Urban Farming Initiatives in the United Arab Emirates:

Design and planning for resilience has become an important mandate as cities face challenges like climate change, dwindling resources, pandemics and disruption of supply chains. Food security has become a prime goal with several initiatives being undertaken on a priority basis. Many of these initiatives like urban farming, agricultural reservations, vertical farming etc. have spatial implications on urbanism. Gulf cities face an additional challenge since the traditional agricultural sector is limited due to the climate and soil conditions. Research on urban farming spatial practices in such cities is therefore of great significance. This paper aims to initiate a discussion on this topic by reviewing the current state of urban farming initiatives in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The study first reviews the literature on farming initiatives around the globe and classifies them into four categories – policy-led, market-led, design-led and citizen-led. Then, in the context of the UAE, the study builds an overall background by documenting the institutional and policy frameworks that have been set up towards food security. Using secondary sources, we prepare a database of various farming initiatives and then analyse the initiatives under the classification developed from the literature review. Through the discussion, we bring out notable trends relating to integration of urban farming in the city and identify further opportunities. The findings of the research are expected to be of use to policymakers, academics and built environment professionals in the goal of supporting a resilient future.