Designing Climate-Smart Edible Gardens through Geospatial Ecological Profiling: A Case Study of Măgurele, Ilfov

This research explores the integration of climate-adaptive urban agriculture into peri-urban ecosystems, using the case of Măgurele, Ilfov County, Romania. The main objective is to develop a methodology for planning small-scale, low-input edible gardens that are tailored to local ecological conditions while contributing to food resilience and sustainable urban design. The study addresses the urgent need to enhance biodiversity, soil health, and ecosystem services in underutilized suburban spaces by identifying plant species with high compatibility to site-specific environmental parameters. The paper builds upon recent interdisciplinary work in urban gardening, agroecology, and spatial planning that emphasize localized sustainability and resilient infrastructure. It contributes to this discourse by applying a data-driven ecological profiling method to inform plant selection and garden structuring in urban fringe contexts. To capture site evidence, the research employs a geospatial assessment framework using remote sensing datasets. Environmental indicators such as land surface temperature, normalized vegetation index (NDVI), total precipitation, evapotranspiration, terrain aspect, and topsoil pH are extracted and used to construct a seasonal ecological baseline. A multi-criteria suitability scoring model is then developed to assess the compatibility of more than twenty edible plant species. The results demonstrate that a diverse range of seasonal crops, including common vegetables and lesser-known edible wild plants, can be strategically layered and rotated to fit local microclimatic and soil conditions. The analysis confirms the feasibility of establishing productive, adaptive gardens even in densely built peri-urban contexts. This study offers a replicable methodology for planners, researchers, and community stakeholders seeking to implement resilient urban food systems. Its main contribution lies in bridging ecological data with practical garden design, offering an accessible model for climate-aware green infrastructure development in peri-urban Europe.