Jonas Wirth

Today, agricultural land use is determined by economics, logistics and national interests, such as protective duties or subsidies. At the same time big companies, active in the national and international markets, define the distribution and supply of food. There is almost no natural relationship between the city and its hinterland in terms of agricultural production. The current flows of food are completely separated from the specific situation of a city.

The proposal of a food-masterplan for the metropolitan region of Basel tries to re-establish a natural understanding between the needs of the city and the possibilities of agricultural production in its specific hinterland.

The idea of the food-masterplan acting as a planning tool for agricultural land use offers new possibilities for regional planning instead of subsidies and economical decisions that shape agricultural land use in our cities today. Exploring agriculture through the lens of its daily needs allows for a new understanding of the connection between the city and its hinterland with its possibilities of production.