citizen empowerment can be achieved through celebrating the processes in the built environment. Having identified issues within our current approaches and system, the concept of visibility, accessibility and participatory have been identified as key strategies moving forward. The thesis proposes to transform an existing neighbourhood into a destination for food growing, sorting and sharing as the learning pedagogy for residents and visitors alike. The town becomes a beacon of an example for other neighbourhoods and a building block towards the greater national agenda of City in a Farm.