The Cluster of Urban Agriculture: Case of Bartin-Turkey

Urban agriculture (UA) can certainly play an important role and occupy a considerable amount of space and people's endeavours in the cities of the future. This research is concerned to examine UA activities in Bartin whether they are organized as a cluster by using the theory of Growth Cluster, and then tries to explore the cluster characteristics of UA as a part of the project: TR-26 Bartin Regional Development. Finally, it makes an argument about the environmental, societal and economic impacts of UA in Bartin City. Research has confirmed that "the UA is a cluster in Bartin, and it holds promises for future growth". However, to develop the cluster further, its strength needs to be enhanced. Many problems have appeared, among which weak coordination and collaboration among the stakeholders involved are of fundamental importance. It is therefore perceived that the development a particular organization of UA marketing (public-private partnership together with knowledge institutes) is necessary to particularly improve a better coordination and the situation of UA cluster in Bartin. In this study, a model of UA activities is proposed for "Bartin City Initiative" in terms of city-level actions for growth cluster of UA in Bartin.