Applying Urban Agriculture Principles in Neighborhood Scale Case Study: Imamzadeh Yahya Neighborhood of Tehran

The bond between human and nature is undeniable, and many studies show that people are in their best mental state when they are in nature and near greenery spaces. This can help them to easily solve much of their inner, and even physical problems in some cases. But in contemporary cities, greenness is a lost concept. Thus, their residents have very limited access to nature. Urban agriculture, as one of the modern approaches in the current era, tries to reconnect the human and nature, but this is not the only effect of urban agriculture. Urban agriculture enhances the health of city and neighborhood residents, and encourages them to socially participate in the neighborhood by creating strong bonds between them. The effects of these small urban farms go beyond the social effects, and also help in economical aspect by decreasing food costs and creating markets for selling their products. In this paper, urban agriculture, its principles, indexes and finally the application of urban agriculture in local scale have been codified. The current research method is descriptive-analytical type, and it is also an applied study. This paper has achieved the applied model of research based on the results of previous researches, using documentary method and content analysis of their results. The case study is Imamzadeh Yahya neighborhood, located in District 12 of Tehran Municipality. Field study, inquiry and semi-open questionnaire methods were used. The statistical population size was 160 people, and the data were analyzed descriptively and analytically by using SPSS software. The results show that urban agriculture has the largest effect on the economical aspect of families such as increasing savings and employment, and in social aspects, it has been effective in public space usage, environmental safety and decreasing depression, and plays a role in increasing public health by providing access to healthy food.