Integrating Agroecology into Urban Food Planning in Critical Peri-Urban Transition Zones: A Dynamic Policy Framework and Empirical Evidence from the Mediterranean Coast (2021–2025)

Rapid global environmental change and supply-chain disruptions are exposing the disconnect between statutory spatial planning and the functional requirements of urban food systems. This qualitative longitudinal case study (May 2021–October 2025) examines Aydıncık, Mersin, an intensive greenhouse-dominated peri-urban landscape on the Mediterranean coast of Türkiye. Moving beyond technocratic "nature-based solutions", it frames agroecology as a transdisciplinary science, a farm-level practice and a sociopolitical movement. Thematic coding of 18 semi-structured interviews and four focus groups, combined with a review of statutory plans, revealed three interlocking bottlenecks: an input-dependency trap driving soil fatigue and residue risks, an institutional disconnect between municipal planning and agricultural administration, and persistent rezoning pressure on prime soils. To bridge agri-food governance and physical planning, the study proposes the Agroecological Urban Food Planning Model (AU-FPM), a multiscalar, time-phased matrix of spatial interventions. The findings offer concrete pathways for integrating agroecology into the planning of intermediate and small-scale peri-urban areas.