As populations continue to migrate from rural to urban areas, space is at a premium. Many settlements are becoming ever-more congested – with adequate, affordable housing in short supply and transport systems struggling to serve their respective residents. But as much the conversation about urbanization is about people, it is sometimes also about the animals that come with those people – urban livestock that play a key role at providing sustenance on an individual level, in addition to becoming an avenue for communal trade.
The presence of livestock in urban settlements is far from a new development. Mayan and Aztec civilizations both practiced urban agriculture – within which urban livestock-keeping existed in various forms. In the contemporary context, as land in cities is rapidly transformed to make way for migrating populations, domestic land blends into the agricultural, that in turn blends into land for livestock.
