Contribution of agricultural activities to urban sustainability: Insights from pastoral practices in Bucharest and its peri-urban area

Urban and peri-urban agriculture is attracting new attention in the context of growing interests in sustainability and resilience. Although much research has been done in this field, little is known about pastoralism and its impact on urban and peri-urban settings. In this paper, we discuss the contribution of pastoral practices to urban sustainability, as well as the opportunity and need to maintain such forms of agriculture. Using Bucharest as a study area and conducting a mixed qualitative and quantitative investigation, we show that pastoral activities have a strong cultural component, contribute to short and long food supply chains, and play a role in the management of land resources. However, conflicts with urban residents may occur due to health concerns and impact on the visual quality of the landscape. We argue that active adaptation measures by both shepherds and local authorities are needed to assure the livelihood of pastoralism, particularly where it is under threat from urbanization. Our study contributes to the discussions on creating mutually beneficial relationships between agricultural activities and the urban environment for food provision, job creation and sustainable resource management. Specifically, we anticipate our study to be a starting point for more in-depth discussions on local perspectives concerning urban sustainability.