Metropolitan agriculture: Socio–demographic dynamics, urban growth and food–city relationship in the Mediterranean Basin

The agricultural management of green spaces is currently playing an important role in the territorial policies of the cities as useful tool for limiting urban expansion and contributing effectively to the biodiversity support. Open areas and urban voids, that have hitherto been considered as not relevant areas, back to purchase importance within the sustainable land management. The creation of urban green belts and agricultural parks represents an opportunity for the creation of multifunctional networks that can be enjoyed by local populations. At European level, the European Landscape Convention sanctioned the passage from an essentially aesthetic conception of landscape to a notion that considers it as a fundamental element of cultural and natural heritage - and hence as the basis of the social and individual well-being of the populations. This transition of concepts has brought attention on the need to safeguard and manage agricultural spaces, thus giving to the territories the opportunity to create incomes and to protect the territory.