Food Revolution and Agro-Urban Public Space in the European Bioregional City

In the ‘urban bioregion’ intermediate territories get new identities through a physical and relational re-design of ecosystem services, beginning with polyvalent ecological networks, dealing with food and its short supply chain. Such networks may become the backbone of a ‘rururban public space’ defined for flood risk prevention, easy mobility, preservation of historical buildings, proximity to farming, and presence of agro-forestry. Starting from a bioregional perspective, the paper reflects on the need to re-territorialize food systems and describes as a case study an experience recently completed: the project for the Riverside agricultural park on the left side of Arno, involving three municipalities on the Florence Plain through the support of Regione Toscana based on participatory processes. Its aim was to lay the foundation for a ‘river contract’ for the functioning of an agricultural park which, in the foreseeable future, could be managed through a number of social contracts involving local communities.