Agrarian urbanism and Vertical Farming

APPENDIX 1 MEASI ACADEMY OF ARCHITECTURE, CHENNAI ANNA UNIVERSITY :: CHENNAI - 600025

Agrarian urbanism and vertical farming Analyzing the scope of productive urban landscapes, their design and implementation.

A dissertation report submitted by

M.S.SRINIDHI

In partial fulfilment for the award of the degree of BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE

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APPENDIX 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract………………………………………………………………………… 5

Table of figures……..………………………………………………………….. 6 1. Agriculture and the urban environment ....................................................... 10 2. A brief history of food and the city .............................................................. 12 3. Urbanization and its impacts: ....................................................................... 13 3.1

Socio-economic issues ........................................................................... 13

 Food security: ......................................................................................... 13  Unemployment: ...................................................................................... 14 3.2

Environmental issues:............................................................................. 14

 Waste management: ............................................................................... 14  Increase in carbon footprint: .................................................................. 15  Lack of green spaces – decrease in air quality: ...................................... 16 3.3

Livelihood issues: ................................................................................... 17

 Lack of awareness: ................................................................................. 17  Excessive wastage .................................................................................. 17  Diet-related health complications........................................................... 18  Separation from nature ........................................................................... 18  Stress and psychological issues .............................................................. 19 2

4. Urban agriculture: A revolution for a solution ............................................ 20 4.1

Urban agriculture in history: .................................................................. 21

4.2

Urban theories in relation to farming: .................................................... 24

The garden city concept: .............................................................................. 25 Broadacres city: ............................................................................................ 29 4.3

Continuous Productive urban landscapes ............................................... 31

 CPULs explained:................................................................................... 32 4.4

Types of urban agriculture initiatives: ................................................... 35

 Institutional Farms and Gardens: ........................................................... 35  Commercial Farms: ................................................................................ 35  Community gardens: .............................................................................. 35  Community farms: .................................................................................. 35 4.5

Instances from India: .............................................................................. 36

Mumbai: ....................................................................................................... 36 -

Railway farming: .................................................................................... 36

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Farming in slums: ................................................................................... 36

4.6

Benefits of agrarian urbanism: ............................................................... 39

 Economic: ............................................................................................... 39  Social: ..................................................................................................... 40  Population and food production: ............................................................ 41  Poverty Alleviation: ............................................................................... 41  Waste management................................................................................. 42  Energy efficiency: .................................................................................. 42 3

 Carbon footprint: .................................................................................... 43  Air pollution: .......................................................................................... 43  Noise pollution: ...................................................................................... 44  Health: .................................................................................................... 44  Diet and child nutrition: ......................................................................... 45 4.7

Limitations.............................................................................................. 45

5. Vertical farming: .......................................................................................... 46 5.1

Design of vertical farms ......................................................................... 48

5.2

Challenges .............................................................................................. 49

6. Case studies .................................................................................................. 49 6.1

Agro- Housing: Wuhan, China............................................................... 49

6.2

Pasona office headquarters, Tokyo ........................................................ 56

6.3

Farm-X ................................................................................................... 60

6.4

Elephant and Castle Eco Tower: London, England ............................... 64

6.5

The Edible Schoolyard ........................................................................... 66

6.6

Visionary retirement home farm ............................................................ 70

6.7

Indoor vertical farm, Newark ................................................................. 72

6.8

Vertical harvest- Wyoming .................................................................... 76

7. Conclusion: .................................................................................................. 79 REFERENCES.................................................................................................... 81

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ABSTRACT As the world progresses through time, it has two main challenges to address – Population growth and environmental pollution because of inability to manage our wastes. The two issues are invariably interconnected on many levels.

For the past 1000 years, humans have been associating farming only to- and restrict it to rural areas. But the greatest impact of population rise is the rise in the number of urban hungry and the increase in demand for agricultural land to grow food for them. Another major issue is in the question of waste management. Cities receive a large quantity of produce through ships, and trucks from farmlands and convert all this to waste that now reside in landfills and dump yards.

Urban agriculture is an initiative to create a self-sustaining ecological cycle of food and waste in the urban environment by incorporating agriculture into the cityscape. The means to do this could vary from small scale initiatives like converting terrace spaces into farmlands, to cultivation on top of green roofs and green walls, converting unused urban pockets into productive landscapes, creating skyscrapers to produce crops on every floor through vertical farming and so on. The implementation of such a system could not only help enhance the economy of the country by providing a new sector for employment in urban areas, but also create widespread social change by altering the biased idea of ‗farming‘ in the minds of the urban consumer. Mark Boyle – ‗the moneyless man said, ―if we grew our own food, we wouldn‘t waste a third of it as we do today‖ This dissertation is a targeted study on continuous productive urban landscapes, urban agriculture and vertical farming, aiming to critically analyse its need, suggest solutions for its implementation and explore its feasibility through case studies from different parts of the world.

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TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1: The juxtaposition of agriculture and the city ...................................... 10 Figure 2: The Fertile Crescent ............................................................................ 12 Figure 3: Percentage of organic waste generated in the cities ............................ 15 Figure 4: Food waste generated at every stage of the food cycle ....................... 15 Figure 5: Pollution levels across different cities ................................................. 16 Figure 6: Paddy fields - farmscapes .................................................................... 18 Figure 7: The Influence of Urban Natural and Built Environments on Physiological measures of Stress ........................................................................ 19 Figure 8: The hanging gardens of Babylon ........................................................ 21 Figure 9: Reuse of run-off water from cities in agricultural terraces below Machu Picchu ...................................................................................................... 22 Figure 10: Allotment gardens ............................................................................. 22 Figure 11: "Victory gardens" during the WW1 .................................................. 23 Figure 12: The three city planning typologies- Ebenezer Howard ..................... 25 Figure 13: Plan of Howard's 'Garden city' .......................................................... 27 Figure 14: An urban designer's visualization of a garden city ........................... 27 Figure 15: City planning of Letchworth ............................................................. 28 Figure 16: Wright's concept for the Broadacres city .......................................... 29 Figure 17: The agrarian utopia of the Broadacre city - F.L.Wright ................... 30 Figure 18: Representation of continuous productive urban landscape ............... 31 Figure 19: CPULs weave through the existing urban fabric as multi-user, productive landscapes ......................................................................................... 33 Figure 20: How to make a CPUL ....................................................................... 34 Figure 21: Vegetable fields along railway tracks between Elphinstone Road and Lower Parel stations ............................................................................................ 36 Figure 22: Urban gardening in cleared dump yards ........................................... 36 Figure 23: Dr. Doshi's organic farm ................................................................... 37 6

Figure 24: Rooftop farm in Rosary school, Mumbai .......................................... 38 Figure 25: MPT's terrace farm ............................................................................ 38 Figure 26: The elderly members of the community helping out in farming ...... 38 Figure 27: A visualization of vertical farming on the building facade ............... 46 Figure 28: Crops cultivated inside buildings - "breathing highrises" ................. 47 Figure 29: Hydroponics in vertical farming ....................................................... 48 Figure 30: superposition of layered productive landscapes and urban dwelling Knafo Klimor Architects..................................................................................... 50 Figure 31: Ground floor, typical floor and roof plan of Agro housing project .. 51 Figure 32: South elevation of building ............................................................... 52 Figure 33: Axonometric scheme of Agro-housing project ................................. 53 Figure 34: Climate control strategies during summer ........................................ 54 Figure 35: Water conservation and reuse strategies .......................................... 55 Figure 36: Floor plans of Pasona office HQ in tokyo ......................................... 57 Figure 37: Productive green facade .................................................................... 58 Figure 38: Farm-X model- a modular urban farm- Conceptual devices ............ 61 Figure 39: interior of module .............................................................................. 61 Figure 40: Readjusting the module according to site ......................................... 62 Figure 41: Layout plan of aquaponic panels ....................................................... 63 Figure 42: Elevations with open and closed top panes ....................................... 63 Figure 43: Visualization of the Eco-tower .......................................................... 64 Figure 44: Floor plan of the eco tower ............................................................... 65 Figure 45: Section of the eco-tower .................................................................... 66 Figure 46: The remodelled parking lot with the urban garden lab ..................... 67 Figure 47: Plan and section of the edible schoolyard ......................................... 68 Figure 48: Interior of the greenhouse.................................................................. 69 Figure 49: The retirement home is a lavish curvilinear sprawling structure that encloses a central courtyard ................................................................................ 70 Figure 50: hydroponic cultivation and harvest ................................................... 71 7

Figure 51: Section showing apartments, market and hydroponics garden ......... 72 Figure 52: Aerial view of steel factory to be converted to vertical farm............ 73 Figure 53: Hydroponic technology ..................................................................... 74 Figure 54: overhead LED lights for crop growth ............................................... 75 Figure 55: Vertical farm at Wyoming................................................................. 76 Figure 56: Climate controlled environment and at the same time utilizing natural light for photosynthesis ........................................................................... 78

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“By agriculture only can commerce be perpetuated; and by Agriculture alone can we live in plenty without intercourse with other nations. This therefore is the greatest of arts, which every Government ought to protect, every proprietor to practice, and every inquirer into nature improves.”

Dr Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)

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Figure 1: The juxtaposition of agriculture and the city

1. Agriculture and the urban environment Although modern technology has allowed for a further separation of agriculture and the city; new thought and experimentation has shown a symbiotic relationship between the two. Continuous productive urban landscapes(CPUL) and urban agriculture and are new movements that seek to reduce human impact on the Earth and enable cities to become more sustainable and resistant to environmental collapse by moving farms into urban areas.

Continuous Productive Urban Landscape is a design concept advocating the coherent introduction of interlinked productive landscapes into cities as an essential element of sustainable urban infrastructure. It is a component 10

of urban farming which is a means of incorporating agronomy into our cities.

We can hence transform our approach to urban development and enable people to become self-sufficient by using urban and architectural design as teaching tools about food.

Agriculture and urbanism are no longer considered mutually exclusive, but their union may provide opportunities to sponsor the growth of cities. In Global City Blues, Daniel Solomon states that, ―Food and urbanism are both fundamental to the human experience‖. Yet the act of growing food and the urban experience have been held separate. By inserting the agrarian landscape into the urban environment, community and collaboration are fostered within the public realm through this productive amenity. Recently acknowledged through contemporary theory, urban agriculture activates urban space.1 The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces concludes that, ―If you want to seed a place with activity, put out food‖.

Urban farming can also act as a communal unifier within the city.

It is anticipated that the human species will likely face a series of both environmental and economic difficulties resulting from our current lack of concern for the environment. We burn oil for transportation and harm ecosystems to create arable land all to feed our own needs. Urban agriculture and its components such as vertical farming are tools that can allow us to work symbiotically with natural processes of growing food. Dr. Dickson Despommier states, ―What is most required at this point in our history is not yet another quick techno-fix, but rather a permanent overhaul in the way we behave as a species‖2 Urban agriculture is the next step towards this attitude. With the inclusion of agriculture in the urban environment, urban agriculture can reshape the public realm and enable people to become more selfreliant.”

1 2

Solomon, Global City Blues Despommier, The Vertical Farm, 142

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2. A brief history of food and the city Before talking about Urbanism one must analyse how food had influenced and shaped cities through time.

Food is the most basic requirement for humans for their sustenance on Earth.

Man had been producing his own food since the discovery of agriculture at

Figure 2: The Fertile Crescent

around 10,000 BC in a region called ‗the fertile crescent‘- a part of present day Iraq. Since then, agriculture had evolved in the river valleys where the soil was fertile and was suitable for plant growth.

This influenced human settlements to a huge extent and man started settling down in river valleys and deltas.

Because of this very prospect of cultivation, more and more humans started moving into these river valleys and the settlements started growing larger and more complex in nature. Granaries were built store food, trade was set up, the barter system came in and people started exchanging their produce. Food has thus lead to the formation of some of the greatest urban civilizations in historythe Indus valley civilization, along the river Sindhu and the Egyptian civilization along the Nile.

As time progressed, so did man. The industrial revolution that happened around the 1760‘s to 1840‘s not only lead to some major innovations in the field of food production, the manpower that was needed for agriculture was reduced and machines took over. Hence the sector started employing lesser and lesser people over time and men started flocking to the industrial sector in the cities. It was then, that the base for ‗city formation‘ shifted from agricultural settlements to

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industries and factories. Cities proliferated around it and started trade on industrially produced goods and the economy flourished.

This marked the beginning of urbanization and development of the modern capitalist society. Since the industrial revolution, agriculture and cities slowly started disassociating with one another. Food produced in large amounts from farms that were hundreds of miles away from cities were getting transported to markets in cities through roads, rail and ships.

3. Urbanization and its impacts: There is no doubt that urbanization lead to global technical and economic development. But alongside development came major global issues that we face in the present day. By the year 2050, the global urban population is said to increase by 80% (10 billion people). The issues that follow this may be socioeconomic, environmental or lifestyle related. Urban agriculture and creating systems of CPUL‘s seek to resolve most of these issues.

3.1

Socio-economic issues

 Food security: The World Food Summit of 1996 defined food security as existing ―when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life‖. Hence the term food security in a broader perspective not only refers to the availability of food for consumers, it also includes within its definition, an equitable distribution of produce such that no one goes hungry.

The United Nations predicts that over the next 25 years nearly all population growth will be in the cities of the developing world.3 At current rates, 60% of the world‗s total population will live in cities by 2030. Because of rapid urbanization and with more and more people moving into cities in search of 3

Urban Agriculture for Sustainable Development - Luc J. A. Mougeot

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better opportunities, the food requirement for various urban centres has increased and is continuing to increase at an exponential rate.

It is also important to note that, as cities grow, so do the number of urban poor.

Hunger and malnutrition are a commonplace. In a world where 870 million people go to bed hungry every night (UN, 2012), more than half belong to cities. Hence stringent action needs to be taken in the near future to ensure food security for sustenance of urban communities.  Unemployment: Cities have a high level of unemployment rates. Unemployment is a major consequence of urbanization. Although industrialization has brought about increase in employment opportunities in urban centres, the sheer number of people moving there in search for such employment opportunities has rendered many jobless. This calls for generation of newer lines of employment, especially for the labourers who are largely living in poverty and barely manage to sustain themselves because of their willingness to work hectic shifts for cheaper rates.

3.2 Environmental issues:  Waste management: Management of biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes from urban centres ought to be high up on our priority list for dealing with present day issues. With urbanization comes population rise in cities which leads to accumulation of more waste than our handling capacity. There is no structured method for dealing with non-biodegradable waste other than the three R‘s – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Biodegradable wastes- solid waste and food waste on the other hand could be dealt with quite efficiently by understanding where these wastes come from.

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Figure 3: Percentage of organic waste generated in the cities

Figure 4: Food waste generated at every stage of the food cycle

Contrary to the common notion of ‘waste’ being the end product of the food cycle, one must begin to understand that every stage in the cycle generates a certain amount of organic waste that seeks to be disposed. The production stage is dominated by agro wastes from farms. At the transportation and stocking stage, an alarming percentage of fruits, vegetables and grains that have low shelf-life perish and require to be thrown away. At the marketing stage, the perished products from the shelves, left un-bought, need to be disposed. Finally, the foods that are left uncooked because of spoilage, or left unconsumed at urban households contribute to a large proportion of the food waste. Food waste should be effectively dealt with as it contributes a whopping 48 % of the total waste generated in the cities.  Increase in carbon footprint: With industrialization and increase in vehicular transport, the amount of suspended impurities and greenhouse gases in the air has doubled since the past decade. The carbon footprint has more than Because of pesticide use and farmland runoff, water bodies have become contaminated. This also causes ocean acidification. With overpopulation, there is a problem of disposal of higher amounts of municipal wastes.

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Figure 5: Pollution levels across different cities

 Lack of green spaces – decrease in air quality: Over congestion and gentrification in urban centres has left very little space available for people to live in, let alone for catering to their need for green spaces and natural landscapes. Cities like New York have an adequate proportion of greenery which is concentrated at the centre of the mega polis and is not distributed evenly throughout. Sao Paulo is nothing but a concrete jungle that had paved over existing natural landscapes.

As far as India is concerned, overpopulation and poverty has led to most of the usable space being consumed in mass housing projects and illegal settlements like slums. Houses are getting smaller and smaller with the least regard for break out spaces and greenery.

However, green spaces are very much a necessity for purifying and reoxygenating the air, maintaining temperatures and for the overall ambience of the city which would otherwise seem extremely mundane and sick. It is psychologically proven that green spaces could help the urban population deal 16

with everyday stress and fatigue.

The term ‗Landscaping‘ with respect to design of exterior spaces, invokes in us, a picture of lush green lawns with ornamental flowering plants which may look appealing to the eye but are unproductive and high maintenance The present day need calls for landscapes designed to be productive rather than being exclusively for aesthetics and comfort.

3.3 Livelihood issues: Carolyn steel states on TED – ‗How do you feed a city? It‘s one of the great questions of our time. Yet it's one that's rarely asked. We take it for granted that if we go into a shop or restaurant, or indeed into this theatre‘s foyer in about an hour's time, there is going to be food there waiting for us, having magically come from somewhere.‘ The major setbacks of being a present day urban consumer, with respect to food production and otherwise are as follows:  Lack of awareness: People in the city are highly unaware, or if not, oblivious of the process of ‗farm to plate‘ of food. The entire process of cultivating, growing, harvesting, packaging, transporting, buying, cooking, consuming and disposing off of food happens every day to everyone in every city on earth. Sadly no amount of information off the internet could make up for truly understanding the amount of energy that goes into this cycle which makes up a crucial part of our lives.

Agriculture, which is supposed to be one of the noblest occupations, is sadly the least examined and heavily underrated.  Excessive wastage Being unaware of the amount of tireless effort put into producing food, adults and children alike have come to take it‘s easy availability for granted and hence end up wasting food. According to a survey by UNEP and the World Resources 17

Institute, about 1/3rd of all food produced worldwide, worth around 1 trillion USD, gets lost or wasted in food production and consumption systems. When this figure is converted to calories, this means that about 1 in 4 calories intended for consumption is never actually eaten. In a world full of hunger, volatile food prices, and social unrest, these statistics are more than just shocking. They are environmentally, morally and economically outrageous. The rise in food waste not only creates a problem of space for waste disposal, the accumulation of organic wastes in landfills and their subsequent decomposition releases methane which is a greenhouse gas.  Diet-related health complications There are an alarming number of fast food chains popping up at every corner in a city, selling highly processed, deep fried food with excess additives. However there are very few farmers‘ markets selling fresh fruits and vegetables and hence the former seems to be a more attractive option in the eyes of an urban consumer. As a result, cities have become breeding pools of obesity, childhood obesity and diet related illnesses. 1.4 billion People are overweight because of the kind of food they eat.4  Separation from nature Living in cities, we have come to embrace the artificial like it is the most natural of things because having been used to living in jungles of concrete, glass and steel, when we are exposed to a purely natural scene like the rice field shown here, we think of it as something ‗exotic‘ because a few of us

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WHO, UN survey, 2008

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Figure 6: Paddy fields - farmscapes

ever get to see the farmscapes from where our food actually comes from. In a nutshell, it is easy to conclude that today‘s urban dwellers are nature deprived  Stress and psychological issues Increased levels of stress cause depression and mental illness among adults as well as adolescents. For a very long time, dwelling in urban environments have been a major risk factor for psychiatric problems such as depression and schizophrenia.

Figure 7: The Influence of Urban Natural and Built Environments on Physiological measures of Stress

This has been held true despite the fact that cities have better

infrastructure, social-economic conditions, and nutrition and healthcare services. The causes for this stress could be attributed to the fact that people inherently have lesser space to live in and move about in cities. Living in Congestion is a direct consequence to higher incidence of chronic social stress and social evaluative threat in high populous cities like Mumbai, India.

Another major cause for higher stress levels in urban areas is the lack of green spaces. It had been scientifically proved that people living closer to nature and green spaces, Farms and forests specifically- have higher cortisol levels.

Cortisol is a hormone that relieves stress. Lack of green spaces and over congestion directly influence the air quality of a space. Lack of clean air to breathe is another direct risk factor for chronic stress. As urbanisation of our world is inevitable, we urgently need to improve our understanding of the threatening – as well as the health protective – factors of urban living.

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4. Urban agriculture: A revolution for a solution The Urban Agriculture Network has defined urban agriculture as: “An industry that produces processes, and markets food, fuel, and other outputs, largely in response to the daily demand of consumers within a town, city, or metropolis, on many types of privately and publicly held land and water bodies found throughout intra-urban and peri-urban areas.

Typically urban agriculture applies intensive production methods, frequently using and reusing natural resources and urban wastes, to yield a diverse array of land-, water-, and air-based fauna and flora, contributing to the food security, health, livelihood, and environment of the individual, household, and community” The Council of Agriculture, Science and Technology (CAST) defines urban agriculture to include aspects of environmental health, remediation, and recreation: “Urban agriculture is a complex system encompassing a spectrum of interests, from a traditional core of activities associated with the production, processing, marketing, distribution, and consumption, to a multiplicity of other benefits and services that are less widely acknowledged and documented.

These include recreation and leisure; economic vitality and business entrepreneurship, individual health and well-being; community health and wellbeing; landscape beautification; and environmental restoration and remediation” Globally, it takes the shape of a social movement which aims at creating selfsustaining cities, fostering community collaboration and evolving a network that thrived on community holism and shared ethos for nature and farming practices.

Despite the change brought upon to the architecture of the city and the nature of 20

urban spaces, urban agriculture is sure to bring with it large scale economic development over the years of implementation and also widespread social development and change in community lifestyle.

4.1 Urban agriculture in history: Although the term ‗Urban agriculture‘ could stand for a modern technique to improve urban public landscapes to increase productivity, the concept behind it dates back to ancient civilizations.

Great structures of the past such as the hanging gardens of Babylon and the Machu Picchu of the Peruvian

Figure 8: The hanging gardens of Babylon

civilization that incorporated within it many lush farmscapes and stepped cultivated terraces close to the urban fabric might have begun with the talk of juxtaposing farming and urban life.  In ancient Egypt – presently Cairo, Community wastes were collected and utilized as manure for crops in grown within the city.  The Incas created one of the best instances of congruence of agriculture and urban life with the mountain system that surrounds the Citadel of Machu Picchu. When faced with a problem of population growth,

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 The incas needed to not only allot spaces for housing their vast population, they also needed to cultivate enough food and supply it to them.

For this they developed an ingenius version of an ancient cultivation system called

Figure 9: Reuse of run-off water from cities in agricultural terraces below - Machu Picchu

terrace farming which utilizes a lot less space for a much higher produce. The city itself had a stepped architecture that extended to the agricultural fields. In this system, the excess runoff from the city was conserved and reused as a part of this ‗Stepped agri-tecture‘. Various terraces which grew fruits and vegetables were also designed and oriented in a way such that they gather the maximum sunlight to prolong the growing period.

Having agricultural space close to the city walls was vital to sustain the activities of the Incan population, and without it, the city would not have been able to survive. This need for local food and sustenance became a driver for the creation of their unique stepped urbanism.  During the early 19th Century, in response to poverty and food insecurity, the concept of ‗allotment gardens‘ came up in Germany.

An allotment garden often called simply an allotment, or a community garden is a plot of land made available for individual, 22

Figure 10: Allotment gardens

non-commercial gardening or growing food plants. Such plots are formed by subdividing a piece of land into a few or up to several hundreds of land parcels that are assigned to individuals or families.  On a similar term, ―Victory gardens‖ movement started up during the first and second world wars. It was an effort undertaken by the citizens of the united states to reduce the pressure on food production as a way to support the war effort. Hence the name ‗Victory‘ gardens. During the

Figure 11: "Victory gardens" during the WW1

WW1, president Wilson called upon all American citizens and encouraged them to use any vacant lot or open unutilized space for growing food. He saw it as a means to bring people together during the crisis and to protect them from a harmful turn of events. Also, Because of all the European countries being consumed in war, they were not able to produce enough food to feed themselves, let alone supply to the U.S. The new plan was implemented with the intent to supply food for the U.S and at the same time ship off the surplus produce to the countries in need. By the year 1919, over 5 million plots were growing food and over 500 million pounds of produce was harvested. As many as 5.5 million Americans took part in the victory garden movement and over 9 million pounds of fruit and vegetables were grown a year, accounting for 44% of U.S.-grown produce throughout that time.  It was not just during wars that the idea of supplemental food production beyond rural farming came up; Economic crisis also gave rise to juxtaposition of agriculture and urban dwelling. During the great depression, food shortages arose as people lost their jobs and livelihood.

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It was almost as early as 1893 when people dwelling at recession struck Detroit were asked by their mayor – Hazen S. Pingree, to cultivate the plots that they own, which had been left vacant for a long time. These cultivated plots within the city came to be called as ‗Hazen‘s potato patches‘. He came up with the idea with the intention of using these vacant plots to produce income, promote food production for the needy, and bring people together on a common cause- to boost their spirit of independence during times of hardship.

4.2 Urban theories in relation to farming:

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Table 1: contemporary theories on urban agriculture

With the industrial revolution, agriculture started getting pushed further and further away from the city and the harmony between the two become completely disrupted. Cities soon became over-crowded jungles of artificiality.

It was during this time that architects and urban planners started to re-imagine 5

Urban agriculture- examining the intersection between agriculture and high-rise living- by Eric M. Zeldis

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the populous industrialized city and developed ideas on how cities of the future should be.

Howard‘s ‗Garden city movement focuses on improving public health and comfort by large scale changes and ordering of public spaces. Frank Lloyd Wright rethinks suburbs and cities by incorporating the practice of agriculture into the city. The ‗broadacre city‘ movement intends to move the large population away from the unhealthy, over congested urban spaces and into the country side.

The garden city concept: In 1898, Ebenezer Howard published his ideal solution for re-designing the urban fabric in ―Garden cities of tomorrow‖ which focused on the creation of public space in the form of public gardens. At the most elementary level, the urban theory that Howard put forth focused in bringing the city to the farm. His idea was subjected to widespread criticism because it involved utilization of agricultural land for his garden cities.

The Garden city model had to be the most

Figure 12: The three city planning typologiesEbenezer Howard

potent urban planning model in the west.

Although it was initially created by Howard to solve urban and rural problems, it had been the fore runner to many important milestones in the field of city planning.

Howard diagrammatically represented the ‗Garden city‘ using three visual magnets – the town magnet – referring to cityscapes that have more opportunities and improved lifestyle, the country magnet- referring to suburban 25

areas and villages that are most connected to nature and thirdly, a town-country magnet that has aspects of both the city as well as the countryside. He had analysed the advantages and disadvantages of each type when compared to the others and drew a conclusion. He concluded that humans naturally get drawn to the ‗Town-country‘ which is what he further developed into ‗the garden city‘.

The core concepts or principles behind the garden city included  A very strong communal sense, including unified ownership of the land to prevent individual land ownership.  Ordered development with good local participation and careful planning to provide generous living spaces and good communal facilities  Providing affordable living spaces for all incomes without compromising on space and environmental quality.

Considering an estate embracing an area of 6000 acres which is purely agricultural, purchased on mortgage debentures and vested on four gentlemen of responsible position and honour who hold it in trust for the ‗garden city‘ which is to be built afterward. The essential feature of the plan was that all ground value will be based on the annual value of land and it shall be paid to these trustees, who after providing for interest will hand over the money to the new municipality who would handle all the necessary development, maintenance and public work.

The main objective Howard states, for this kind of development, is to improve the standard of health and comfort for all true workers, be it agriculturalists or industrialists- the means to this is through being in a healthy comfortable

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combination of city and country living on land owned by the municipality

Figure 13: Plan of Howard's 'Garden city'

The design of the garden city model is as follows. The garden city is to be built near the centre of the 6000 acres. The city covers an area of 1000 acres and is of circular form. The circle is of the radius 1240 yards. Each city would contain with it six boulevards dividing the quadrants into wards and anchoring at the city centre. These boulevards would contain within it, green spaces and recreation areas for the general public to unwind. The area of these public spaces are huge compared to any other city planning model, hence, a

Figure 14: An urban designer's visualization of a garden city

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more healthful environment is created by inviting the elements into the cityscape.

Although Howard‘s theory highlights incorporation of farmlands into the urban context, there is a clear physical separation of the farmlands from the main city centre. But although agriculture remains on the outer ring of the city model, it covers about five sixths of the total area of the city and is kept intact as it would be most vital for the functioning of the metropolis.

Howard wanted to incorporate not just agricultural fields, Dairy farms, fruit farms and allotment gardens were also supposed to be maintained at close distance to the main city. This would not only make the city wholly sustainable, but also support the health and general comfort of the people residing in it.

In Howard‘s theory, agriculture may play an important role in sustaining the life of the urban dwellers, but his main focus was to develop a metropolis which has a harmonious relationship between built up and open green spaces. Many of the cities in the west like New York were built upon Howard‘s concept. However one of the earliest instances was Letchworth35 miles from London. Letchworth has a land area of 3822 acres with 1300 acres of it reserved for a green belt surrounding the city. It was initially designed for a population of 35000 but in over 30 years, it had developed to 1,50,000 people with Figure 15: City planning of Letchworth

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many commercial activities , industries, farms, residences and institutions.

Broadacres city: The Broadacres city planning concept is another that encourages the idea of Agrarian urbanism. This is a Utopian concept developed by Frank Lloyd Wright and his associates. Wright developed the

Figure 16: Wright's concept for the Broadacres city

Broadacres plan to rethink the American suburbs and cities by integrating agricultural practices.

Wright took his concepts of organic design and usonian architecture and applied them to the design of a ‗new American city‘ which calls people to abandon the crowded unhealthy conditions of metropolitan life and move to farms. His plan involved in implanting the population by moving them from over built cities and spreading them out over acres and acres of land where each family receives one acre of land that they can use to cultivate and sustain themselves in any way. The Broadacre plan is one where there is heavy integration of agriculture into peoples‘ everyday lives. It is a plan that favours a low density suburban model over a high density urban one. The idea of allotment of such a quantity of land for one family forces Wright‘s ideal city to give more importance to the individual rather than the community. Consequently his idea was thereon subjected to widespread criticism. Wright‘s utopia generates no spontaneous pedestrian life. The sprawl alone would cause more land area getting paved over by roads. Also, the city seemed to be a politically atomized environment and all 29

its citizens seemed to be excluded from one another. The whole system was designed to create a sense of separation from the community.

When questioned, wright said ―Whatever a man did would be done – obviously and directly – mostly by himself in his own interest under the most valuable inspiration and direction: under training, certainly if necessary.‖ 6 As a result, each acre of land was cultivated and managed by the members of the family who reside on that land. The family participates in sowing to harvesting, of food; processing and industrial practices also took place within the land. In the end, Wright turns each individual resident into a wholly productive, self-sustained member of the society.

Figure 17: The agrarian utopia of the Broadacre city - F.L.Wright

In addition to the one acre plots allotted to each family, Wright also provides several other amnesties to the broadacre city. These include schools, markets where individuals can sell the surplus food they produce, office buildings and factories and industrial buildings, all of which support the inhabitants. The primary focus of each Broadacre community is the farm. By placing the farm at 6

Wright, ―Broadacre City: A New Community Plan.‖

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the crux of the model, Wright emphasises on the importance of the city‘s food security through food production. In his scheme, ―architecture becomes landscape and landscape takes on the character of architecture by the simple process of cultivation.‖ 7 4.3 Continuous Productive urban landscapes

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Figure 18: Representation of continuous productive urban landscape

In this contemporary era, our generations have come to separate themselves from agriculture to a very high degree. Although technology has aided us in taking huge steps towards globalization that we can indulge in cuisines from the other side of the world, it had also lead to industrialization. Because of zoning regulations and the sprawl of the suburban areas, cities have pushed agriculture further and further away.

As a result we have come to deprive ourselves of one major aspect of life that had once been very deeply rooted in our existence. The Green movement had led to many theories about how to incorporate agriculture within the urban

7 8

Ibid http://www.urbanisten.nl/wp/?portfolio=energylandscape-a4

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landscape to re-introduce it to the present lifestyle of the urban dwellers. One of which being Continuous Productive urban landscapes (CPUL) The theory of Continuous Productive urban landscapes (CPUL), promotes the integration of agriculture into our public spaces and streets. At its essence, the theory is just an improved version or an extension of Ebenezer Howard‘s Garden city model. Unlike urban agriculture which just involves pop-up farms and gardens within the city that serves the community, CPULs integrates city planning with agriculture by identifying existing landscapes and modifying them into productive landscapes like boulevards and gardens that help to grow healthier food. Alongside food growth, CPULs aim to bring out a transformative idea on how landscape is perceived and at the same time helps in reducing the environmental impacts that the food industry causes Overlaying the sustainable concept of Productive Urban Landscapes with the spatial concept of Continuous Landscapes proposes a new urban design strategy which would change the appearance of contemporary cities towards an unprecedented naturalism.9  CPULs explained: - The CPULs are usually out in the open and not indoor landscapes.

- CPULs are hugely productive along economic, social and environmental aspects and sustainable, offering the city a large number of positive lifestyle changes and no, if not, very few un-sustainable limitations.

- CPUL‘s are green, natural spaces which may or may not be topographical in form.

- These continuous landscapes run all through the city connecting landscaped urban space, traversing through open landscapes in the centre of the city, such as, cultivated empty lots to gardens, parks to recreation

9

http://library.uniteddiversity.coop/Food/Continuous_Productive_Urban_Landscapes.pdf

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spaces, cultivated terraces to lawn spaces and finally terminating at the surrounding rural or suburban area which is sprawling and wild.

- These are well connected walking landscapes that are socially active and would act as assembly spaces for various social activities like cultural gathering etc., that do not happen within buildings.

- CPULS could be interpreted as parks or urban forests or wildernesses or green lungs for the city; they could also function as axes of movement and direction to travel, or places for reflection.

- Development of CPULs would not involve knocking down the existing structures or erasing a pre-existing piece of urban fabric. Instead they would integrate and grow on top of the characteristics that are native to the city by superimposing and weaving through it a multiuser landscape strategy to the preexisting or newly reclaimed urban space.

Figure 19: CPULs weave through the existing urban fabric as multi-user, productive landscapes

- They would exist in association with several types of open and enclosed urban space types, complementing their design and at the same time adding a sustainable element to the city.

- CPULs could be customised to specific urban conditions by fulfilling their own functions in a fluidly loose yet improvising manner.

- Although the CPULs act as spaces for leisure and recreational activities, access routes, carbon sinks, the most unique and productive use for it 33

would be for providing and demarcating spaces for urban agriculture along the inner urban and peri-urban spaces. The land itself would become productive as its occupants will act individually to produce food.

- The vegetation in itself would appear ever new and exciting as it grows, gets harvested grows again – differently this time, gets harvested again.

The frequency of growth also changes side by side with the amount of crop that is cultivated and also with seasonal shifts.

Figure 20: How to make a CPUL

- Establishing green links and the open continuous landscapes brings in the rural aspect of agricultural production and adds a new and important special quality to the city. It also brings with it socio economic and environmental qualities.

- CPULs are to be planned such that more importance is given to pedestrians and engineless vehicles such as bicycles etc consequently there will be less traffic., This results in near absence of air pollution as the vegetation itself would purify the air through carbon sequestration.

- Noise pollution is another factor that can be controlled and kept in check through CPULs. The interweaving of green scapes in between urban tissue brings with it the added bonus of noise barriers between the urban zones.

- Distances, dimensions and basic aspect of human settlement which change dramatically upon the implementation of CPULs as compared to 34

the present condition of the congested urban environment.

4.4 Types of urban agriculture initiatives:

Each urban agriculture project arises in response to the particular needs and opportunities of a given community, organization, or site. No two growing spaces are alike. While each type has specific characteristics, many farms and gardens share similar goals and practices, blurring simple boundaries.  Institutional Farms and Gardens: Affiliated to institutional buildings such as hospitals, churches, prisons, schools, public housing whose primary mission is not food production, but support the initiative of urban farming.  Commercial Farms: Commercial urban farmers have a large plot of land that they intensively cultivate in order to make profits – in a manner similar to that of regular agriculture. Although some may share ecological or health related goals with the much broader urban agriculture community.  Community gardens: These are mostly located on publicly owned land or land trusts typically managed by local resident volunteers who grow food for the community.  Community farms: These are larger in sale to community gardens. These are owned and managed by a non-profit organization who not only engages the surrounding communities to participate in its activities but also conduct various social and educational programmes.

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4.5 Instances from India: Mumbai: Mumbai is the largest city in India and one of the most densely populated cities in the world with 48,215 persons per sq. km in greater Mumbai which is formed of the city island and the Salsette Island. Through the years, economic development had led to swarms of people migrating from the suburbs, villages and other townships into Mumbai in search for better jobs and opportunities.

In a scenario like this, with not even enough space to house the urban public – 16.4 million of them- urban agriculture seems unlikely to be put into practice as it would involve competition with real estate developers. But despite that, Mumbai has a booming urban farming movement.

- Railway farming: Mumbai railway authority allows farming the land area along the railway tracks to prevent encroachment from nearby slums and also to grow fresh produce. Farms are managed

Figure 21: Vegetable fields along railway tracks between Elphinstone Road and Lower Parel stations

by families living along the tracks and the produce is marketed directly as shopkeepers buy it from them.

- Farming in slums: An important means to prevent starvation of the urban poor is by allowing them to cultivate their own food on local land. The densely populated and congested

Figure 22: Urban gardening in cleared dump yards

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Dharavi slum poses challenges for urban agriculture. But however, nondeveloped lands such as dumpyards could be cleaned up and converted to space for gardening. Such was the case with a former dump site in Mumbai‘s Ambedkar Nagar slum, which is now a community garden.

Pockets of slum dwellers throughout India practice urban agriculture in an effort to increase community food security.

- Organic terrace farms: Dr. Doshi, an organic city farmer from Mumbai grows 5kg of produce per day from his 1200 sq. ft farm off his terrace in Bandra, Mumbai. He uses cheap and easily available materials like sugarcane chaff and minimal soil as a growing medium.

He uses recycled materials like polythene bags and reused plastic buckets as containers to grow produce. He composts all of the Figure 23: Dr. Doshi's organic farm

organic waste that his house

produces and uses it as manure for his crops. Also, He uses minimum quantity of water for yield. He is a revolutionary farmer who has inspired hundreds of others to take up similar techniques within the city of Mumbai.

- Agritecture of schools: In rosary high school, Mumbai, a city farm was created on the terrace area of 37sq.m with help from the children. The main aim of this program was to pilot a project that would help in economically supporting street children. It also aimed at beautifying the city‘s landscape, providing fresh, locally grown organic produce and to 37

manage organic wastes in the city. The farm produces vegetables, fruits and flowers. This idea has slowly spread and is being implemented in other schools in the city.

Figure 24: Rooftop farm in Rosary school, Mumbai

- Self-sustaining restaurants: The Mumbai port trust has a central kitchen that grows its own vegetables and herbs on its terrace farm. it generates food for almost 3000 employees. This terrace farm is staff created and it recycles 90 percentage of

Figure 25: MPT's terrace farm

the organic waste generated by the kitchen. The area of this space is almost 280 sq.m and has over 150 different varieties of plants that cater to the basic needs of the kitchen. The garden is also tended to by the staff after their daily work in the kitchen.

- Parks with productive landscape: The Nana Nani farm at Mumbai was second community urban farm established in the city. Funded by the Figure 26: The elderly members of the community helping out in farming

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nana nani foundation, and created by the urban leaves community the programme aims at organic farming and growing fresh local herbs and vegetables. The organic waste generated by the community is also composted and utilized for farming purposes.

As these instances clearly show the incorporation of simple yet effective urban farming techniques in an unplanned fashion at the most congested and crowded city in India, It is safe to say that continuous productive landscapes, urban agriculture and vertical farming initiatives that are more sophisticated and far more productive could be implemented across other cities and urban centres of the country thus making it more greener, smarter and self-sustained.

4.6 Benefits of agrarian urbanism: As we approach the Peak-oil or and post oil world, The emerging global problems such as global warming, environmental pollution, over population, poverty, global climate change, gentrification, degradation of global health and so on, are making us take note of the existing infrastructure we have and is making us rethink our current lifestyle.

Only if we move together as a society by taking steps into being more resilient and sustainable, we can try to mitigate the various challenges these global issues pose.

Urban farming may not wholly help us solve these problems but it could be considered as a grass root level initiative aims at global development and unification of communities to address and fight the other global challenges which it may or may not have a direct impact on.  Economic: - Expansion of economic base of the city by integrating the part of the food cycle that usually doesn‘t take place within the city- that is, production, 39

processing and packaging along with marketing and consumption that are in-city processes.

- Increase in entrepreneurial activities, communal initiatives and NGO‘s.

- Creation of jobs, providing new lines of employment and income for the urban poor as well as to people who migrate to urban areas in search of jobs.

- Reduction in food costs and availability of affordable food to all segments of the population.  Social: - There emerges an increase in social and emotional wellbeing of the society as a whole.

- Community social life in encouraged by all individuals getting involved in farming practices and producing food for the other. Social interaction is promoted.

- Urban agriculture gives individuals an opportunity to interact with nature, as a result of which they have decreased levels of stress and there is an increased overall mental health - Urban gardens and CPULs offer quiet places of retreat and contemplation n a busy town. They offer tranquil spaces that improve mental peace.

- Social networks within the city could be forged through providing communities with gardens and green space that offers a ‗symbolic focus‘ and helps fostering neighbourhood pride.

- Many cities have inadequate and unequal access to good food. In such cases, individuals taking up the process of food production into their own hands have a sense of independence and empowerment. Their selfreliance and self-esteem would also rise as a result.

- Community gardens could supply food, not only for themselves but also for disadvantaged groups and other communities. Surplus food produced 40

could be donated or given away to charity, fostering a humanitarian sense into the mind of the public.

- Agriculture in urban areas also offers a wide range of employment opportunities for women and disadvantaged or marginal groups in the society. Studies have shown that when a community encourages participation from women, there is a higher overall production rate.

Hence, food security at the home level as well as at the market level could be ensured.  Population and food production: - As we approach the end of the 21st century, the world population would reach eleven billion, and in order to feed the additional four billion people, an arable land of the size of the landmass of Brazil would have to be farmed.10 This amount of arable land does not exist, and in fact farms are actually being converted into suburban settlements.

- Vertical farming strategies under urban agriculture could help to produce more food than conventional agriculture on lesser land thereby allowing us to feed the growing urban population.

- It re-establishes the proximity between agriculture and the city, creating food labs and gardens which allow it to be produced within the city limits and hence the public can partake in the process.

- A large quantity of water could be saved by various strategies like recycling irrigated water and permaculture within the urban farms. Hence reducing or if not eliminating the possibility of shortage of water for the growing population.  Poverty Alleviation: - It is found that the urban poor in developing nations spend 60-80 percentage of their income on food, making them very vulnerable when 10

The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century, Despommier

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the food price hike - Urban farming when implemented and mandated through government effort helps this segment of the population to save up on consumables that could be grown by themselves, either in their living spaces (if they have one) or in plots allotted for urban farming - The surplus produce can be sold in local markets by these people to generate more income and improve their economic situation.  Waste management - Presently, the waste management system existing in urban areas is an open loop design where food consumption is a continuous process that terminates in waste generation and the waste remains accumulated.

- A larger population indirectly means a larger amount of organic waste being generated by the cities. By introducing a closed loop system of waste management and food production, that is- by using viable organic waste and waste water generated by the cities for manure and irrigation respectively in urban farms, it allows us the unique possibility of tackling two issues with one solution.

- The food cultivated in this manner is not intensive unlike conventional farming and could be completely pesticide free and grown organically without any chemicals. Also, a large amount of money could be saved by not purchasing chemical fertilizers when urban waste is utilized as manure.

- It offers a way to recycle urban waste by incorporating it into the process of food production  Energy efficiency: - The conventional agriculture system involves transport of food from farms to markets over very long distances through ships, rail or road transport.

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- According to a study by Rich Pirog, an associate professor at Leopold centre for sustainable agriculture, the average conventional agricultural produce that travels over 2400 km, 100 pounds of fossil fuel ought to be burnt.

- Through urban agriculture, the total energy required for transport is decreased because the food is grown locally and consumed locally. This system requires 17 times lesser fuel and has 5-17 times lesser carbon dioxide emissions.  Carbon footprint: - With the reduction in food miles, it is obvious that the amount of carbon dioxide emissions because of transport would be cut down. This is one means in which urban farming could help reduce the carbon footprint.

- Another means it serves is through carbon sequestration. Urban centres are awfully saturated with carbon dioxide in the air because pavement and built structures outnumber plants. Green spaces here could act a carbon sinks as they absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide and give out breathable oxygen.

- However, this process of carbon sequestration relies heavily on the type or species of plants grown and harvested and also relies on the methodology of farming.  Air pollution: - Studies have found that cultivating on a green roof could help in reducing the amount of particulate impurities in the air. Roughly 2000 sq.m of uncut plants on the green roof could decrease the amount of particulate matter in the air by 4000kgs11 - Reduction in ozone depleting substances and particulate matter could largely help in improving the health of people living in cities can avoid 11

Article- ―green roofs as a means of pollution abatement‖

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the incidence of asthma and other lung abnormalities caused due to impure air.

- It has been found that one square meter of cultivated green space is required to offset the annual amount of particulate matter emissions of a single car.  Noise pollution: - Large amounts of noise could not only lead to high frustration levels, it can be highly damaging to human hearing and health.

- Most roofs, vacant lots, pavements and sidewalks are flat surfaces and they tend to reflect sound waves and not absorb them.

- If they are filled with soft landscape (productive landscapes) that absorbs sound waves, it could not only act as noise barriers, but also have the potential to reduce the overall incidence of noise pollution.  Health: - The introduction of farming practices in urban areas directly affects the health of the population in many ways.

- Individuals would be directly involved in growing food- from sowing to harvesting. This happens in community gardens and farms. Hence they would be involved in a good amount of physical activity – which most of them tend to be deprived of in a contemporary urban lifestyle.

- Tending to crops and gardens is an enjoyable form of physical activity unlike going to the gym.

- The food that is grown in these gardens tends to be organic without the involvement of any chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Consumption of this food could avoid any possible ailment and diseases that these chemicals could lead to in the future and could help a majority of the population shift their focus to a healthier lifestyle.

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- A large number of fruit and vegetable species that are more nutritious aren‘t being cultivated in conventional farms as these varieties may not be resilient to transport over long distances or may have a shorter shelf life. Urban farming allows cultivation of such varieties as they can be bought on site or at outlets very close to the site of production.  Diet and child nutrition: - Incorporating food into the landscape of a city and involving the general public in the process of growing and harvesting food, has a potential to shift the urban dwellers towards healthier eating habits.

- Institutional urban farms and rooftop gardens in schools and colleges where the students are taught how to grow their own food as a part of the curriculum may encourage them to eat fruits and vegetables, given that they grew their food by themselves.

4.7 Limitations - The availability of space in the city is very less and is consequently quite expensive to secure new lands for the purpose of urban agriculture alone.

- The waste water that comes out of the cultivated plots when left stagnant can lead to the breeding of disease causing pathogens, and also lead to various water borne diseases.

- It is believed that the increase in air pollution has led to increase in plant pest. Therefore there is an increased need to protect the plants. Otherwise there would be decreases in the amount of grains and greens available for consumption.

- Certain varieties of plants have reduced nutritional quality, such as species of wheat when exposed to high nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide conditions that are commonly observed in urban areas.

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5. Vertical farming: Dr.Dickson Despommier who was a microbiologist, ecologist and professor coined the term ‗vertical farming‘ in 1999. Vertical farming is the practice of producing food in vertically stacked layers, vertically inclined surfaces and/or integrated in other structures. Vertical farming is a fairly modern technique under urban agriculture which is built on the idea of rooftop farming by capitalising on space vertically. The vertical farms act as mini ecosystems inside the buildings where urban communities are involved and play an important role in it.

Figure 27: A visualization of vertical farming on the building facade

Vertical farming although subjected to criticism is still experimented on various levels. The innovators propagating the technique of vertical farming pass on the following arguments on how it would be sustainable.

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- Depending on the crop to be cultivated, the overall produce of one acre of vertical farm is equal to the overall produce on four to thirty acres of conventional farms on flat land.

- ‗Food miles‘ refer to the distance travelled by the food produced in the farms in order to reach our plates. Vertical farming aims to achieve net zero food miles through food growth in controlled environments.

- No need to import seasonal fruits and vegetables as vertical farms tend to cater to food growth throughout the year.

- The controlled environment in which the food is grown makes pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers obsolete. Thus it produces organic food.

- Vertical farms can be designed with added elements like bio digesters that reproduce and send back to the grid, the energy which the vertical farm consumes, through methane generation.

- Vertical farms do not employ tractors and electric ploughs- There is also no need for shipping the produce. Saves large amounts of fossil fuels.

Figure 28: Crops cultivated inside buildings - "breathing highrises"

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5.1 Design of vertical farms - These are multi storied buildings growing crops on the terrace or on all or most of the floors.

- The high end, sophisticated vertical farms designed for large scale production include integrated assembly lines that have seed sorting and distribution facilities.

- The planting system may also include sensors that monitor the plant growth and duration to harvest.

- Proper structural reinforcement to accommodate the load of the growing medium and the plants.

- Climate controlled environment that provides optimum conditions for growth of different varieties of crops.

- When plants are cultivated completely indoors, there may be a need for artificial lighting.

Figure 29: Hydroponics in vertical farming

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5.2 Challenges - Large amounts of capital and resources required for building and construction of vertical farms.

- In his book titled ‗breathing high rises‘, George Monbiot quoted ―Unless a new method of solar-powered lighting is developed, light to grow crops will be very expensive-resulting in a non-sustainable business model‖

6. Case studies In the past few decades, the conversation about urban agriculture and vertical farming has proliferated and many contemporary architects have started to join in. These precedents may involve agriculture in architecture at various levels – from the scale of a city to a scale of a single institutional building. But however, an agricultural component is always included as the main conceptual consideration in the design. The following studies exhibit how urban agriculture has been explored and employed.

6.1 Agro- Housing: Wuhan, China Project type: Multi- family Residential Architect: Knfao Kilmore architects Area: 10,000 sq.m Year of completion: 2015 Client: Living steel Location: Wuhan, China Climate: Warm, humid Context: suburban

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Figure 30: superposition of layered productive landscapes and urban dwelling - Knafo Klimor Architects

The environmental situation in China worsens by the day, with billions being spent on infrastructure and development projects for rapidly urbanizing agricultural lands, small scale towns and villages. The Chinese have no other choice but to urbanize these spaces in order to accommodate the rapidly growing urban population. By 2025, the government of China passed a rule that involved mandatory displacement of 250 million farmers and rural dwellers from the countryside to the cities. This not only creates housing shortage but also causes forced lifestyle changes and culture shifts.

This Agro- Housing project in Wuhan is an experimental housing project that focuses on easing the transition of rural families to urban centres by incorporating food production into apartment design. This design aims to utilize the agrarian knowledge of these migrating communities to boost their income and sustenance in the city. It also addresses the social issues that China faces by acting as a communal unifier.

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Figure 31: Ground floor, typical floor and roof plan of Agro housing project

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Figure 32: South elevation of building

Agro-housing is a significant study that addresses the juxtaposition of urban living with agriculture. In the design of the apartment, the spaces incorporate within them two basic elements – Apartment type housing towards the north, east and west and a multi-floor greenhouse- in the southern façade. The apartment contains a centrally placed core that divides the community from the cultivated space but at the same time grants equal access to the green space from all the apartments, for the unification of the community. The apartments promote a sense of individualism; while, the agricultural components are located at the interface between the apartments in order to act as spatial bridges for communal harmony in the common areas. Ultimately, the design implements vertical farming- to allow assimilation of the agricultural lifestyle and rural culture into urban living.

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Figure 33: Axonometric scheme of Agro-housing project

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Figure 34: Climate control strategies during summer

The greenhouse: The vertical agro-space that permits production of fresh food.

Irrigation: Complete drip irrigation system, advanced fertilizer dosing system, Irrigation controller, Water disinfection system, Water recycling system, Water treatment solution Growing Methods: Soil-less material: coco peat, rock, wool, volcanic ash, perlite, etc., Growing gutter system, Trellis system

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Control: Full range of climate and irrigation controllers, according to one‘s needs, Active Ventilation/Cooling, Circulation fans, Shading/thermal screens

Figure 35: Water conservation and reuse strategies

The concept of Agro-Housing is a housing program that will allow the formation of a new social and urban order and that can be replicated as it represents basic human values lost in the process of modernization and progress. Agro-Housing will reduce the need for commuting and the extra development of the transportation system and it will replace the urban zoning strategy by more sustainable urban farms.

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6.2 Pasona office headquarters, Tokyo Project type: Renovation and refurbishing Building type: Office building Architect: Kono architects, NY Area: 19,974 sq.m Year of completion: 2010 Client: Pasona Location: Tokyo, Japan Context: Urban

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The current food cycle in japan is at great distress because of the fact that the country produces less than one-third of its food annually. It imports 50 million tonnes of grain annually which is again transported to the markets which are over 9000 miles away. A New York based architectural firm developed an idea for an office space in Tokyo that highlights the ‗zero food mileage‘ concept that allows us to grow more sustainable food. Cultivating at the same site as consumption allows reduction in energy and transportation cost.

Figure 36: Floor plans of Pasona office HQ in tokyo

The Japanese recruitment firm – Pasona, had to refurbish a 50 year old, 9 storied building into an office space. This building, re-designed by kono architects include office areas, an auditorium, cafeterias, roof top garden and urban farming facilities. The firm succeeded in evolving Japan‘s largest farm-

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to-table office scheme where all of the food is grown, harvested, prepared and served ‗on site‘- in the cafeterias within the office.

Within the office space, 3995 square metres is dedicated to the green spaces that nurtures well over two hundred species of plants including fruits, vegetables and rice. It is not just a passive ‗green‘ building which has plants growing on the rooftops and on the façade, it is an actively productive environment where food is grown, harvested and consumed under the same roof.

Figure 37: Productive green facade

 Increasing awareness: It is a part of a larger scheme to allow farming in the urban areas of japan and to encourage future urban farmers. Regular educational workshops are conducted where outside community members can 58

participate and learn the practice of farming 

Relieving stress: Studies show that most people on the urbanised societies today who spend 80% of their time indoors face increased levels of stress. The building not only allows communicating to urban dwellers about farms and the art of growing plants, it also actively engages the workers by breaking the visual monotony that we usually get used to seeing in urban office spaces The plants grown at Pasona are tended by the workers in the office on a daily basis as a part of their regular work schedule as a way of de-stressing. A team of agricultural experts also preside over them and closely monitor the produce and consumption.

 Communication and teamwork: The staff of Pasona is also asked to participate in harvesting the crops along with the agricultural specialists.

Such activities not only encourage social interaction and communication amongst the different units of the office, it also leads to better teamwork on the job, along with instilling within them a sense of responsibility and accomplishment in growing, maintaining and harvesting the food that is to be served to them and their co-workers in the building‘s cafeteria.  Improving air quality: The air conditioning required as a part of the office environment also provides the right temperature for the growth of certain varieties of plants. That temperature maintained in the office remains comfortable to both plants and humans. The air quality is maintained by the presence of plants that take in the carbon-dioxide from the air while giving out oxygen. Alongside Carbon sequestration, the plants also remove VOC‘s (Volatile Organic Compounds) from the air and reduces the risk of ‗sick building syndrome‘. Thus the system is to a huge extent self-sustained and cyclic in nature.

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 Increase in work efficiency: Improvement of air quality and reduction of discomfort are directly co-related to productivity. The pasona office had found that the farming initiative adopted in the office had not only increased work productivity by 12%, it had also reduced the common symptoms of discomfort and work ailments by 23%, it had succeeded in reducing absenteeism and staff turnover cost 6.3 Farm-X Project type: Renovation and re activation Building type: warehouses Architect: Conceptual devices, Zurich Area: 1000 sq.m Year of completion: nearing completion Client: Farm X social venture Location: Richmond, California Context: Urban - Farm X is a modular vertical farm which is one of the most recent urban farming initiatives in the state of California.

- It is a social venture that aims to improve society‘s access to fresh locally grown food and to impart new jobs to the urban poor by creating new lines of employment in the urban farming sector.

- This modular urban farm is said to produce about five tonnes of fresh organic produce within an area of thousand square metres.

- Farm X has a standard module which allows it to be erected in any place. ―Farm-X is a modular vertical farm concept that shifts the historical dichotomy between the production and the consumption of food,‖ said its architects 60

Figure 38: Farm-X model- a modular urban farm- Conceptual devices

The module has a flexible layout and it is also very compact. This allows it to be easily constructed. If the need arises, the modular farm could also be dismantled and reassembled. Its modular form makes it easy to be replicated into multiple units.

The dimensions for the module are taken to fit in within a plot of a medium sized urban block. It is a square plan that measures 32 metres by 32 metres. Its height

Figure 39: interior of module

is till four storeys The Farm-X design is also modelled after a cradle-to-cradle process, where food waste is utilized to generate the energy required for the food growing 61

process. This new building typology is also found to be easily integrated into any modern urban fabric and play an active role in a local community development with compact construction. Farm-X is designed to be standardized in construction to optimize its economic feasibility and replicability. The design concept also reduces its environmental impact by reducing the distance of miles travelled for food distribution, production, and waste dismantlement.

Figure 40: Readjusting the module according to site

model of farm-X

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Figure 42: Elevations with open and closed top panes

Because of the flexibility in its design and construction, small pieces of barren land and abandoned warehouse property can also be reactivated by bringing in this model Figure 41: Layout plan of aquaponic panels

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6.4 Elephant and Castle Eco Tower: London, England Project type: Eco-tower Building type: Multi-storeyed retail and subsidised housing Architect: Ken Yeang Area: 300,000 sq.ft Year of completion: nearing completion Location: South central London Context: Urban - The two towers designed by Ken yeang which are each 140 and 73 metres high respectively, can be

Figure 43: Visualization of the Eco-tower

understood as a microcosm where multiple programmes interact and counter produce.

- The 35 storey high tower utilizes the concept of ‗cities in the sky‘. Here, Productive landscapes, Retail facilities and communal living come together to form a system that is self-supported and continuous.

- Together these two towers were intended to function as a vertical city.

The configured landscaped blocks are found to sandwich a weather protected, landscaped core.

- The two towers are bio climatically designed. These are located at the railway interchange where the entry facades are south facing, thereby allowing maximum heat gain during winters and solar shading during summer months.

- The building in itself has a commercial community linked to a geographical context.

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- It has apartments ranging from small studios to large 3 bedroom spaces.

Figure 44: Floor plan of the eco tower

- Agriculture and vegetation are included in a continuous park that acts as the main circulation space composed of intermittent voids that progress from public parks to semi private balconies to sky courts or ―sky pods‖ - Vegetation and agriculture together appear as a visual and physical threshold as one ascends up the eco tower. These also spatially link the different apartments and the retail spaces together.

- Because of the evident vegetative nature of the tower, it starts to identify itself with a certain aesthetic that defines urban agriculture.

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Figure 45: Section of the eco-tower

- The vision is to strengthen the notion of urban agriculture and to prove that it can be effectively utilized as a public program that unites people with its formal, functional and aesthetic characteristics.

6.5 The Edible Schoolyard12 Project type: institutional building Building type: school Architect: WORK architects Area: half acre Year of completion: 2014 Client: Arturo Toscanini School 12

http://work.ac/edible-schoolyard-at-ps216/

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Location: Gravesend, Brooklyn Context: Urban - Introducing urban farming in educational institutions create an opportunity to expose the younger generation to a paradigm shift in agriculture.

- Engaging children in the process of food production not only makes them aware of the food cycle

Figure 46: The remodelled parking lot with the urban garden lab

but also sows a seed of interest in them towards nutrition and health.

- The edible schoolyard movement aims at expanding the scope of elementary education by teaching the next generation about the advantages of locally and organically grown produce by direct field involvement in agriculture and horticulture.

- By teaching children how to grow their own food , the system is imparting to them the tools and the mindset to be self-sufficient and to eat healthy.

- The existing parking lot at P.S.216, Brooklyn, New York has been transformed by the firm into a living laboratory through which the students can learn about farming practices and at the same time grow the food which they eat for lunch and take back to their families.

- The simple design includes three major spaces that facilitate the theme of urban agriculture- the green house, the systems wall and the kitchen classroom.

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Figure 47: Planclassroom and section can of theaccommodate edible schoolyard The kitchen upto thirty students. Here the

children learn to prepare and enjoy meals by utilizing the vegetables and herbs harvested from the organic garden. The façade of the classroom is clad with cementitious shingles, which is a low cost material. These make a graphic flower pattern in association with the porthole shaped windows and circular skylights that shape the interior space creating a fun and dynamic environment.

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- The systems wall brings together all the systems within the building into one zone in order to make all its functions condensed and transparent.

- Rainwater is harvested by aligning the roof angles into a cistern found within the curved portion of the systems wall.

- The systems wall also includes within it a tool shed, a rest room and AC units.

Figure 48: Interior of the greenhouse

The systems wall is also painted in bright colours to pique the students‘ interest and curiosity about the functions that happen in there.

- The mobile green house is retractable during the summer time, opening up to a greater land area for cultivating crops.

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6.6 Visionary retirement home farm13 Project type: Conceptual design Building type: Retirement home Architect: SPARK Year of construction: 2018 Location: Kuala Lumpur Context: Urban

Figure 49: The retirement home is a lavish curvilinear sprawling structure that encloses a central courtyard

SPARK architects presented this revolutionary concept in urban agriculture at the world architecture festival.

- This visionary design tackles the problem of food security along with providing care for the senior citizens. It is a beautiful live-in farm typology that is productive as well as hospitable and empowering to its residents.

- The building includes an aquaponic vertical farming system, terrace farms, a market place for fruits and vegetables grown on site and also a biomass power plant that generates energy to power the system.

- By 2030, one-fifth of Singapore‘s population is expected to be over 65 years old. While most nursing homes and retirement communities can feel sterile, SPARK envisions a lively alternative focused on community and urban farming. The curvilinear building wraps around a central courtyard and comprises staggered terraces and a leafy facade outfitted 13

: http://inhabitat.com/visionary-homefarm-combines-retirement-homes-and-vertical-urban-farms/

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with an aquaponic vertical farming system. The system is irrigated with collected rainwater and treated grey water, while fish waste provides the nutrients. Agricultural waste is fed into an onsite biomass power plant.

Figure 50: hydroponic cultivation and harvest

- The building houses one bedroom to lavish 4 bedroom apartments that is both culturally vibrant and at the same time elderly friendly. All the apartments would have a view of the central courtyard that contains the market space.

- The residence could take up the option of farming and thereby generate more income and could cover expenses of the healthcare needs of the elderly community.

- It is a socially and environmentally sustainable project aimed at promoting of urban agriculture concepts and creating a peaceful environment for the elderly.

- Participating in the process of farming and gardening helps to retain an active community sense and mitigate dementia and promote self-esteem 71

among the elderly.

Figure 51: Section showing apartments, market and hydroponics garden

6.7 Indoor vertical farm, Newark

Project type: HQ of layered cultivation company Building type: Vertical farm Architect: Conceptual devices, Zurich Area: 69000 Sq. ft Year of completion: nearing completion

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Client: Aerofarms Location: Newark, New Jersey Context: Urban - In a few years, Newark, New Jersey is to host the world‘s largest indoor vertical farm.

- The farm is a collaborative effort of aerofarms – an urban agricultural company in partnership with the property management firm - RBH Group, Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, Prudential Financial Inc., the City of Newark and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) was also involved in the multi-million dollar deal.

- Almost 30 million dollars was invested for the development of this farm.

- The farm is to utilize the technologies like aeroponics- which involves cultivation in soil free environments.

Figure 52: Aerial view of steel factory to be converted to vertical farm

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- The farm is to produce almost two million pounds of soil free leafy green vegetables, fruits and herbs each year.

Figure 53: Hydroponic technology

- The project aims at binging fresh, nutritious, pesticide and chemical free, locally grown and harvested food to the local markets of Newark.

- In addition to this, the environment friendly project would also contain within it an economic perspective in the means of generating employment.

- By the end of 2015, with the first phase of the project reaching its completion, the Project would seek to bring 78 new jobs to the city.

- Apart from this project, aerofarms in partnership with the aforementioned project management groups, it would also seek to anchor the on-going ‗markers village‘ redevelopment project in Newark‘s Ironbound neighbourhood.

- This redevelopment project is housed in an old converted steel factory.

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- This farm would be designed along the same lines of the Aerofarms‘ Newark project farm, employing similar technologies to grow food.

- Innovative aeroponics system that involves spraying a mist of nutrient solution on top if the cultivated crops in order to make them grow - The farm would also run on renewable energy such as solar energy and biogas.

- The farm would not utilize large quantities of soil as a growth medium.

Instead, plants would take root in a medium called micro fleece – a textile membrane that is stretched across modular, stacked planter boxes.

- The process also involves recycling water and reuse of irrigated runoff.

This not only helps saving water, it also allows recirculation of unabsorbed nutrients.

- No pesticides or chemical fertilizers would be required to be used on the plants as the growing medium is in itself a nutrient solution and it is grown

Figure 54: overhead LED lights for crop growth

in near sterile conditions.

- This vertical farm is capable of growing more produce per square meter area when compared to conventional farming.

- The system would also comprise of monitoring equipment that constantly monitors the carbon dioxide and temperature through sensors and adjust it according to the requirements of ideal growth of crops.

- There are also sensors to monitor the wavelength and colour of the light that the plant receives through overhead LED‘s and the duration and intensity of light according to specific requirements of photoperiod for each species.

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6.8 Vertical harvest- Wyoming

Figure 55: Vertical farm at Wyoming

Project type: Vertical farming Building type: building up a parking lot Architect: E/Ye Design Area: 4500 sq.ft Year of completion: ongoing project Client: Farm X social venture Location: Richmond, California Context: Urban

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- A parking lot which is a part of an unused city land near Jackson, Wyoming is set to be transformed into a site for urban farming through construction of a vertical farm through hydrophones farming techniques.

- This vertical farm is said to produce 100,000 lbs of produce every year.

- The faming technique followed here is supposed to use 90 percentage less water when compared to conventional farming.

- Jackson is a cold, landlocked city located at about one mile above sea level and is most of the time blanketed with thick snow and is far from agrarian. But construction of this three storeyed vertical farm would enable the city to supply fresh, locally grown produce to its residents and locals all throughout the year.

- The site measures 30 feet by 150 feet. , the 4,500 sq ft footprint will have 18,000 sq ft of growing area. Within this area, the farm will produce over 37,000 pounds of greens, 4,400 pounds of herbs, and 44,000 pounds of tomatoes.

- The developers of this farm made sure that they grew only the produce that is currently imported thereby preventing any sort of unruly competition with the local farmers. This farm would also help save on transportation costs of imported goods.

- The farm would also help in bolstering local businesses and adding to local markets.

- The 150 foot long greenhouse has its lengthier sides facing east and west so that it receives ample amount of sunlight and saves up on energy costs 77

for growing plants. It optimizes the potential of natural light. Hence photosynthesis is improved and it cuts down the running costs for the facility.

-

There will be times when artificial light is required—for instance, it is impossible to grow tomatoes during a frozen winter on natural light alone—and so grow lights will be installed in order to ensure that the farm meets production goals.

- Not only will the Vertical Harvest provide fresh produce for Jackson, it will also serve as an educational facility, with a ―small but functional ‗living classroom‘‖ and access for visitors to view the growing areas without contaminating the crops. Vertical Harvest recently broke ground, and growing will commence later this year.

Figure 56: Climate controlled environment and at the same time utilizing natural light for photosynthesis

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7. Conclusion: This dissertation will conclude by re-examining urban landscapes through systems of vertical farming and urban agriculture which would form a more resilient, cyclic and self-sustained microcosm of human development, namely the city.

Although the scope of large scale urban farming by designing productive landscapes and vertical farms in the city is enormous, and would significantly affect the food quality, economy, skyline, social functions, ecological landscapes and biodiversity in the city, the effectiveness of these systems would largely depend on the level of implementation and how influential it can be.

Naturally sustained ecosystems always have a cyclical metabolism like for example, the energy cycle between the producers, the consumers and the decomposers. These cycles have been existing on earth have been flawlessly accurate till present date. If only urban systems could have such a cyclic (closed loop) system. Then one can expect cities to be sustained till the furthest future one could ever imagine. Re-envisioning the urban environment as a cyclic system through agrarian urbanism, instead of the linear metabolism it had always been – characterised by the city‘s insatiable appetite for natural resources and the substantial amount of waste production.- has been the prime goal of urban and vertical farming systems.

Just as naturally sustained ecosystems, cities can also be considered as ‗complex adaptive systems‘ that have the ability to evolve in response to stimulus wherein the stimulus mainly refers to the process of new experimentation, development and adaptation, sociological acceptance and further implementation.

As long as the vision for the future is urbanised totally vertical farming and CPULs could really act as an emerging trend for space management, food

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production, resource management, communal unification, with further developments in the economic and ecological scenarios of urban spaces.

The end question is of how best to facilitate this shift in farming practices so that a more resilient and self-sustained urban community presents itself. We must see to it that urban planning expands with the scope of agrarian urbanism in order to include within it, a cyclic urban metabolism. Exploration and further research on vertical farms and continuous productive urban landscapes must be encouraged to evolve a viable statistics to prove the further feasibility of such ideas. Consequently this can lead to informed by-law amendments and zoning changes that could encourage structures that contribute to urban cyclic metabolism. It is only through this process that we come to realize that we must first learn to manage our industrial ecology for effectively managing our natural environment.

By bringing our agricultural process closer to our cities and creating a symbiotic relationship between the two, we are able to create a more sustainable urban environment, challenge our current industrial agricultural system, and educate our population about food to create a generation of more self-reliant people.

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REFERENCES https://vertical-farming.net/vertical-farming/vertical-farming-infographics/ Urban agriculture – a dissertation by Eric. N Zeldis, master of architecture, 2014 ―breathing highrises‖ - vertical farming as an emerging option for the urban resources management in future cities by kukku joseph jose 1

Smit, J., A. Ratta, and J. Nasr. (2001). Urban Agriculture: Food, Jobs, and Sustainable Cities.The Urban Agriculture Network, Inc., New York, NY. 1

Butler, L. and D.M. Moronek (eds.) (May 2002). "Urban and Agriculture Communities: Opportunities for Common Ground". Ames, Iowa: Council for Agricultural Science and Technology. https://vertical-farming.net/info/ http://www.slideshare.net/UXTrendspotting/sustainable-futures-a-waste-managementperspective-india https://rezlife.uwo.ca/articles_foodwaste.cfm http://www.worldfooddayusa.org/food_waste_the_facts http://www.worldfooddayusa.org/food_waste_the_facts http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/10/4/1250 http://urbanplanning.library.cornell.edu/DOCS/howard.htm http://www.slideshare.net/ctlachu/planning-concepts http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/broadacre-city-frank-lloyd-wrights-unbuilt-suburban-ut1509433082 http://discoveringurbanism.blogspot.in/2010/11/is-broadacre-city-worth-reviving.html https://www.cp-dr.com/node/3252 http://library.uniteddiversity.coop/Food/Continuous_Productive_Urban_Landscapes.pdf http://www.metropolismag.com/Point-of-View/July-2014/What-Broadacre-City-Can-TeachUs/

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http://www.fiveboroughfarm.org/urban-agriculture/4-types/ http://www.urbanisten.nl/wp/?portfolio=energylandscape-a4 http://www.cityfarmer.info/category/india/ http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/mumbais-urban-railway-farms-40309 http://www.buildmagazine.org.nz/articles/show/rebuilding-the-heart-of-elephant-and-castle/ http://work.ac/edible-schoolyard-at-ps216/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allotment_(gardening) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_garden https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/urban_agriculture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_farming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/urbanization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/industrial_revolution http://inhabitat.com/visionary-homefarm-combines-retirement-homes-and-vertical-urbanfarms/ http://www.kkarc.com/projects.aspx?gp=&c=&p=672 http://www.dezeen.com/2013/09/12/pasona-urban-farm-by-kono-designs/ http://inhabitat.com/conceptual-farm-x-is-a-modular-vertical-farm-that-grows-foodhydroponically/ http://www.archdaily.com/428868/in-tokyo-a-vertical-farm-inside-and-out http://inhabitat.com/worlds-largest-indoor-vertical-farm-will-produce-2-million-pounds-ofsoil-free-food-in-newark/ http://inhabitat.com/this-vertical-farm-will-provide-wyoming-residents-with-100000lbs-offresh-produce-each-year/

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