ABSTRACT

In the context of decreasing food security, and as part of the ‘100 Resilient Cities’ group, Mexico City (CDMX) has committed itself to achieving resilience through local food systems, green infrastructure and ecosystem services development. This paper reports on two surveys mapping the distribution of species of edible plants growing in publicly accessible interstitial spaces (e.g. central reservations and pavements) in subtropical, central CDMX. It also reports on an initial assessment of the feasibility of using such spaces for foraging. Rather than improving everyday food supplies, the maintenance of these spaces as areas for emergency foraging would ideally increase urban resilience in the face of extreme food supply shocks. The surveys used a direct species identification approach whilst walking ∼20 km of streets and identified thirty-six species of edible plants including not only fruits and herbs, but also vegetables. The results permitted the satisfactory assessment of three out of five feasibility conditions: (i) suitable growing conditions, (ii) provisioning capability and (iii) the existence of multiple plant dispersal pathways (including both natural processes and deliberate planting, as well as, more speculatively, unintentional human-mediated dispersal). Two other important feasibility conditions for foraging – (iv) usage and (v) a favourable planning environment – were not able to be judged based on the field data. CDMX promotes the planting of fruit trees in avenues, but this paper shows that local socio-ecological systems sustain a greater variety of edibles growing in a wider range of interstitial spaces. Ignoring this would represent a missed opportunity for urban resilience.

摘要

在粮食安全不断下降的背景下，作为“100 个韧性城市”组织的一部分，墨西哥城 (CDMX) 致力于通过当地粮食系统、绿色基础设施和生态系统服务的发展来实现韧性。本文报告了两项调查，绘制了生长在亚热带中央 CDMX 的公共间隙空间（例如中央保留地和人行道）中的食用植物物种分布图。它还报告了对使用此类空间进行觅食的可行性的初步评估。与其改善日常食物供应，不如将这些空间作为紧急觅食区域进行维护，从而在理想情况下提高城市应对极端环境的韧性。粮食供应冲击。调查使用直接物种识别方法，同时步行约 20 公里的街道，确定了 36 种可食用植物，不仅包括水果和草药，还包括蔬菜。结果允许对五分之三的可行性条件进行令人满意的评估：(i) 合适的生长条件，(ii) 供应能力和 (iii) 存在多种植物传播途径（包括自然过程和故意种植，以及，更具推测性的是，无意的人类介导的传播）。觅食的另外两个重要可行性条件——(iv) 使用和 (v) 有利的规划环境——无法根据现场数据进行判断。CDMX 提倡在大街上种植果树，但这篇论文表明，当地的社会生态系统支持在更广泛的间隙空间中生长的更多种类的食物。忽视这一点将错失城市复原力的机会。