Urban and peri-urban horticulture (UPH) includes all horticultural crops grown for human consumption and ornamental use within and in the immediate surroundings of cities. Although crops have always been grown inside the city, the practice is expanding and gaining more attention. The products of UPH include a large variety of vegetables, cereals, flowers, ornamental trees, aromatic vegetable

Vegetable

The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....

s and mushroom

Mushroom

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...

s.

Generally, the types of crops cultivated vary according to the area, influenced by culture and tradition. In cities, short-cycle crops are preferred, while in the surroundings of the city crops with longer cycles are cultivated, for example in orchard

Orchard

An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...

s.

In summary urban horticulture

Horticulture

Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...

 is defined as the production, functional use and impact of horticultural crops under urban conditions.

Production practices

Crops are grown in small gardens or larger fields, using traditional or high-tech and innovative practices. Some new techniques that have been adapted to the urban situation and tackle the main city restrictions are also documented. These include horticultural production on built-up land using various types of substrates (eg. roof top, organic production and hydroponic production.

See also

• Allotment gardens
• Folkewall
  Folkewall
  The Folkewall is a construction with the dual functions of growing plants and purifying waste water. It was designed by Folke Günther in Sweden. Inspired by the "Sanitas wall" at Dr Gösta Nilsson's Sanitas farm project in Botswana, this technique makes an efficient use of space by fulfilling two...
  
  
• Garden sharing
  Garden sharing
  Garden sharing is a local food and urban farming arrangement where a landowner allows a gardener access to land, typically a front or back yard, in order to grow food....
  
  
• Intercultural Garden
  Intercultural Garden
  Intercultural Gardens is a project of the German Association of International Gardens , resident in Göttingen. The project has the goal to further intercultural competence and racial integration.- Ideas and goals :...
  
  
• Organic horticulture
  Organic horticulture
  Organic horticulture is the science and art of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants by following the essential principles of organic agriculture in soil building and conservation, pest management, and heirloom variety preservation....
  
  
• Urban agriculture
  Urban agriculture
  Urban agriculture is the practice of cultivating, processing and distributing food in, or around, a village, town or city. Urban agriculture in addition can also involve animal husbandry, aquaculture, agro-forestry and horticulture...
  
  
• Victory garden
  Victory garden
  Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Germany during World War I and World War II to reduce the pressure on the public food supply...
  
  

Further reading

• Tixier, Philippe and de Bon, Hubert; 2006.Ch. 11. "Urban Horticulture" in Cities Farming for the Future - Urban Agriculture for Green and Productive Cities by René van Veenhuizen (Ed.), International Development Research Centre (Canada)

External links

• Growing greener cities: FAO programme for urban and peri-urban horticulture
• Periurban Vegetable Project, Philippines
• Urban Horticulture at Humboldt University Berlin, Germany
• Brooklyn Botanical Gardens - Urban Gardening Resources
• Guerilla and organic city gardening information by Journeytoforever
• Watch My Urban Garden - a National Film Board of Canada documentary