Urban foraging: a ubiquitous human practice overlooked by urban planners, policy, and research

Shackleton, Charlie M; Hurley, Patrick T; Dahlberg, Annika C; Emery, Marla R; Nagendra, Harini

Title: Urban foraging: a ubiquitous human practice overlooked by urban planners, policy, and research
Creator: Shackleton, Charlie M, Hurley, Patrick T, Dahlberg, Annika C, Emery, Marla R, Nagendra, Harini
Date: 2017
Type: article
Type: text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60876
Identifier: vital:27848
Identifier: https://doi.org/10.3390/su9101884
Description: Although hardly noticed or formally recognised, urban foraging by humans probably occurs in all urban settings around the world. We draw from research in India, South Africa, Sweden, and the United States to demonstrate the ubiquity and varied nature of urban foraging in different contexts. Across these different contexts, we distil seven themes that characterise and thereby advance thinking about research and the understanding of urban foraging. We show that it is widespread and occurs across a variety of urban spaces and places. The species used and the local practices vary between contexts, and are in constant flux as urban ecological and social settings change. This requires that urban foragers are knowledgeable about diverse species, harvest locations, and rights of access, and that their practices are adaptable to changing contexts. Despite its ubiquity, most cities have some forms of regulations that prohibit or discourage urban foraging. We highlight a few important exceptions that can provide prototypes and lessons for other cities regarding supportive policy frameworks and initiatives. The formulation of dynamic policy, design, and management strategies in support of urban foraging will benefit from understanding the common characteristics of foraging in cities worldwide, but also will require comprehension of the specific and dynamic contexts in which they would be implemented.
Format: 18 pages, pdf
Language: English
Relation: Sustainability, Shackleton, C.M., Hurley, P.T., Dahlberg, A.C., Emery, M.R. and Nagendra, H., 2017. Urban foraging: A ubiquitous human practice overlooked by urban planners, policy, and research. Sustainability, 9(10), p.1884, Sustainability 9 vol. 10 no. 1 18 2017 2071-1050
Rights: Copyright held by the authors
Rights: Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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RU DST/NRF SARChI for Interdisciplinary Science in Land and Natural Resource Use for Sustainable Livelihoods

RU Department of Environmental Science

Shackleton, Charles Michael (Distinguished Prof)

SDG 11. Sustainable Cities and Communities

SDG 16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

SDG 15. Life On Land

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