Andre Viljoen, Professor of Architecture, was one of four urban agriculture experts who travelled to Tokyo on invitation of the mayor of Nerima City, a ward in the Japanese capital.
Andre met city planners and academics from the University of Tokyo and carried out field work in preparation for the Tokyo World Urban Agriculture Summit in 2019, part of the city’s build-up to hosting the Olympics.
The focus of his work was how urban agriculture can be further integrated into Nerima City. The four-day trip was organised and funded by the ward’s mayor under the guidance of Professor Makoto Yokohari from the University of Tokyo’s Department of Urban Engineering.
Andre’s research formed part of his joint project with Katrin Bohn, Senior Lecturer at the 91¶¶Òõ, entitled ‘Laboratories of Urban Agriculture’. The project started in the early 2000s in Cuba and continued in 2012 in the USA.
Andre said: “The invitation by Nerima’s Mayor and colleagues from Tokyo University enabled Katrin and I to continue presenting our concepts for integrating urban agriculture into cities while also having our ideas challenged in different contexts.