Food Dependency and Urban Agriculture investigates how urban agriculture can improve food security and socio-ecological resilience in informal settlements. The project treats food not as an isolated sector but as part of a connected metabolism involving water, energy, organic waste, land availability, household practices and governance.

The operative framework was developed and tested in Ciudad de Gosen, Lima, a settlement of approximately 6,300 residents. It follows a four-stage process from diagnosis and indicator selection to a five-layer systemic scaffold, interactive feedback loops and Forrester-style system-dynamics simulation. Scenario results indicate that rooftop and unbuilt-land cultivation could meet a substantial share of fruit and vegetable demand, while biodigestion could cover part of household energy use and greywater reuse could supply much of irrigation demand. The modelling also identifies land tenure and governance reform as decisive enabling conditions.

The project advances the Lab’s work by combining quantitative simulation with community-scale planning. It demonstrates that urban agriculture should be evaluated as an integrated resource system and that technical potentials depend on institutions, spatial rights and local capacities. The research was supported through ARES cooperation.