oncrete skyline, looking down at acres and acres of under utilised rooftops. The rooftops which building owners see as a liability could become an asset and start to play a part in creating the sustainable cities of tomorrow.
Urban agriculture is slowly advancing. Only this week Swansea Council and Natural Resources Wales announced plans to double Swansea’s green spaces, following London’s initiative to make the capital a National Park City. There is a big increase in urban farms, including creative ideas such as adapting abandoned Second World War bomb shelters. Urban beekeeping is also on the rise.
Less is known about roof top farming, but it is a growing sector and one we decided we would like to look into in a little more detail.
Simply put, rooftop farming is the growth and cultivation of plants and fruits on suitable rooftops, in densely populated areas. It is a practice which is growing in popularity, with cities like New York and Hong Kong leading the way . And Paris soon to join the party, currently developing a 150,000 square foot agricultural acropolis.
Roof top farming offers all the same environmental benefits that green roofs offer. These include the absorption of CO2 and the release of oxygen, the filtering out of particulates in the environment, increased insulation and less dependency on air conditioning to name but a few. But in the case of urban farms these benefits are happy bi-products of the process and not the primary aim.
In Singapore only 1% of the country’s 280sq miles is devoted to agriculture. There, the call is “Don’t think land, think space. Because you can go upwards and sideways”.
Currently in Singapore 5% of present day vegetable consumption is farmed locally, if rooftop farming was implemented across public housing estates alone, this would increase to 36%, whilst reducing emissions by over 9,000 tonnes per year.
In Bologna, if all suitable roof space was used for urban farming, nearly 80% of the city’s consumption needs would be met. Whether our peppers are coming from Spain, or from Mexico, the environmental impacts are huge in comparison to sourcing locally.
If we look closer to home, London has over 20,000 hectares of rooftop. According to the Sustainable Food Trust, if we were able to convert 10,000 hectares, and produce 40kg/sqm/year (a very conservative estimate) – we’d be able to supply all of London’s population with fruit and vegetables.
Many of the first innovators have been restaurants, developing small production for their own use. This is not that unusual in country hotels and restaurants; think only of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s ‘River Cottage’ series.
By growing their own restaurants can manage quality, have security over their supply and they don’t have to pay delivery costs or contribute to the pollution this is responsible for.
But, as in the case of Singapore, food security is becoming more and more important as urbanisation spreads.
With an ever growing demand to maximise the use of rooftops, combined with ever growing awareness of environmental issues and the desire to ensure urban sustainability, rooftop farming certainly offers an excellent solution. However, we need to start educating our clients that green roofs offer both a financial and environmental benefit, and longer term thinking can and will benefit everyone.
Maguire Brothers is committed to working with our clients to develop and build environmentally sustainable rooftop solutions and we are excited to help lead the way. We’re proud of the environmental projects we have completed and will embrace any sustainable challenge that you may have. Just get in touch to discuss or meet with us over an oat milk latte….