Urban farming has occurred in various forms throughout history. Some of the earliest cities like Catal-Hoyuk and Jericho grew crops outside dense settlements. Permanent crop-based settlements allowed for urbanization. Exceptions included oasis cities which could farm within walls due to protective deserts. Floating cities like Tenochtitlan farmed lakes. Modern public parks in the 18th century separated recreation from farming. The Garden City movement brought urban farming into cities in the late 19th century. State socialism increased urban farming in 20th century Eastern Europe. Recent high-tech methods include hydroponics and closed farms under artificial lights.

1. URBAN FARMING
Introduction, historical background,
overview of settlements as food
producing sites from the beginning of
Ancient Age till nowadays

2. Urbanisation, the first cities I.
• Catal-Hoyuk 6500 BC. The first city (almost city). Developed
agriculture, wheat and barly production, signs of domesticated
animals and hunting.

3. Urbanisation, the first cities II.
• Jericho 9400 BC. Settlement, with central tower and surrounding
wall (!). Wheat and barley crops. Surrounding wall was probably
contructed against permanent flooding.

4. Urbanisation, the first cities III.
• Permanent settlements requires permanent settling :)
• Hunter-gatherers and hunters usually can not afford permanent
settling (even not in present days, sans/bushmanns, inuits etc.)
• Nomadic herders also do not have permanent settlements (some
central-Asian tribes, masai people, etc.).
• The first agricultural plant (crop) producer societies created the first
permanent settlements.
• First crops were barley, wheat in Mesopotamia. Later became
important rice (East- and Southeast- Asia), corn (America).
• It can be declared that if there is a plant, which can produce easily
huge amount of food, then there appear cities automatically (for
example indian rice (tuscarora rice/Zizania sp.).
• These early settlements were densely built. The crop production was
outside of these settlements. Walls were originally against flooding,
not enemies (the community was much greater than any hunter-
gatherer tribe).

5. Exceptions
• Till the 18th Century the cities were walled.
• In America walling was never customary.
• In Japan, walling was important only before 1614 (Tokugava
shogunate).
• In China, walling was customary till the 20th Century, although not
only by single cities, but even by long state borders.
• Due to walling, the urban farming was practically impossible because
the finite sources.
• Exceptions could happened only due to special environmental
circumstances.
• The most important: oasis cities. Practically whole Egypt. Morocco,
Niger, Sahara and sub-saharan settlements, Yemen and Oman,
Central-Asian oasis cities in present day Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan,
Kirghizistan, Kazakhstan, China (Amu-darja, Syr-darja valleys, Turpan-
depression, Tarim-basin).

6. Exceptions:oasis I.
• Oasis in egyptian desert.

7. Exceptions: oasis II.
• Oasis in Morocco.

8. Exceptions: oasis III.
• Wadi Do’an oasis, Yemen. Wadi means a not permanent small river or
creek in the desert.

9. Exceptions: oasis IV.
• Turpan depression oasis, Tarim basin, China. Historically here were
the so called Tuyuhun city states (oasis states)

10. Exceptions: oasis IV.
• Oases are usually relatively small in area.
• There are usually a fountain-head, or a small creek (wadi), or simply a
water well.
• Due to the harsh surroundings walling is not necesary, the desert
itself provides protection, moreover huge crop fields are
unaffordable.
• Oases are traditionally fruit producers. Almost all well known fruits
were selected and domesticated in Central-Asian oases (grape,
apricot, peach, pear, fig, almond, mulberry, muskmelon).
• Water melon is south-african, Date-palm is north-african. Walnuts
and cherries can be found traditionally rather in mountain regions
(Caucasus), than oases.
• Traditional urban farming appear only in oases. Even present days
urban farming means usually neither crop production, nor stock-
farming, but fruit and vegetable production.

11. Exceptions: coastal cities
• In some special cases there are other kind of urban farming: stock-
farming=fishing.
• In case of traditional coastal cities the fishing is not urban farming.
They are using the sea as food production field, and the city is
separated.
• But there are certain cases, when there are floating cities on lakes,
this can be considered urban farming.
• A historical example is Tenochtitlan in Mexico, a city on a lake (the
downtown of present day Mexico City).
• Cane islands on Lake Titicaca in South-America.
• Myanmar, villages on the Inle lake and Irrawaddy river.
• Cambodia, Tonle Sap lake and Angkor culture.

12. Coastal cities: Tenochtitlan
• The city of Tenochtitlan on the Texcoco lake before spanish conquest.

13. Coastal settlement: Titicaca lake
• Floating artificial cane islands on the Titicaca lake.

14. Coastal settlement: Inle lake, Myanmar
• Fishing community on the Inle lake.

15. Coastal settlement: Tonle Sap lake, Cambodia
• Cambodian village by high water level. Not only fishing, but also rice
producing community.

16. Coastal settlement: Tonle Sap lake, Cambodia
• Cambodian village by high water level. Not only fishing, but also rice
producing community.

17. Urban farming in Ancient and Middle Ages
• In the Ancient Age and the Middle Age the cities were usually walled
and densely built. Thus there were no place for urban farming.
• A few exception occured:
• The Hanging Gardens of Babilon (purpose is only representation)
• Some capitals along rivers (Ctesiphon, Baghdad, Cairo) . There were
greater gardens inside the walls, their purpose were mostly
representation, but fruit production was also remarkably.
• Imperial representation: Timurid gardens in Samarkand, mughal
gardens in India, moresque gardens in present day Spain. Among
their purpose appeared also food production (Timurid gardens) and
climate moderation (mughal and moresque gardens).
• European monastery gardens: inside the walls were cemetery with
fruit trees, vegetable garden and herb garden).

18. The Hanging Gardens of Babilon

19. Ctesiphon, Palace Garden, Reconstruction
• Ctesiphon was the capital of the Arsakids (Parthus Empire) and
Sassanids (Sassanid Empire). The Tiger and the Euphrates is quite
close here, ideal circumstances for gardening ande food product.

20. Baghdad, round city
• The original plan of Baghdad. An idealistic city, the inner palm trees
can be clearly seen, those probably would have been also fruit
producers (date palms).

21. Baghdad, round city
• A garden plan from the time of Temur (full of fruit trees). The inner
garden of the great mosque of Samarkand.

22. Alhambra Palace, Granada, Spain
• The Alhambra is a moresque garden, designed basically for climate
modification.

23. Alhambra Palace, Granada, Spain
• Mughal garden, Srinagar, India. The role of plants and water is
extremely important in climate modification (in dry, hot summer).

24. Monastery garden, medieval Europe
• A typical monastery garden, with herbs.

25. Urban farming in the New Age I.
• Before the 18th Century ther were not remarkably differences, cities
were surrounded by walls. In Europe, after the Ottoman wars and the
Seven Years War the cities started to expand remarkably beyond their
walls.
• It was not really caused by the general peace, but rather by the
Industrial Revolution.
• The industrial revolution eventuated industrial centres, industrial
cities with huge worker demand. Thee eventuated the first housing
blocks and the great expansion of cities.
• The first public parks appeared at the end of the 18th Century, but
these were for recreation, not for fodd production. Despite the
greater mass of people, the demand for local food did not increased
due to the usage of trains for product delivering.
• The Garden City movement at the end of 19th Century lead to the
appearance of real urban farming.

26. Urban farming in the New Age II.
• Városliget (City Park) in Budapest. One of the earliest public parks in
Europe (1813). This is the very first that was designed to be a public
park.

27. Urban farming in the New Age III.
• The Garden City concept of Ebenezer Howard

28. Urban farming in the 20th Century I.
• The urbanisation rate continously increased in this Century. The
modernism and the great rebuilding processes after the World War 2
practically realized the Garden City Concpet and caused a lot of new
problems.
• In North- America garden cities were not to food production. As
against in Central- and Eastern-Europe food production in these
gardens were a daily routine. In Hungary in the 1980ties 10% of the
food product was made in cities and towns.
• In the developing countries and even in Australia the food production
in households was always normal and it is still a way ther to product
vegetables, some fruits and sometimes even occur stock-farming
(chicken, goat etc.).

29. Urban farming in the 20th Century II.
• A typical view of a suburb of a hungarian city in recent ages. The
socialism before 1989 increased the rate of urban farming, by
violently taking over the farms from their real owners.

30. Urban farming in the 20th Century II.
• Stock-farming in suburbs. Mostly poultry.

31. High-tech I.
• After the first space travels, and especially after the Moon-missions,
there were a great interest in biosphere projects and other food
producing abilities in absolutely isolated environments.
• In case of long-term space missions and space stations, the local food
production is extremely advantageous, because continous food
supply from the Earth requires a lot of resources.
• Te Biosphere Project was unsuccessful (absolutely isolated
ecosystem, with only energy input similarly to the Earth itself).
• Hydroponic principle worked (plants stay alve without true soil, if
they provided with all necessary nutrition).
• Currently there are absolutely closed food factories, with artificial
LED lights (not sunlight) which were developed in former industrial
areas (abandoned factory buildings and warehouses). Their basic
purpose is to provide some special foods for local people. Main crops
are not produced on this way yet, only vegetables.

32. High-tech II.
• The Biosphere experiment: in a few month the rate of carbon-dioxide
increased in more than 10%, the rate of oxygen decreased unde 10 %.

33. High-tech II.
• A hydroponic farm: plant growing without real soil.

34. High-tech II.
• A LED-light powered food (vegetable) producing hydroponic factory.

35. Thank you for your attention!