Farming in the Sky — A Look at 6 Innovative Rooftop Farms

It’s not difficult to see why rooftop farming has become such a big urban trend in recent years. Cities today are denser, taller, and busier than they have ever been, and competition for any available space is fierce. Furthermore, given that over two-thirds of the world’s population will call cities home by 2050 — versus about 55% of people today — the situation is only going to get more challenging.

However, a glance at aerial images of any city center quickly reveals a treasure trove of unused space: the rooftops. In a recent Scientific American article, a representative from the non-profit organization Green Roofs for Healthy Cities refers to city roofscapes as “the last urban frontier,” representing up to 35% of a city’s total land area. And all around the world, creative urban farmers are making good use of this frontier, transforming the wasted space on city rooftops into a source of fresh, local food. Read on for a look at six innovative rooftop farms that are helping to make their home cities greener and healthier.

Gotham Greens

One of the most well-known rooftop farms in the world is the flagship greenhouse of Gotham Greens. Located on top of the historic Greenpoint Wood Exchange building in Brooklyn, New York, the 15,000-square-foot greenhouse was built in 2011: the first commercial-scale facility of its kind to be constructed in the US. Sustainability was top of mind in the greenhouse’s design and construction. The facility includes on-site solar panels to help supply the operation’s electrical load, and advanced glazing, passive ventilation, and thermal curtains to reduce heating demand. The produce is grown using recirculating irrigation systems, and no chemical pesticides or herbicides are used. In the years since the Greenpoint greenhouse was constructed, Gotham Greens has gone on to build two more rooftop greenhouses in New York City and one in Chicago.

Brooklyn Grange

New York City is also home to Brooklyn Grange, purportedly the largest urban rooftop farm in the world. Distinct from the greenhouses of Gotham Greens, the growing land of Brooklyn Grange — which spans more than two acres — is completely open to the sun and sky. The farm produces a diverse array of organically grown fruits and vegetables, which it sells to restaurants, at farmers’ markets, and directly to consumers through its CSA program. Recently, Brooklyn Grange has expanded its offerings to include egg-laying chickens and a commercial apiary.

DakAkker

The largest rooftop farm in Europe can be found in the center of the Dutch city of Rotterdam, on top of a building known as the Schieblock. An initiative of the architecture firm ZUS, the DakAkker rooftop farm was originally created for Rotterdam’s 5th International Architecture Biennale. Some of its innovative features include a sensor-equipped smartroof, a much larger water storage capacity than is usual for rooftop gardens, and six beehives. (This reflects how important bees are to a healthy ecosystem: about 30% of all food stems from pollination by bees.)

HK Farm

A newly created rooftop farm in the dense city of Hong Kong, HK Farm may not be large, but it has big ambitions. Michael Leung, the farm’s founder and creative director — perhaps the world’s first-ever creative director of a farm — was inspired to start the project after visiting other rooftop farms around the world, including Brooklyn Grange. Leung hopes that his farm will help communicate the value of rooftop farming and the benefits of locally grown food to Hong Kong’s highly urban population. In addition to growing produce, the farm also designs products and offers urban farming services around the city.

Lufa Farms

Located in Montreal, the two sprawling rooftop greenhouses of Lufa Farms have been carefully designed and built to withstand frigid Canadian winters. The facility also makes smart use of its rooftop position: the farm uses the irrigation system of the building below to water the crops, and additional energy requirements are also provided by the building. With 1.75 acres of growing space, Lufa Farms produces a wide range of vegetables, including peppers, eggplants, greens, and herbs. These are packaged together with other locally sourced goods, like fresh bread and handmade pastas, and delivered to roughly 4,000 customers every week.

City Farm

Located in Tokyo, City Farm upends Western ideas about what to expect from a rooftop farm. Naturally, the produce grown at City Farm is focused on commonly used ingredients in Japanese cooking: crops include eggplants, soy beans, and, most interestingly of all, rice. This means that, in order to create the proper water-saturated growing conditions needed for rice, City Farm must employ innovative irrigation and drainage techniques that are not often seen at other rooftop farms. However, City Farm does share many operational elements with other rooftop farms, including a focus on producing food for the local community, and activities geared toward educating urban populations about food production.