AGROECOLOGICAL URBANISM: What is it, why we need it, and the role of UN-Habitat

Current urbanisation approaches drive climate change, soil destruction, biodiversity loss, people’s alienation from nature, and unsustainable and unhealthy diets. To achieve sustainable urbanisation we need coherent and integrated urban and agricultural policies, that radically transform how we urbanise. Agroecological urbanism is a promising model, addressing simultaneously the challenges of climate change, soil regeneration, resource conservation and sustainable farming, while developing sustainable and socially just urban habitats and livelihoods. This brief suggests ways in which UN-Habitat, whose influence is key at the rural-urban interface, can adopt and promote this approach.