Food-producing landscape design safety considerations in the peri-urban development of East Village Monroe

Food-producing landscapes are appearing in the urban and peri-urban environments because of concerns about food security, lack of social capital in some urban settings, prospect of economic gain, and concerns for public health. As food is recognized once again as an integral agent for more sustainable cities, the landscape architecture profession has emerged capable of leading in the design of an integrated and safe food-producing landscape in the built environment. To assist landscape architects, this thesis posits a design matrix of safety considerations for designers of food-producing landscapes in the peri-urban setting. Developed from an investigation of food-producing landscape typologies, review of literature on the history of food-producing landscapes, and an inventory of existing safety guidelines for landscape architects, the matrix offers a guide for food-producing landscape designers to protect the public from physical harm, and clients and landscape architects from legal liability. A design experiment of how a matrix may be utilized in analyzing safety in food-producing landscape design is demonstrated through an integrated food-producing landscape at a mixed-use developmentEast Village Monroe, in Monroe, Georgia.