AgriCulture in Milan. The Mutual Benefit Between Urban Agriculture and Cultural Heritage

In the past decade, policy in favour of strengthening the role of urban agriculture implemented by Milanese institutions and the numerous initiatives that have been promoted has also brought benefits to the maintenance of agricultural heritage. Restoration and recovery actions that followed the agrarian contract renewal avoided collapse of tangible agricultural heritage; the confirmation of agricultural land in urban planning allowed farmers to maintain a good quality of open spaces for citizen and perpetuate the original link between agricultural buildings and their fields, namely, the historical landscape system. The municipal support for network creation among farmers reinforced their role in the society and encouraged their involvement in the transmission of traditional agricultural techniques. Citizens increased the sense of community through revival of agricultural celebrations and the involvement in horticultural activities. The effects of the policies towards agricultural heritage are analysed on a sample of historical farmsteads and agricultural fields owned by Milan municipality. We investigated the permanencies of tangible and intangible heritage, the readability of the historical landscape system and the heritage transmission, and the involvement of the population.