Urban Farm Resiliency in South Bend

Student

Gabriel Gaspar

College(s)

College of Science

Faculty Advisor

Rob Nerenberg & Patrick Regan

Class Year

2018

The locations and areas of the 409 vacant lots in the Southeast Neighborhood according to ArcGIS recorded by the City of South Bend.

During the summer of 2017, I worked with the City of South Bend and Bowman Creek Educational Ecosystem to revitalize vacant lots in the Southeast Neighborhood using smart green infrastructure. I have extended the work I have done then by exploring the feasibility of implementing sustainable and resilient urban farms as a means to increase biodiversity in the local environment, provide nutritious food for residents, and beautify the neighborhood.

 

In this capstone project, I assessed the local environment's suitability for crop growth and designed an urban farm, Milton Farm, with a supportive irrigation system for sustenance. In addition, I created a comprehensive timeline for crop growth in the farm and related the mission of this initiative to principles of Catholic Social Tradition (CST). I combined the knowledge I learned through my sustainability, CST, and environmental engineering courses, and applied it to help a neighborhood that truly has become a home to me.