Content uploaded by Andre Viljoen
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Andre Viljoen
Content may be subject to copyright.
Available via license: CC BY-NC 4.0
Content may be subject to copyright.
50
open house international Vol 34, No.2, June 2009 Continuous Productive Urban Landscape (CPUL)
Andre Viljoen & Katrin Bohn
CONTINUOUS PPRODUCTIVE UURBAN LLANDSCAPE
(CPUL):Essential IInfrastructure aand EEdible OOrnament
AAbsstract
This paper defines Continuous Productive Urban Landscape (CPUL) as a strategy for the coherent integration of urban
agriculture into urban space planning. The case is made for considering urban agriculture as an essential element of
sustainable infrastructure.
Recent and historic arguments are used to support the qualitative and quantifiable advantages of introducing urban
agriculture into contemporary open urban space design.
The body of the paper focuses on design issues related to the placing and perception of CPUL and urban agri-
culture. It draws on primary research undertaken in Cuba, considering Cuba as a laboratory for design research into
urban agriculture.
Design studies by the authors are used to demonstrate the viability and physical manifestation of urban agriculture
within a Continuous Productive Urban Landscape. The paper proposes that, while an environmental and design case
can be made for the integration of urban agriculture, planners and designers need to explore the public perception of
productive landscape if its full potential is to be realized.
The idea that urban agriculture can be read as "ornament" is discussed with reference to the writing of British artist
Tom Phillips. Contemporary cultural/artistic practice is referred to as a means for exploring and communicating ideas
related to productive urban landscapes.
The paper concludes with new research findings related to the public perception of open urban space based on
the Havana CPUL design research project "Finding Parque Lenin".
Keywordss:Urban Design, Productive Landscapes, Sustainable Systems, CPUL, Urban Agriculture.
Continuous Productive Urban Landscape
open house international Vol 34, No.2, June 2009 Continuous Productive Urban Landscape (CPUL)
CCOONNTTIINNUUOOUUSS PPRROODDUUCCTTIIVVEE UURRBBAANN
LLAANNDDSSCCAAPPEE :: DDEESSIIGGNNIINNGG FFOORR
UURRBBAANN AAGGRRIICCUULLTTUURREE
Our interest in urban agriculture grew out of con-
nections made between three ideas emerging dur-
ing the 1990ies. One was the design debate focus-
ing on infrastructure, exemplified by the notion of
infrastructural urbanism (Allen 1996), the second
was our interest in reducing the environmental
impact of architecture, influenced by ecological
footprint research (Wackernagel and Rees 1996),
and the third was the revived discussion about pub-
lic open space which confirmed urban landscape
as major contextual and lifestyle component for the
design of a sustainable contemporary city (Yokohari
et al. 1995).
Allen's studies from the 1990ies, referring to
the patchy nature of cities, prompted the idea that
agriculture could fit into the contemporary urban
fabric. Our intuition suggested that urban agricul-
ture could contribute positively to the creation of
sustainable cities, while not compromising the
urbanity and sustainable benefits of a compact city.
We therefore developed a two-strand approach to
test this intuition. On one side, we investigated the
literature to try and quantify the reductions in
embodied energy and CO2 emissions associated
with organic urban agriculture. The other side of
our work took the form of design research, in which
we used architectural competitions to develop
design proposals which included urban agriculture.
The latter enabled us to estimate the yields resulting
from urban agriculture and other low energy fea-
tures (e.g. solar hot water and photovoltaics). Our
overall aim was to make a robust case for urban
agriculture underpinned by quantifiable environ-
mental data and qualitative design studies (Viljoen
and Bohn 2000).
The quantifiable arguments in relation to
urban agriculture are primarily environmental and
economic, with a developing strand linking land-
scape to psychological and public health benefits
(Viljoen and Bohn 2005: 34-36).
The strongest environmental benefit of urban
agriculture results from the reduction in food miles
and therefore embodied energy and associated
carbon dioxide emissions (Department for the
Environment Farming and Rural Affairs 2005). If
organic agriculture is practiced, the elimination of
energy intensive artificial fertilizers makes a further
contribution to reducing environmental impact.
In the context of peak oil and climate change
mitigation strategies, historic arguments made prior
to the petrochemical era provide evidence for the
advantages of locating fruit and vegetable produc-
tion adjacent to urban areas. The writing of Johann
von Thünen, first published in 1826 (Chisholm
1972: 20-32) deserves reevaluation.
Economic arguments for urban agriculture
depend on a city's status within the global economy
as the cost of urban land is a major issue. A new
and inclusive planning approach is needed to justi-
fy the use of inner-urban open space for non-build-
ing activity. However, even in countries with high
land value, this more complex approach to eco-
nomic viability shows encouraging results: The UK-
based New Economics Foundation, for example,
estimated that every £10 spent with a local food ini-
tiative in the UK is worth £25 for the local area,
compared with just £14 when the same amount is
spent in a supermarket (New Economics
Foundation 2001). Furthermore, if the cost of con-
structing urban agriculture sites is compared to the
cost of other elements of infrastructure, for example
roads, urban agriculture is about forty times less
expensive. (Viljoen and Bohn 2005: 34-36).
Our design studies for sites in the UK have
51
Andre Viljoen & Katrin Bohn
Figure 1. The CPUL concept. Diagrammatic repre-
sentation of a Continuous Productive Urban
Landscape: Green corridors provide a continuous
network of open space containing foot paths and
cycle ways. Fields for urban agriculture, playing
spaces and other leisure activities are located within
the network and serve adjacent built-up areas.
52
Andre Viljoen & Katrin Bohn
open house international Vol 34, No.2, June 2009 Continuous Productive Urban Landscape (CPUL)
indicated that there is potential for urban agricul-
ture within most situations. Anecdotal evidence
from organic practitioners in the UK suggests that
yields equivalent to half of those achieved in Cuba
are possible in the UK climate. In Cuba, it is esti-
mated that urban agriculture provides about 60%
of Cuban vegetable production (Bourque and
Cañizares 2001) and about 30% of Havana's fruit
and vegetable requirements (Murphy 1999). Based
on our own design studies, we estimate that there is
sufficient growing area available within urban areas
in the UK so that, notwithstanding differences in cli-
matic conditions, a similar contribution to fruit and
vegetable requirements would be possible in the
UK. If peri-urban agriculture (growing on the edge
of the city) were included, then there is no reason
for not further increasing this contribution. Such
yields are significant. In every city, they would lead
to reductions in CO2 emissions and to an increase
in economic prosperity whilst, at the same time,
improving the city's attractiveness and providing for
urban lifestyle choices.
One major obstacle to the introduction of
CPUL into cities is the potential soil contamination
of sites reclaimed from uses such as brownfields,
railway embankments, carparks or roads. Careful
planning is necessary, as well as solutions which
isolate food growing from the soil, either perma-
nently or during the decontamination process.
Examples for this are documented in places that
Figure 3. London LeisurEscape. Image showing
how parts of parks may be given over to urban
agriculture in a CPUL without compromising other
uses.
Figure 2. London LeisurEscape. CPUL proposal for
South London starting at Tate Modern in central
London and running South to Croydon.
53
open house international Vol 34, No.2, June 2009 Continuous Productive Urban Landscape (CPUL) Andre Viljoen & Katrin Bohn
practice urban agriculture and include, amongst
others, the growing in raised beds, and various
methods of soil cleansing such as the sealing off of
toxic layers of soil, the replacement of topsoil or the
reduction of toxins through planting (Thompson
and Solvig 2000).
Our conclusion to this initial research was
that urban agriculture could make a significant
contribution to fruit and vegetable requirements,
and that a case could be made for considering it as
an essential element of sustainable infrastructure in
existing and developing cities. This infrastructure
Figure 4-5. London LeisurEscape. Munton Road, London, before and after implementing a CPUL. In this pro-
posal, the road, which is lightly used by vehicles, would be converted into an urban agricultural field surrounded
by cycle and pedestrian ways.
Figure 6. Middlesbrough CPUL. Opportunity Map developed as part of the UK Design Council’s Designs of the
Time (DOTT07) year-long urban farming project. During 2007, the population of Middlesbrough, the local authori-
ty and community organisations participated in urban agriculture projects across the town. Bohn & Viljoen’s propos-
al for a Middlesbrough CPUL shows the identified network of open spaces and indicates DOTT07 urban farming
sites (small square raised elements).
54
Andre Viljoen & Katrin Bohn
open house international Vol 34, No.2, June 2009 Continuous Productive Urban Landscape (CPUL)
would best be located within corridors of open
space, forming a coherent overall landscape strat-
egy, defined by us as a Continuous Productive
Urban Landscape (CPUL) (Viljoen 2005).
CCUUBBAA :: LLAABBOORRAATTOORRYY FFOORR UURRBBAANN
AAGGRRIICCUULLTTUURREE
Cuba's extensive urban agriculture programme
makes it an ideal place to learn about the prag-
matics and possibilities associated with urban agri-
culture.
Urban agriculture was introduced to Cuba
as a consequence of food shortages resulting from
the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, when
Cuba suffered a loss of 80% of its trade and all
access to imported fuel (Cruz Hernández and
Medina 2003). It is one of the features of the
"Special Period" (post 1989), that has so far been
retained and was, in 2000, officially incorporated
as a permanent element in Havana's city plan (Cruz
Hernández and Medina 2003). At the time of our
last research visit to Havana in 2006, new urban
agriculture sites continued to be established.
In 2004, a survey of planners and architects
in two thirds of Havana's municipal planning offices
indicated that 62% thought urban agriculture could
be thought of as a permanent land use, with 55%
stating that it should not be replaced by more prof-
itable land uses. Most respondents agreed that
urban agriculture did not detract from the city's
image and perceived it as an element influencing
sustainability (Peña Diaz 2005).
Some urban planning professionals suggest
that, as the economic conditions change, urban
agriculture should gradually be moved to the out-
skirts of the city and be replaced by forms of orna-
mental urban planting (Premat 2005: 165). Public
perception seems to distinguish between "working
landscape", such as urban agriculture, and "leisure
landscape" where planting follows a brief that clear-
ly excludes a use for anything but visual or practical
comfort. "This correlation of ornamental and non-
comestible with greening is significant, as is the
consistency in this usage within the sector" (Premat
2005: 166). By contrast, staff associated with
urban agriculture in Cuba's Ministry of Agriculture
have noted the need to convince planners that "let-
tuce plants could be as decorative as flowers"
(Premat 2005: 168).
Despite an awareness of urban agriculture's
economic role within Havana, there are no indica-
tions of practical attempts to combine it with other
city planning strategies such as sustainable trans-
port, density manipulation or urban sustainability
concepts. Within the framework of planning instru-
ments in place, urban agriculture currently remains
an isolated component of Havana's planned and
perceived urban fabric.
If the case is to be made for the widespread
adoption of urban agriculture, it will be necessary
to demonstrate, communicate and publicise the
qualities which it brings to cities beyond the pro-
duction of fruit and vegetables.
TTHHEE PPLLAACCIINNGG AANNDD PPEERRCCEEPPTTIIOONN OOFF
CCPPUULL WWIITTHHIINN CCO
ONNTTEEMMPPOORRAARRYY
CCIITTIIEESS
To explore the design characteristics of urban agri-
culture, we selected with Cuban colleagues ten
urban agriculture sites for detailed investigation. By
comparing and assessing the chosen sites, charac-
teristics related to spatial qualities, function and
perception could be named and design strategies
developed to accommodate and utilize these in
urban planning in a more conscious way.
The severe economic difficulties during the
period after 1989 resulted in urban agriculture sites
being located in towns and cities using mainly
pragmatic criteria; "design" in the aesthetic or for-
mal sense could not be considered. The location of
sites was determined largely by the most efficient
growing and distribution of crops.
This means that urban agriculture fields are
now found in a great variety of locations and with-
in a wide range of contexts, providing a unique
opportunity for judging their spatial characteristics
and relationships with the built environment and
people. A decision was made to limit the study to
"organoponicos", these being the most replicable
model of high-yield, organic urban agriculture
sites. Organoponicos can be defined as commer-
cially viable high-yield urban market gardens, culti-
vated using essentially organic methods. They typi-
cally provide employment for five or six workers,
and range in size from a few hundred square
meters to a few hectares.
For each of the ten selected sites, surveys
recorded the site layout, naming spatial qualities
and the use of materials. As with many aspects of
urban agriculture, these studies indicated a range
of characteristics for different sites, which may best
be summarised as indicating the degree of variety
open house international Vol 34, No.2, June 2009 Continuous Productive Urban Landscape (CPUL) Andre Viljoen & Katrin Bohn
generated when a standardised approach has to
adapt to different contexts.
The most important spatial and use varia-
tions relate either to physical characteristics of the
sites or to patterns of use and occupation (Viljoen
2005: 147-191):
EEnncclloossuurree::
All sites had some form of enclosure, the
physical characteristics of which had a strong
impact on how the space was read within the city.
Boundaries varied in their thickness and trans-
parency, altering the sites' character between room-
like or field-like territories, which, in turn, deter-
mined potential other uses of space within that
urban agriculture field, or along its edge. In all
cases, the sites had strong visual presence, and in
some cases this only became evident when viewing
the sites from above, for example from the upper
floors of adjacent buildings.
MMuullttiippllee UUssee::
In some cases, sites had developed specific
uses beyond the growing of food, such as outdoor
classrooms, picnic sites, sales points and health
advice centres. Most of these uses required a dedi-
cated area which further enriched the organoponi-
co's contribution to the city and encouraged a sense
of ownership beyond that of the urban farmers'.
Figure 7. Pueblo Grifo Viejo in Cienfuegos, Cuba. A typical small organoponico.
Figure 8. Pueblo Grifo Nuevo in Cienfuegos,
Cuba. A typical medium-sized organoponico.
Figure 9. “La Calzada”, Cienfuegos. Survey draw-
ing of medium-sized Cuban organoponico.
Figure 10. “Pastorita”, Cienfuegos. Survey drawing
of large Cuban organoponico.
55
56
Andre Viljoen & Katrin Bohn
open house international Vol 34, No.2, June 2009 Continuous Productive Urban Landscape (CPUL)
SShhaarreedd VViissuuaall FFaacciilliittyy::
Urban agriculture fields are often visible from
a number of surrounding windows and vantage
points and, as such, provide people with a shared
visual resource. If six apartments overlook an urban
agriculture field, it is as if the open space's value is
multiplied by six. This connection between residents
and farmers is important, as it links the public with
the natural systems that sustain life. It also provides
a sense of open space within a dense city which is
sought by many people.
LLiinnkkiinngg DDeevviiccee::
The linearity of growing beds provide physi-
cal and optical links across fields and larger territo-
ries, and assist in unifying and giving coherence to
potentially disparate parts of the urban fabric.
SSccuullppttuurraall QQuuaalliittyy::
Relationships between the eye level of an
observer, undulations in topography and the hori-
zontality of growing beds establishes an optical
effect that accentuates local topography and
reminds viewers of the earth's surface. Space
becomes animated in three dimensions, the topog-
raphy is marked and measured.
IInnccrreemmeennttaall OOccccuuppaattiioonn::
Where organoponicos are located on
peripheral areas or areas without pressure on avail-
able land, they frequently include patches of open
ground, which suggest temporary uses such as cel-
ebratory events, like a circus visit or a wedding
reception.
CCRROOSSSSIIN
NGG BBOOUUNNDDAARRIIEESS ::
VVIISSUUAALLIIZZIINNGG PPRROODDUUCCTTIIVVEE
LLAANNDDSSCCAAPPEE
How is urban agriculture perceived? Some of the
quantifiable benefits arising from the localization of
food production, for example the reduction in
greenhouse gas emissions from reduced food
miles, are invisible and intangible. Implementing
change will require a shift in opinion which is cul-
tural rather than economic or environmental. This
poses the further question about how to represent
and envision the urban qualities associated with
CPUL. Some of the tasks relate to generating a
debate about open urban space, some to raising
awareness about food and its potential for generat-
ing convivial social activity. All of them require
responses that must not only be easily understand-
able by the public, but also actively engage it in a
collaborative urban design process.
Our observations were that artists tend to
work in a very direct way with their public, creating
powerful experiences that are both visceral and
Figure 11-12. Organoponics can often become a shared visual experience for a number of different people /
buildings, effectively expanding their sphere of influence (Fig 11). They often display a great deal of variety, in
this case of enclosing materials, within an otherwise strictly ordered system (Fig 12).
57
intellectual and from which design and planning
professionals can learn much. We embarked on a
third strand to our research: to visualise CPUL with
the help of exhibition and installation work.
Contemporary artistic practice as recorded in
"Less - alternative living strategies" (Scardi 2006)
may suggest a way forward. Placed somewhere
between social activism, performance, education
and installation, "Less" includes the work of several
artist who practice in the public realm, or include
the public directly within their art works. Particularly
innovative work is being produced by the Swedish
artists and organic farmers "Kultivator" who aim to
"point out the parallels between provision produc-
tion (food) and art practice" (Kultivator 2007).
Equally, the Dutch artist Debra Solomon runs the
much visited "Culiblog" blog dedicated to food and
environment (Culiblog 2007).
Apart from linking our work to art projects
such as the above, one focus became to challenge
the public perception of CPUL and urban agricul-
ture by finding similarities with accepted ways of
seeing as exemplified by the notion of urban orna-
ment. Although not contrived to be ornamental,
ornament is inherent within the visual patterns
resulting from the functional layout of typical
Cuban organoponicos. In this context, it is interest-
ing to review the work of British artist Tom Phillips.
Phillip's summary treatise "The Nature of Ornament"
describes nature as the source of ornamentation
and ornament as providing a vital connection with
the surrounding natural environment (Phillips
2002):
"8.
Such universality (of ornament) is made pos-
sible by (its) relatively small generative syntax.
9.
These syntactical elements are all paraphras-
es of nature; stripe, hatching, dot and the whole
treasury of primal signs are all present in nature.
48.
It stores our knowledge of the principles of
growth and form (forking, branching, spiral) and
diagramatises our experience."
This close correspondence between a visual
description of organoponicos and the characteris-
tics of ornament led Tom Phillips to describe urban
agriculture practiced in Cuba as "organic orna-
ment". It is our view that this is an important obser-
vation. Developing and stimulating similar ideas
within public discourse will be significant in con-
vincing people that urban agriculture can con-
tribute positively to a city in many ways.
In our own work, we want to communicate to
an audience what the experience of spaces associ-
ated with urban agriculture would be like.
Katrin Bohn has used video recording to
document and describe particular spatial condi-
tions found within inner-urban space in Brighton
and Havana, in each case choreographing a walk
to show how open space may mediate boundaries
or be obstructed by physical and non-physical bar-
riers. By framing views, the video allowed the view-
open house international Vol 34, No.2, June 2009 Continuous Productive Urban Landscape (CPUL) Andre Viljoen & Katrin Bohn
Figure 13-14. The exhibition Utilitarian Dreams Havana, during which Cuban and UK artists and architects pre-
sented work exploring the urban environment. Fig 13: Micro Organoponico. Installation by the authors which
acted as exhibition entrance marker and within which lettuce grew. All elements for the installation, soil, crops,
and growing channels were loaned from an adjacent organoponico. Fig 14: Finding Parque Lenin. Installation by
the authors engaging members of the public, here outside the exhibition venue completing questionnaires.
58
Andre Viljoen & Katrin Bohn
er to read the familiar in a new way, and see it for
what it is, while also suggesting readings of poten-
tial. Such work provoked questions about how
space in the city is, and may in the future be utilized
and generated debate and open possibilities for
imagining future scenarios.
Andre Viljoen has worked singularly and with
the artist Tom Phillips to make installations aiming
to communicate an experience of spaces associat-
ed with urban agriculture. By placing urban agri-
culture in the unfamiliar context of an architectur-
al/art exhibition, they aim to provoke visitors to
observe anew and re-evaluate characteristics and
qualities associated with productive urban land-
scapes.
NNEEWW DDEESSIIGGNN RREESSEEAARRCCHH:: FFIINNDDIINNGG
PPAARRQQUUEE LLEENNIINN
As part of the multi-media art exhibition "Utilitarian
Dreams", which took place in November 2006 in
Havana (www.batiscafo.org), we developed the
project "Finding Parque Lenin" which investigated
public perception of open urban space and
lifestyles related to it.
Parque Lenin is a vast landscape and amuse-
ment park on the southern edge of Havana and
has a strong positive presence in the population's
memory. It opened to the public in 1972 as recre-
ational landscape celebrating a new socialist
lifestyle. Located in generous heath-like open space
and designed by the country's leading architects
and landscape designers, Parque Lenin contained
numerous event spaces, a lake and its own inter-
connecting small railway. The park remained a
favourite destination until the fuel crisis of 1989,
when visitor numbers dropped due to lack of trans-
portation. By 2006, most attractions had deterio-
rated seriously. Restoration started in 2005.
The exhibit "Finding Parque Lenin" centred on
a proposal by Bohn & Viljoen for a CPUL connect-
ing inner Havana to Parque Lenin. As part of this,
visitors to the exhibition were invited to complete a
questionnaire about attitudes to Parque Lenin and
open space in the city. No question specifically
referred to urban agriculture with the aim of find-
ing out if respondents would make unprompted
connections between this, the qualities found in
Parque Lenin and Havana's more traditional open
urban space such as public parks, gardens and
squares.
Of the 268 members of the public who com-
pleted the questionnaire, only 8 had not visited
Parque Lenin. The bad state of public transport (due
to Cuba's fuel shortage) was the respondents' main
complaint when explaining the lower frequency of
recent visits. Notwithstanding this, 69% of respon-
dents had visited during the last 6 years. The attrac-
tion of Parque Lenin seems unbroken since its open-
ing in the early Seventies and respondents are clear,
that they would like to visit the park more (about
80%). The overwhelming majority of people visited
for one of two reasons, either to enjoy the open
space, beauty of nature, vegetation etc. or to enjoy
the outdoor leisure activities on offer. The majority
of respondents thought of the park as either open,
green landscape or as facilitator of leisure activity.
This memory is confirmed in answers to a question
about inner-city space that reminded respondents
of Parque Lenin: the spaces most often referred to
open house international Vol 34, No.2, June 2009 Continuous Productive Urban Landscape (CPUL)
Figure 15-16. Parque Lenin Havana. November 2006.
59
are those that have the appearance of traditional
urban parks or of "natural" landscape (Parque
Almendares [walking landscape alongside a small
river], Bosque de la Habana [woodland],
Metropolitan Park [grassy urban park]). The next
most quoted spaces are those that contain leisure
attractions (Expocuba [national exhibition centre],
Inflatable Park [amusement park]).
Two thirds of all respondents said they would
like to have Parque Lenin within the city, giving rea-
sons falling into two broad categories: quantitative
(environmental and transport/traffic concerns) and
qualitative ("would be great!").
While the general positive attitude to being in
open space, to outdoor leisure activities and their
easy reach, support the CPUL concept, none of the
respondents said that urban agriculture sites
reminded them of qualities associated with Parque
Lenin. This has been disappointing, but not surpris-
ing as it reinforces earlier findings of Premat in
2005. Even in a city and country with the most inte-
grated urban agricultural sites that nourish the pop-
ulation, these spaces are not appreciated as land-
scape. And whilst a 'coffee shop' (named in one
questionnaire) qualifies as space of similar charac-
ter to Parque Lenin, an organoponico does not.
We can identify various reasons for this omis-
sion of urban agriculture landscape from the pub-
lic perception of quality open space. It is evident,
that the design of spaces for urban agriculture has
to compliment both, the needs of the urban farmer
and those characteristics of open space that people
perceive as desirable. These need to be addressed
prior to the establishment of any CPUL:
1) utility landscape vs ornamental landscape
In our survey case, it has proven wrong to
assume that exposure to urban agriculture increas-
es its acceptance. Equally, well-known environmen-
tal arguments in favour of urban agriculture do not
outweigh a long-grown viewing habit that attaches
the value of beauty to a familiar range of open
spaces.
2) working landscape vs leisure landscape
Perhaps urban agriculture sites are perceived
a utilitarian landscape, negatively associated with a
form of living and producing practiced by the par-
ents' generation rather than being a forward look-
ing aspiration. It will be important to study national
cultural characteristics, as there might be substan-
tially different perceptions in older and younger
industrialised as well as agrarian countries.
3) unusable urban landscape vs usable
urban landscape
Urban agriculture sites are not recognised as
accessible, as part of a usable urban landscape.
There are several directions to progress this
research in relation to the public perception of
urban agriculture and with the aim of developing
strategies to overcome practical obstacles to imple-
menting it:
One research area is to study in detail what
made/makes the experiences of those who enjoyed
Parque Lenin's landscape so positive, ie. how to
replicate the liberating experience of walking, pic-
nicking, making love, seeing, observing, hanging
out (all mentioned several times in the question-
naires)... Another is to establish the degree of diver-
sion that people are willing to accept when referring
to a landscape's beauty, ie. to study how different
the spaces that reminded of Parque Lenin are from
the actual Parque Lenin.
CCOONNCCLLUUSSIIOONN
A strong environmental case can be made for
urban agriculture as an essential element of sus-
tainable infrastructure. Concepts like Continuous
Productive Urban Landscape (CPUL) provide design
strategies capable of giving coherence to the infra-
structural and qualitative aspects of urban agricul-
ture. If urban agriculture is to be widely adopted
its functions in addition to environmental sustain-
ability, such as urban ornament, require articula-
tion. In Cuba, Havana provides an example
where planning professionals adopted urban agri-
culture as a legitimate urban land use.
Notwithstanding this, urban agriculture's long term
role in the city remains uncertain as it is not yet seen
as an equivalent to other forms of urban greening
or as valuable as potential commercial develop-
ment. An initial survey of public attitudes to open
space within Havana indicates that urban agricul-
ture is not thought of in the same way as tradition-
al park-like landscapes. The survey shows an
appreciation of easily accessible parks which
include provision for a variety of different outdoor
leisure activities. The latter supports the principals of
CPUL, which include mixed land use activities,
adjacency to the built environment and networks for
walking and cycling.
A major area for future research has been
identified as the need to explore and communicate
open house international Vol 34, No.2, June 2009 Continuous Productive Urban Landscape (CPUL) Andre Viljoen & Katrin Bohn
60
Andre Viljoen & Katrin Bohn
to the public and built environment professionals
the many qualitative benefits of urban agriculture
challenging its perception as a "non-urban landuse"
and "of lesser beauty". Much can be learnt about
how to communicate such issues from particular
fields of contemporary art practice addressing spa-
tial and environmental, urban and social issues,
often by engaging with the public through installa-
tion and event.
AACCKKNNOOWWLLEEDDGGEEMMEENNTTSS
Our work in Havana was undertaken with the sup-
port and collaboration of Dr. Arq. Jorge Peña Díaz,
Director del Centro de Estudios Urbanos de La
Habana Facultad de Arquitectura CUJAE and with
assistance from the Fundación Antonio Núñez
Jiménez de la Naturaleza y el Hombre. Research
has been supported by the Royal Institute of British
Architects (RIBA), The British Council, Triangle Arts
Trust and the University of Brighton.
RREEFFEERREENNCCEESS
ALLEN S. 1996, Infrastructural Urbanism, “Performance
Notations: Barcelona ZAL,”
Scroope 9
, University of
Cambridge: 71-9.
BOURQUE M., and CAÑIZARES K. 2001, Urban
Agriculture in Havana,
Urban Agriculture Magazine
1(1):
27-29.
CHISHOLM M. 1972,
Rural Settlement and Land Use
,
Hutchinson & Co, London, United Kingdom: 20-32.
CULIBLOG. 2007, Available from http://www.culiblog.org/
[Accessed 28,4,08].
CRUZ HERNÁNDEZ M.C., and MEDINA R.S. 2003,
Agriculture in the City: A key to Sustainability in Havana,
Cuba
, Ian Randle Publishers, Kingston, Jamaica.
DEPARTMENT FOR THE ENVIRONMENT FARMING AND
RURAL AFFAIRS (UK). 2005,
, The Validity of Food Miles as
an Indicator of Sustainable Development, Final Report for
DEFRA,
56254 (7)
,
AEA Technology, Oxford, United
Kingdom.
KULTIVATOR. 2007,
Info
[online] Available from
http://www.kultivator.org/info.html [Accessed 28/4/08].
MURPHY C. 1999, “Cultivating Havana: Urban Agriculture
and food security in the years of Crisis,”
Development Report
12
, Food First, Institute of Food and Development Policy,
Oakland, California.
NEW ECONOMICS FOUNDATION. 2001,
NEF survey
(online) Available from:
http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/m6_i121_news.aspx
[accessed 21/11/07].
PEÑA DIAZ J. 2005,
Contribución a la integración de la
agricultura urbana en el Plan general de ordenamiento terri-
torial de municipios de La Habana,
Unpublished.
PHILIPS T. 2002, The Nature of Ornament: A summary
Treatise,
Architectural Review
, 213 (1274).
PREMAT A. 2005, ‘Moving between the Plan and the
Ground’, In Mougeot, L. J. A. (ed)
Agropolis: The Social,
Political and Environmental Dimensions of Urban
Agriculture,
Earthscan, London, United Kingdom.
SCARDI G. (ed) 2006,
Less: Alternative Living Strategies
, 5
Continents Editions srl, Milano, Italy.
THOMPSON J. W., and SORVIG K. 2000,
Sustainable
landscape construction,
Island Press, Washington DC, USA.
VILJOEN A , and BOHN K. 2000, “Urban Intensification
and the Integration of Productive Landscape,”
Proceedings
of the World Renewable Energy Congress VI, Part 1
,
Pergamon Press, Oxford, United Kingdom.
VILJOEN A, and BOHN K. 2005, “Continuous Productive
Urban Landscapes : urban agriculture as an essential infra-
structure,”
The Urban Agriculture Magazine
15: 34-36.
VILJOEN A. (ed.) 2005,
Continuous Productive Urban
Landscapes CPULs: designing urban agriculture for sustain-
able cities,
Architectural Press, Oxford, United Kingdom.
WACKERNAGEL M., and REES W. 1996,
Our ecological
footprint: reducing human impact on the earth,
New Society
Publishers, Canada
YOKOHARI M. YUJOBO S., and SHINOZAWA K. (ed.)
1995,
Process Architecture 127: ecological landscape plan-
ning,
Process Architecture Co, Tokyo, Japan.
Authors’ AAddresses:
Andre Viljoen & Katrin Bohn
Bohn & Viljoen Architects
School of Architecture and Design
University of Brighton
a.viljoen@brighton.ac.uk
open house international Vol 34, No.2, June 2009 Continuous Productive Urban Landscape (CPUL)
