SUSTAINABLE
URBAN
DEVELOPMENT
Online Farming Development
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Year: 2017
Designer: Hyesun Kim
Part of participation: Design Research, Master's thesis
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Background
Online farming development is a part of my thesis design work. My thesis researches urban farming with a case study in Seoul, South Korea from the 1960s to the 2000s. I compare three different farming practices; the green revolution technology, organic farming, and urban farming in the context of history together with social development. Social practice theory provides a framework to analyze three farming practices with the conceptual understanding; technology, knowledge, and social meanings.
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Here is my thesis file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R_i8HspmF_E0_7sBuF7TgTP58wkXbaPm/view?usp=sharing
SOCIAL PRACTICE THEORY
Social practice theory is one of the cultural theories and it does not include all cultural theories. He explains that cultural theories attempt to explain “human action and social order”
(Reckwitz 2002, 245).
Challenge
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“The systems movement has been critiqued as failed, solipsistic or unrealistic (Ackoff, 2004, Collopy, 2009, Jones, 2009), leading some to call for integrating systems thinking with practical methods of design practice” (Jones 2014)
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I end up the same challenge described above. I appreciate the importance of systems thinking approach with the holistic point of view. However, it is difficult to find a practical method to make a concrete result with a design.
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Objects
The thesis aims to provide a conceptual understanding of urban farming to contribute to sustainable urban development. I hope the project offers insights to integrate systems thinking with design thinking by describing how farming activities have transformed through social development.
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Articulate what urban farming is
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Research the context of farming practices with the comparison
- Identify what the market need is
- Build the prototype for online farming
Design Process
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Contextual research
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Design research(Seoul)
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Finding from design research
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Persona
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Flowchart
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Wireframe
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Sketch
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Prototype
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Empathize: CONTEXTUAL RESEARCH
WHAT URBAN FARMING IS
Definition of urban farming
The definition fo urban farming has developed from cultivate food around cities to ecological alternative farming emphasizing self-sufficiency. It is interested in the co-relationship between urban farming and the other functions of a city.
For example, balancing between urban farming and the other functionalities,
local food and Imported food
Categories of urban farming
Urban farms:
a company + a nonprofit organization
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Community gardens:
grow their food for their family
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School gardens:
educational functionality
Guerrilla gardens:
as a political tool to provoke public awareness
New farmers are mostly women, have small area land to cultivate, and express professional challenge as their motivation.
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Urban farming as a knowledge-based social innovation - Padel (2001)
Participants of urban farming
Emerging new types of farmers
Empathize: DESIGN RESEARCH(Seoul)
Background of the case study
I deliberately limit the time from the 1960s to the 2010s for the case study. The city has been rapidly developed after the Korean War (the 1960s) with the expansion of the administration division as well as the increase in its population reaching around 10,580,000 nowadays. Also, the industries developed during the same time by growing the numbers of employees. (See the graph below)
The number of employees
Year
Land use in 2012
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Forest, open space 30.9%
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Residential area 10.5%
DEFINE: FINDING FROM DESIGN RESEARCH
THREE FRAMING PRACTICES
The green revolution technology (1960-2000)
Goal:
Increasing productivity
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Technology:
Biochemistry
Mechanization
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Competence:
Highly professional competences
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Fuel to reach markets:
The adaptation of individual farmers
Initiating cooperatives
Providing financial support
Educational workshops
The merging together
Organic farming
(1970- )
Goal:
Prohibit chemical inputs
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Technology:
Non-chemical inputs
maintaining productivity
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Competence:
Different values, such as sustainability, stability, equitability
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Fuel to reach markets:
"Research Center for Organic Agriculture” “The organic engineer certificate”
Goal:
Respond to climate change
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Technology:
Vertical farming
Information technology
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Competence:
Multi-backgrounds
Sociological values
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Fuel to reach markets:
Renewable energy
Recycling water and materials
Cultivate vegetables all year
Reduces food miles and creates new jobs
Urban farming
(2000- )
Emerging farmer's markets
Urban farming market needs
1. Public awareness
2. Adjustment for low costs
Urban farmers needs
1. Education and the community to support
2. Platform to share
DEFINE: persona
Problems
The issue among others is that urban farming cannot make enough profits to support all her living costs. For this reason, she should work as a marketer as well as working as a farmer. In my opinion, one possibility is that applying new technology could help to improve the profitability of urban farming.
Name: Eunjung
Gender: Female
Location: Seoul
Occupation: Marketer, writer,
urban farmer
Needs
Three needs emerge based on the interview with her. Urban farmers need education, which provides information about the best farming practices. They require markets to meet customers to promote products and services from urban farming. Urban farmers can play a social role by sharing their experience through a blog.
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Education
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Markets
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Blog
ideate: flowchart
ideate: WIREFRAME
