Exploring Agrihoods: A Non-Traditional Form of Master Planned Communities Focused on Agriculture

Developments across North America have integrated an agricultural component into their masterplanned community as an attempt to retain agricultural land uses or increase local food production. These agricultural communities are known as "agrihoods", which are residential or mixed-use communities that include some sort of agricultural activity. It is crucial for urban planners to understand the agrihood model as it provides an opportunity to advance sustainable development and strives to balance the competing forces of farmland preservation and growth pressures. This research used a mixed-methods approach to examine a total of 41 suburban and rural agrihoods across North America. Results from this research explore whether agrihoods are an alternative development model that addresses farmland preservation and suburban sprawl, along with presents the benefits and adverse impacts of agrihoods and the land use policies influencing the development of an agrihood in the County of Brant, Ontario, Canada.