Edible Restinga: A Socio - Environmental Proposal Inside the Urban Landscape in the West Side of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

Abstract:

This paper presents two current problems the city of Rio de Janeiro faces. On the one hand, is the environmental issue caused by the fragmentation of the native restinga, a coastal plain native ecosystem, occurring because of urban development processes. On the other hand, the food shortage suffered by communities with low economic resources. A proposal for edible landscaping applied to Rio’s west side public space that tackles these issues is presented. This work used different methods, including theoretical framework analyses, which explore landscape and ecosystems issues, historical urban processes, and the edible landscape concept. In addition, geo-technological tools and local visits to apply biophysical, urban, and architectural analyses to the study area were applied and made. This research project and process allowed the researchers to choose public space areas in which the edible landscape proposal would be applied.

Keywords:
Edible landscaping; Restinga ecosystems; Urban expansion