Urban agriculture is becoming a well-known idea all around the world. Most of it is done at the small-scale, but there's still the idea of creating large skyscraper farms to feed our cities. Smithsonian takes a look at the idea.
Skyscrapers dedicated to agriculture may not be up for permit approvals anywhere yet, but there are some ideas that come close.
"Such a high-rise farm has not yet been built. But in Devon, England, the Paignton Zoo has maintained a hydroponic, controlled-irrigation garden for several months. The yield from its 11,000-odd leafy vegetable plants-lettuce, spinach, herbs-is fed to the animals. The garden takes up 1,000 square feet in a greenhouse, about one-twentieth of what it would require in a field. Kevin Frediani, the zoo's curator of plants, says its key technology, a system of mobile nine-foot-high racks that help ensure the plants are properly fed and exposed to light and air, could be scaled up."
Read the full story: The Rise of Urban Farming
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City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority