Yanxin Liu
Identify the role of urban agriculture in enhancing post-disaster food security through vegetable production in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
Wellington, New Zealand’s capital, faces significant risks from natural disasters, particularly earthquakes. Despite the vital role of food systems in urban resilience, food-related planning remains underexplored. This research examines gaps within Wellington’s food systems and their limited integration of disaster-resilient strategies. It explores the potential of urban agriculture (UA) to enhance post-disaster food security, using urban self-sufficiency as an analytical framework. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, combining spatial analysis with ArcGIS, scenario setting, and qualitative methods such as questionnaires and field observations. Findings suggest that while the current capacity of UA to ensure post-disaster food security is limited, there is considerable potential for it to serve as an alternative emergency food source. Realising this potential will require targeted strategies to support UA development by diversifying UA types and optimising productive urban land use. Further research is needed to explore how landscape architects can integrate UA into urban design, planning, food systems, and disaster preparedness.
Supervisors
Dr Victoria Chanse & Dr Fabricio Chicca
Publications
Liu, Y., Chanse, V., & Chicca, F. (2025). Enhancing Post-Disaster Food Security through Urban Agriculture in the Context of Climate Change. Land, 14. https://doi.org/10.3390/land14040799
Jia, Y., & Liu, Y. (2022). Green Landscape (1st ed.). Wuhan University of Technology Press.
Conferences
- 2024, Investigating the Role of Urban Agriculture in Enhancing Post-earthquake food security in Wellington. QuakeCoRE Annual Meeting, Napier, New Zealand
- 2023, PhD Symposium, State of Australasian Cities Conference, Wellington, New Zealand
Awards
- Registered Urban and Rural Planner (China)
- LEED Accredited Professional, Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI)
- 2016 Honor Award, ASLA Student Award Indiana Chapter