Metropolitan Area Profile and Scenario (MAPS) London


The London case is characterised by a high demand for food from the urban core as well as other major cities in the region, resulting in an area demand of 13,989 km2 (London) and 38,773 km2 (London, South-East & East England). Despite high agricultural area share with more than 26,500 km2 farmland, the demand clearly exceeds the regional production potential by nearly 50%. Particularly due to the high population density in the direct vicinity of London as well as the area constraints of the footprint area of the British Midlands and the island location, serious food stress can be considered.


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Figure: Area demand conventional food production.

Whereas the metropolitan core of London faces a strong area deficit for food production, the majority of urban places within the region can be easily supplied by the near surrounding, which show self-sufficiency levels of 100% and more. However, the absolute area demand through the high population number results in an undersupply at regional level.


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Figure: Self-sufficiency level at municipality level.