Food as a means of change for cities and landscapes

European and global policies are increasingly moving towards new frontiers of sustainability, innovation and social inclusion. Many of the same 2030 sustainable development goals (SDGs) promoted by the United Nations, to which should refer all planning for the future development of cities, focus on urban and landscape quality and land-use, agriculture, soil, food, sustainability, management waste, alternative energy, climate change, social inclusion, cultural diffusion and innovation in businesses. Although the international debate has legitimized the importance of the relationship between food, territory and city, in many countries – in particular, in the Mediterranean Area – food and nutrition (combined with heritage and patrimonial identity) are fundamental and recognized elements of culture, but also of economic development. In cities, the majority of those consumers whose individual choices are decisive in defining the evolution of the food systems - associated to the urban and territorial development - are already concentrating, and will increasingly concentrate. The next step means understanding how the holistic agro-cultural and social systems intercept spaces, actors, resources and dynamics present in a city, moving from the food system – understood as a chain of activities related to the production, processing, distribution, consumption and post-consumption, including related institutions and regulatory activities (Pothukuchi, Kaufman, 1999) – to a new kind the of agro-urban integrated system of where innovative food and multi-scalar approaches are combined.