Interventions on small sites are typically carried out by individuals or small groups of people on private or residual public land, with or without the support of landowners. These “bottom-up” initiatives often emanate from a narrow set of individual interests, and as such, it can be challenging for city authorities to determine whether specific projects respond to a larger collective interest. This makes decision-making difficult in terms of public support for special interest groups. By envisioning a systemic approach to food production on small scale sites, a city can harness and coordinate special interest initiatives into a city-wide collective interest strategy. This can help to frame bottom-up initiatives in a top-down vision.
The micro case studies were created to test and evaluate the urban quality generated by urban agriculture projects in the city of Lausanne. The projects serve as reference or exemples of possible urban agriculture initiatives as they present thoughtful, plausible and original ideas at a variety of scales.
