MAS UTD: Territorial Constitution

The Territorial Constitution for the Agroecological Zone in the Zurich Metropolitan Core aims to present guidelines for a future vision of urban agriculture in Zürich. It consists of a map, a text describing the articles of the constitution, and supplementary diagrams.

Our departure point is the combined Erholungs- and Freihaltezones, within which urban agriculture is currently embedded, alongside cemeteries, sports facilities, allotment gardens, parks and different types of protected green areas. Currently, these zones circle the Zurich hillsides, between the protected forest and urban settlement. The city of Zurich is expecting 25% growth in the next 15 years (2040), therefore the open or “green” spaces are increasingly under pressure as recreational areas for the growing population. The hills Uetliberg, Zürichberg, Hönggerberg, Käferberg and Adlisberg already provide important recreational spaces and facilities. The questions of local food production and involving urban residents in different stages of this process also have a strong impact on the development and use of the Agroecological Zone.

Our Agroecological Zone gathers together the fragmented current uses in the zone mentioned above, and strengthens the zone’s agricultural character. The zone will include specific typologies that are able to connect existing plus new potentials and situate imagined future uses. The Agroecological zone is differentiated according to sun, water, soil, social structure, existing trees, gardens, farms and institutions, and extends its fingers into the urban fabric, linking up waterways, treelined avenues and biodversity corridors. Six new typologies are proposed that serve to secure a place for agriculture, and interweave agriculture not only into the local food chain, but also into the cultural, recreational and ecological life of the Metropolitan Core. In addition to the six typologies, the constitution therefore upholds several fundamental principles that concern the ecological maintenance and wellbeing of the landscape and city as a whole.

1) Riparian Sanctuaries

Areas of water in Zurich are currently protected to differing degrees and through different ordinances and conventions, for example the Swiss Water Protection Ordinance (1998) for surface and underground waters, and the international RAMSAR convention ratified in Switzerland in 1976 and the Federal Environmental Protection Act (1983) for wetlands. Aquatic habitats are some of the most deteriorated in Switzerland with over 50% of the watercourses in a degraded condition. This typology aims to connect different water areas, restore natural habitats and therefore also improve biodiversity, and improve local microclimates.

1) Define Riparian Sanctuaries along the banks of lakes and rivers, linking zones with different degrees of existing protection.

2) Renaturalise and widen river banks at dedicated sites to contain flooding events due to climate change, and to offer spawning grounds for fish and habitats for other aquatic life.

3) Maintain existing (protected) wetlands and form new wetlands in selected, previously drained areas to contribute to CO2 sequestration and replenish aquifers.

4) Develop alluvial meadows along contributary streams in agricultural areas to enhance biodiversity and biological exchange along the land/water interface. Alluvial meadows contain aquatic vegetation, including trees, and can be harvested for animal feed. Depending on the water level, they can be used as pathways to the Urban Shepherd Zone.

2) Agri-Agora

An Agri-Agora is a new community meeting-place for exchange about food and growing food in an urban context. It is a place to celebrate food and hosts seasonal markets and a range of activities and events. The Agri-Agora is the central meeting place for the Agrarian council, made up of representatives from food-growing communities, living labs, institutions such as FIFA, and local inhabitants.

1) Establish Agri-Agoras in each neighbourhood in collaboration with existing institutions, both public and private. On Zürichberg’s inner edges, private institutions such as FIFA, the Zurich Zoo and Sorell Hotel host Agri-Agoras. On the outer edges, Agri-Agoras are hosted by private institutions such as WSL but also at the Correction Centre, schools and hospitals.

2) Through the Agri-Agora, develop support networks between actors in food-production, garden maintenance and diverse garden owners and participants.
3. Utilise the Agri-Agora has an educational forum for exchanging knowledge and raising awareness about food-growing practices.

4) Reuse existing buildings around the Agora for shared infrastructure, tools and equipment, for example in the vacant reservoirs.

5) Establish the Agri-Agora as the departure point for exploring the Edible Gardens, distinguished by a planted border with fruit trees, berry hedges and other edible plants.

3) Edible Gardens

Gardens and green spaces in the Agroecological Zone are highly differentiated according to ownership and types of use. The aim of the edible gardens is to strengthen and stitch together existing and new gardens into a landscape of both public and private edible wild plants and to promote a public connection to food. In denser urban areas or private residential areas, public streets can become part of the system.

1) Plant fruit trees as edible boulevards along selected urban streets leading to the Agroecological Zone and along pathways within it to provide visual orientation, spatially mark the zone within the urban fabric and to invite the public to harvest the fruit on dedicated occasions.

2) Plant wild berry strips around existing family and community gardens, sports fields, small parks, and other existing green areas to encourage biodiversity and public picking on dedicated occasions. Rare species with specific properties beneficial to health are included, becoming part of the existing “Wildobst” initiative and network.

3) Promote the planting of native edible species within private gardens by offering seeds provided through the Agri-Agora, and open the gardens for collective harvesting or maintenance of these species on dedicated occasions, managed by the Agrarian Council.

4) Link the seasonal cycles of the Edible Gardens to educational and sociocultural events held in the Agri-Agora.

5) Enhance the quiet sensory experience of existing cemeteries by planting additional aromatic herbs.

4) Commonwoods

The Commonwoods is a new type of forest encompassing the protected forest, agricultural orchards and urban trees under one collaborative management concept among foresters, farmers, community gardeners and urban arborists. Through the Commonwoods, an integrated practice for maintaining and extending forest functions throughout different city regions is developed.

1) Plant trees throughout the Agroecological Zone according to specific principles and practices to combat the loss of trees in urban Zurich, to increase biodiversity through expanded habitats, to protect and regenerate soil, increase carbon sequestration, protect water bodies and enable public and community interaction with trees through commoning practices that are currently prohibited in the protected forest.

2) Facilitate diverse practices including silvopasture, alley cropping, foraging, forest gardening and forest meditation within the Commonwoods
3. Through tree- and hedge planting, strengthen the existing recreational networks and improve the ecological performance of the surrounding habitats such as meadows and existing hedges.

4) Develop a public participation programme for the maintenance and harvesting of the newly planted trees, in collaboration with schools, co-op housing, and recreational institutions. These practices aim to strengthen existing initiatives and provide new leisure and educational possibilities.

5) Strengthen and expand the existing urban tree network linking to parks and green spaces in the inner city.

5) Regenerative fields

Urban expansion in Zurich has resulted in the alienation of city residents from agricultural areas, and a lack of contact to animals or their potential source of food. But in Zurich, Lausanne, Paris, Madrid and Davis, California, for example, small flocks of sheep or goats have already been introduced back into urban areas to maintain grass, assist in fire prevention, and forming a micro-sector of meat production. A form of transhumance, also called controlled migration of livestock, this practice is managed by the Urban Shepherd and is the inspiration for this typology.

1) Develop and strengthen regenerative practices within the agricultural fields, combining existing practices and pioneers with new initiatives through collaboration and sharing knowledge and resources.

2) Promote innovation in research and education at existing institutions linked to agriculture such as WSL, the Uitikon Correction Centre, the Innovation Park in Dübendorf and agricultural fields owned by public and private concerns, such as SlowGrow and Sorrell Hotel Zürichberg.

3) Develop new agricultural techniques and technologies at innovation parks,
for example at the ex-airport site in Dübendorf. Dedicated industrial areas close to agricultural areas can be used to incubate enterprises that follow agroecological principles. Promote and strengthen existing funding models with partnerships between state or cantonal programmes, farmer’s associations, institutions and local businesses.

4) Develop a public engagement strategy within the regenerative fields to invite exchange, discussion, education and participation, as in the models provided by SlowGrow, who are building a community centre for agriculture and Huebhof, who offer workshops and seminars on the farm. Enable the transformation of existing farm buildings to house these activities through a change in legislation.

6) Urban Shepherd Zone

1) Establish the rights to a new itinerant grazing path leading from the agroecological zone into the city fabric.

2) Develop training and practice opportunities for a new agroecological profession- the Urban Shephard, based on the model being practiced in Paris and elsewhere. The Urban Shephard has an important public function as a direct human interface between farming and urban residents.

3) Enable the cyclic grazing of publicly and privately owned land with pastures; private lawns, cemetery lawns, grassed playing fields and small parks, to regenerate the soil through animal manure and reconnect the urban public to farm animals such as horses, sheep, and goats.

4) Develop a management plan for this rotation and the corresponding composting in urban areas adjacent to the Agroecological Zone, where the animals are based.