Informal Food Networks in the Global South and the Benefits of Symbiotic Food Systems

Taking that weekly trip to the supermarket to buy canned foods, packaged pasta, milk cartons, and chicken filet from the deli may seem normal to many, but in many rapidly urbanizing areas, the supermarket has yet to take off as a dominant source of food. Therefore, experiences and practices in food shopping differ. It's as if we live in different food worlds. Take Dars el Salaam, a large city in Tanzania, as an example. In Dars el Salaam, the supermarket is still viewed as a Western luxury.  Food prices are often too high and the products unfamiliar to draw in low or middle-income customers. Instead, food is obtained daily and through various other avenues. It is astounding to see how much of a difference a pre-conventional food system makes in everyday practices.

Because of the inability to refrigerate and store food, due to limited financial means, large family sizes, small spaces, and unreliable electricity, food must be bought and consumed on a day to day basis. Thus, families must visit markets which are close to them and buy food that can be eaten daily. The food has to be fresh and bought in small quantities. For meat consumption especially, this means that animals must be slaughtered on-site and then brought to the market either the next morning or the day of and sold. Everything that is not consumed locally is sold to other markets, for instance, Chinese buyers, and no waste is produced.

Without a high-technology supermarket system controlled with logistics, informal food networks rely on many people to complete a number of tasks, as delivery has to be coordinated. In Dars el Salaam, salesmen often have apprentices who learn the trade from them. In addition, partnerships are made in the form of cooperatives at the market. Food vendors will step in for each other when needed. They all stand to gain from a cooperative structure. Transportation must also be arranged. There is interdependence between the food delivery drivers, the growers, and the market. Although the supply chain is shorter when compared, coordination is required to ensure food is delivered and sold on time. 

Co-housing and Efficient Land Use: Eliminating Land Scarcity in the Randstad Region

Although geographically, the Netherlands cannot compete with most nations on the European continent, population-wise, it is far ahead of any of its counterparts. With 7 million people living within its agglomeration of four cities, Amsterdam, the Hague, Rotterdam, and Utrecht and a small land base, much of which has been created from human ingenuity, a shortage of housing can be expected.

Fortunately, the Dutch are also known for 'progressive' built environment practices. One of these is cohousing, a citizen initiative form of housing based on the compact city concept. From an architectural/ spatial point of view, co-housing is unique as space within its development is allocated in novel ways.  Boundaries of private and public space are blurred. Fewer amenities are private, and more are turned into 'commons' which can be co-developed and used by many within the community at once. Perhaps this model of development can be examined in terms of its potential to alleviate housing land scarcity in a region as densely populated as the Randstad. 

The following cohousing design principles could be investigated further to evaluate the contribution of such building practices on land usage: 

1. Car Reduction: Many cohousing communities have done away with automobile infrastructure, as it contradicts the 'sharing' or 'communal' lifestyle community members seek to promote. Cohousing communities pursuing pro-environmental behavior amongst their residents likely discourage car use via design strategies for other reasons. Cars take up an inordinate amount of space in the landscape, such as for parking spaces in the form of lots and garages and road infrastructure.

2. Compact development, as indicated by floor space ratio and ground space ratio, also characterizes  the built environment of many cohousing projects. By improving the efficiency of each building, more land is available for additional buildings in case of shortage. This is a principle which has the potential to be adopted for traditional development practice to manage the residential land scarcity issue.

3. Multi-use of space is a common concept in co-housing, in which common rooms, open spaces, and other facilities are shared. Therefore, a smaller percentage is private and a larger percentage is shared. This alternative configuration of living space means that more people can fit into a building than before. Their basic living needs, such as a place for cooking or other daily activities can be shared with others living next door and nearby.

Although these three design principles could potentially alleviate land scarcity, the empirical evidence would have to be sought through further research. In addition, cohousing design principles demand lifestyle change which is a social and psychological issue as much as a spatial one. 

DIY Food Utopias: The Case of Almere Oosterwold

Known by many a folk worldwide as the "Tesla of eco-villages", the city of Almere intrigues us. Not only does the community combine technical and architectural innovations as part of a circular urban system, but it has created a social and planning experiment representative of the regulations, institutions, and technologies of our time. The pioneer community, managed by ReGen Villages, lays on 43 square kilometers of land in the province of Flevoland. The project began in the 1970s. An experimental, open-ended planning process which consists of iterative decision-making, Almere's approach contrasts with traditional Dutch planning practice, which many criticize as organized but painfully predictable. The project aims to produce 15,0000 dwellings, 26,000 jobs, 135 hectares allocated to businesses, 200,000 square meters dedicated to office space, and 400 hectares of additional landscape by creating a polder.

The community draws admiration for a number of developments, in the realm of new building typologies, energy, water, and solid waste systems, and also agrarian urbanism initiatives. The blog post will be focused exclusively on the sustainability food and land management aspects and some conflicts in the planning of the Oosterwold, the eastern part of Almere.

MDRDV is driving the development process through the Almere 2030 Structure Vision
Image Source: https://www.mvrdv.nl/

Although a flexible model on the surface, all residents of this community are allocated small plots of land but must adhere to a set of ten rules in developing the land. They must be aware of road, energy, piping, sanitation, public green, and urban farming conditions agreed upon by community members developing the plan. Planners are challenged with enabling creativity in garden plot design of land parcels while managing conflict. Will the rules have to be expanded over time? Can the community proceed to be innovative if more rules are created? What will the future hold in the developments of the Oosterwold?

A larger parcel of agricultural land nearly borders the homes of the community. On the one hand, this provides landowners on the site with a rural experience, being in such close proximity to arable land. This type of land development could eventually put this community in the same category of urban food utopias envisioned by the architects and planners of the Garden City, City of Tomorrow, and Broadacre. On the other hand, are landowners really ready to deal common nuisances from agricultural uses, such as smell and noise? The type of agriculture developed on the land will largely impact satisfaction of the neighbors. In addition, how can affordability and productivity be ensured? Will one individual have exclusive rights to the land? Can it be made more progressive; for instance, subdividing the large land parcel and renting out small parcels to farmers to experiment? What range of activities could exist?

Innovative techniques of vertical gardening will be attempted
Image Source: http://pegasusagriculturegroup.com/

With the emergence of such eco-villages, equity concerns have arisen. As with many utopias and early models in sustainable development, this ecovillage could exclude larger society. In designing and planning this kind of community, those equipped with the acumen and affluence to participate in such a time-consuming process, will reap the benefits. Can such models be applicable to greater society, if only a few can take part in the experimentation process? Perhaps by bringing in more outside opinions from students, academics, and farmers, it could highlight opportunities for improvement. Nonetheless, adding more stakeholders to an already complicated planning process could jeopardize it by making it more complex. 

Man-Made Islands in the Markermeer, NL: Innovating for Ecosystem Protection

A few months ago, as I came across the Binnenhof, the Inner Court, on a tour in the Hague, I learned that the king of the Netherlands has a secondary official profession as a water manager. This is how I realized how significant water management is considered in Dutch society.

For hundreds of years, the Dutch have developed a level of expertise comparable to no other country in management and planning to fight back the water. This enabled the nation to develop productive agricultural land and eventually keep millions out of harm's way, especially upon rapid urbanization in and around the coastal provinces. But this path dependency of confidence in man-made solutions has also led to mistakes, in which urban development was preferenced over ecological wellbeing and natural water flows.

An example of this is the damming of a large body of water between the provinces of North Holland and Flevoland, which are slightly north of the Amsterdam metropolitan area. The large lake is known as the Markermeer. In fact, the Markermeer has been artificially created as a result of its splitting from the Ijsselmeer to the north around a century ago. What this has led to is the gradual sedimentation in the body of water, leading to such a severe turbidity level that species loss of invertebrates,  fish, and migratory birds has ensued. While we usually hear of Dutch success stories, the Markermeer's decline indicates some of the issues with top-down, infrastructural development approaches to planning and management of water resources.

This map depicts the presence of two dams which closed off the water body from the sea and split it in half. Image Source: http://www.dutchwatersector.com/

In order to undo a history of deterioration and neglect, a governance-based collaboration has emerged, in the form of a joint venture between the national water management agency, Rijkswaterstaat, and a nature protection civil organization, Natuurmonumenten. It resembles an increasing trend of interdisciplinary, horizontal collaboration in resource management in the Netherlands and much of Europe. This partnership has culminated into an innovative vision for the Markermeer, through a building project in which silt from the sedimentation would be gathered, consolidated and solidified to construct multiple islands. Eventually, these islands could become part of a larger archipelago that could evolve through processes of natural succession into habitat for birds, fish, and invertebrate. At face value, it appears as a win-win situation, with much emphasis placed on ecological restoration and nature's needs.

The goal is for the Markerwadden to be host to a number of migratory birds and aquatic species
Image Source: http://boskalis.com/ 

The first island of the archipelago is being constructed, ahead of schedule and under budget. 

Nonetheless, the ease of collaboration in the project could be taken for granted. Could interdisciplinarity lead to future disagreements on priority decision-making? Do the construction managers have the technical expertise, given this has never been done before in the Netherlands? Will the islands draw much tourism in the future compromising the needs of species and therefore, affecting  biodiversity? All of these questions still have to be answered. 

Mobile Architectures: Contesting City Space

Mobile architectures may have been around for a long time, but they are a technology, art form, and vision worth revisiting in today's city. With the neoliberalization of the processes that shape and govern the urban landscape, cities demand radical architectural, design and planning responses that involve collaboration and authenticity. The urban ecosystem consists of a plurality of actors. Therefore, place-making should respect poly-rationalities that interpret public space in varying ways, and furthermore, not be driven by externally-directed pecuniary agendas. This perspective for the contestation of  space and the regulations (i.e., zoning laws, property regimes) that define and control it, while offering opportunities for dynamic landscape appropriation and conversion and unexpected futures by creatives and subcultures.

 The sociologist, George Simmel, argued that the metropolis is an overstimulating environment with negative psychological effects on the human. This has led to a line of thinking which assumes that the city dweller needs protection from contradictory or offensive uses of landscapes. However, this only restricts opportunities for creation and alternative interpretation of the public realm. But mobile architecture demonstrates the endless possibilities in a city where space is no longer pre-defined and normalized and capitalist-driven top-down planning ceases to dominate.

This past August, I was able to collaborate on one such mobile architecture experiment with a Berlin-based design collective, ON/OFF. The invention combines printmaking with political activism and freedom of expression into one 'machine'. With the monopolization of media and the restriction of freedom of expression, this mobile architecture, called the GuerillaPrintingPress (copyrighted by ON/OFF) enables the public to print their own leaflets (or zines if they want to keep it playful) anywhere in the city. The machine consists of reconfigurable furniture pieces. The pieces can be stacked or turned to the side, and rolled around, enabling flexibility A printer/copier can be stacked on top of one furniture piece, while the other two serve as a station for binding work space and storage shelves. This way, the public can get involved in journalism and information dissemination.

The GuerillaPrintingPress is currently on display at the Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau museum in Germany 

Here are a few more examples of mobile architectural inventions:

Hortummachina B is an intelligent cyber gardener and machine, with twelve modules of gardens consisting of sensors. These create a robotic environment for the plants to grow in. The machine takes the form of a Buckminster Fuller, enabling it to roll around in the city. This mobile architecture contests the static nature of traditional architecture and places, such as buildings and designated gardens and parks. Click here to  read more. 

The architect behind Creation station describes his invention as a mobile tool box, with a publicly accessible workspace and platform to build and fix things in a place-based and public fashion. It is useful as it can be placed anywhere in the city and enables collaboration. For example, the machine can be deployed in construction sites, schools, parking lots, sidewalks, and market squares. More importantly, it has the potential to encourage circular economy principles so that fewer things are thrown out and more are repaired or parts reassembled for reuse.

Exquisite Triciclo fulfills a social and artistic purpose as a sales cart tricycle that can be 'pimped' by owners. It brings diversity to public space, as each tricycle can be outfitted differently to fulfill the personal needs and desires of the street vendor. The tricycles reflect the interests of the general public while making public space, such as streets and markets, colorful, variable, and unexpected.

Read more on mobile disruptive architectures: http://www.onoff.cc/co-machines