Food & the City: the role of ”green” UA and UG strategies in the urban food strategy movement

There is a growing interest in place-based approaches to value creation in local and regional food economies in what has been referred to as the Urban Food Strategy (UFS) movement. Developing the identity of cities and regions turning them into arenas for sustainable innovation and at the same time involving citizens and enterprises in new ways has become a popular strategy in cities and regions around the world as a way to brand particular place. Urban gardening, urban farming and other green strategies constitutes important elements in these strategies. Creating innovative urban food eco systems however, requires well planned strategies and participation from a broad range of actors. The paper examines the content of some of the strategies that municipalities and regions have been using to develop the identity of these particular places and suggests a typology of urban food strategy actions including the “growing” components. It uses then the Campus’n Community and the Growing Blue & Green programs to examine how they have contributed to the urban food strategy development in the city of Copenhagen. If finally discusses some of the patterns and principles for how sustainable Urban Food Strategies are shaped and implemented in an interplay between multiple projects and actor.