Provisioning sustainable food for cities and human settlements: principles and examples

Ina Horlings, Stephen Leitheiser, Pablo Tittonell and Elen-Maarja Trell

Chapter 13 in The Elgar Companion to Food System Transformation for Sustainable Development, 2026, pp 183-200 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) aims to make human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. This chapter explores principles, outcomes, and conditions for food systems that support SDG 11: ‘providing sustainable food for cities and communities’. The authors focus on the target SDG 11.8: ‘Supporting positive economic, social, and environmental links between urban, peri-urban, and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning’. From a place-based and post-growth perspective, they suggest that sustainable food systems include transformations to sustainability in not just production but also consumption, distribution, governance, and interactions with the broader ecosystem. Principles for achieving sustainable rural and (peri-)urban food systems are illustrated with examples from around the world that reconnect farmers and citizens across rural areas and cities. These cases show great potential for food systems transformability, but challenges remain, for example, with regard to providing sufficient sustainable food for low-income consumers.

Keywords: Sustainable Food Systems; Commoning; Regenerative; Place-based Development; Post-growth; Justice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035332847
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