Growing green values : Mapping ecosystem services on urban agricultural sites in Buenos Aires

Abstract: Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina, face some of the same problems as all megacities across the world. Increased land-use and a higher amount of built areas in and around the city of Buenos Aires leads to losses in ecosystem services. Argentina’s economic situation has also led to an insecure food market, especially affecting the poor population. Apart from providing food security, urban agriculture connect people and can help to create a sense of community. Urban agriculture also facilitate several ecosystem services. With the growth of dense urban structures, loss of ecosystem services and need for food security, urban agriculture could play an important role for a future sustainable development. Based on this, we were interested in urban agriculture and its chances to strengthen the adaptive capacity and resilience in Buenos Aires. The aim with this project is to map ecosystem services at urban agricultural sites in Buenos Aires. Therefore, the objective is to study literature on urban agriculture, ecosystem services and Argentina and to conduct a field study to map ecosystem services in Buenos Aires. The objective is also to create a matrix to give an overview of the findings on the sites. The field study consist of six case studies on urban agricultural sites in Buenos Aires, where ecosystem services are mapped at a small scale. The study was conducted in November and December 2015 as a Minor Field Study, realized by a stipend from SIDA. A theoretical framework on ecosystem services and research on urban agriculture, as well as a background study on Argentina, serve as a foundation for the empirical study. Our mapping of ecosystem services on sites and research show that urban agriculture provide many ecosystem services. Urban agriculture create a sense of community and other social values. Also, the sites contribute with urban temperature regulation, added biodiversity and infiltration water, which might function as an important part of the green structure in the city. Lastly, urban agricultural sites could in an indirect way provide food security for the citizens. These are all aspects interesting for future research.