## 1 Introduction: Why Cities Need Food Policies
It has been defined as the complex network of actors, processes, and relationships affecting the production, transformation, marketing, and consumption of food that exists in a given geographical region that includes a more or less concentrated urban center and its surrounding peri-urban and rural hinterland [15]. The underlying assumption of this approach is that, if policies are developed on a city-region scale, the recognition of the agro-ecosystems' specificities makes it possible to deal simultaneously with urban issues (food safety and health), agricultural issues (opportunities for local farmers), and environmental issues (risk management). In this context, cities--through diversified approaches and various administrative and functional solutions--are taking on an increasingly central role in trying to manage the food system for better governance of many of the challenges they are facing today. In other words, cities are becoming strategic geographical transition nodes that can exploit the political vacuum generated by the absence of global, coherent, and integrated food policies--national or supranational--to develop more sustainable food systems [16; 17]. (When referring to processes towards sustainability of food systems, the authors mean holistic approaches that integrate all aspects of the food system. This includes urban and peri-urban agriculture; strengthening the rural-urban interface to ensure connections between rural supplies and urban contexts; taking into account street food, retailers, food processing and distribution, nutrition, and health; and linkages to water, waste, transport, and energy systems [18].) In this context, urban food policies find their ways and are increasing popularity. Urban food policies have been defined [19] as a concerted action on the part of city government to address food-related challenges. Urban food policies often emerge through significant involvement of civil society and other actors. Most urban food policies consist of targeted actions with specific goals, such as addressing a specific public health or environmental concern (e.g., obesity and food waste). Such actions can pave the way for--and be incorporated into--integrated food policies at a later stage and may also have benefits in other policy areas. In most urban food policies, the reasoning on local food systems is directed towards a physical (and therefore ecological), symbolic, and economic reconnection between the city and the countryside through a series of actions and tools that involve all phases of food chains [19; 20]. This implies the recognition of agro-ecosystems and agricultural production not as antithetical activities compared to urban ones, but as integrated phenomena, capable of playing a key role in the development of urban systems. Cities are where the social movements of food re-signification find their place, a privileged lens for observing the transformations of food systems and governing many of the challenges of the coming decades. Indeed, the urban scale has been considered the most appropriate one for a couple of decades [21] to intercept and govern the economic and social dynamics and, above all, the policies, tools, and actions that make food systems more sustainable and compatible with the challenges of the new millennium that the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda have highlighted. Acknowledging that cities have a strategic role to play in developing sustainable food systems and promoting healthy diets, the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP) was established in 2015. MUFPP represents a global commitment among more two hundred mayors from around the world who consider food as an entry point for the sustainable development of growing cities.