SYNTHESIS OF THE URBAN RURAL FUTURE
“THESE PRACTICES ARE LIKE THE RAW MATERIAL OF THE FUTURE LABORATORY TEST THAT CAN BE USED FOR THE SYNTHESIS OF NEW - SUSTAINABLE AND JUST FUTURE HOUSEHOLD FORMS.”
In the metropolitan area of Riga and beyond throughout the Latvian territory there are many forms of agriculture that we can consider as seeds of what an agro-ecological urbanism could be. Many of those germs are informal distribution of food that has existed from generation to generation. They are an important part of the food supply for many families. Depending on the scale of food production, it becomes self-sufficiency or small-scale activity. We have subdivided the seeds of agro-ecological urbanism into communities, associations, markets, school gardens, growers. The communities are the places where a group of people have freely connected to stand up for certain interests and their food supply. They are communes where agreements apply that are voluntarily accepted. The associations have already grouped together under a legal form. They have elected persons who defend their interests. The associations also play a political role in the view of everything that has to do with food supply. The market forms a second group of food supplies. Markets are crucial places in the city where the food producer can sell its products. The city of Riga has an extensive network of large and much smaller places. School gardens have always existed and have recently started to reappear more and more in the cityscape. They maintain the knowledge of growing in the population. The last group has different scales of growers. From the professional small farmer to the self-grower or the forager. They do everything for their own consumption and distribute it among customers or relatives.
For our story, a number of characteristic phenomena found in Latvia and in the wider region (occupations, types of transactions, urban planning principles and building types) have been chosen, which can be considered as part of alternative food networks. They were formed and developed under the influence of political, economic and social processes, often also as survival strategies, in different periods of time. Each of these practices has a dual meaning in the context of spatial planning and the built environment: firstly, they provide urban residents with fresh food products, significantly shortening supply chains, and secondly, they are formed and exist as a result of certain planning and construction.
