Reframing the Narrative in Our Towns and Cities

In his impassioned and moving film A Life on Our Planet Sir David Attenborough provides examples of the sort of solutions which could help redress some of the damage being done to our environment, both on land and at sea. He cites agricultural practices in The Netherlands, one of the smallest countries in the world but the second largest exporter of food, where producers have developed innovative ways of growing food which employ less water, fewer pesticides and less fertilizer, and create less carbon emissions. Many of these solutions involve growing foodstuffs indoors and where land is at a premium.

Roof-Top Micro-Farming

His example reminded me of other examples that had piqued my interest over the years, some on my work doorstep. The Dairy, a Clapham-based restaurant south of the Thames in London was owned by acclaimed Dublin chef Robin Gill and his wife Sarah before it became a victim of the pandemic in August this year. Gill started his career working under Marco Pierre White and Raymond Blanc before opening his own restaurant. Inspired by a stint working at a restaurant on the Amalfi Coast, where a cart would bring fresh produce from a farm with incredible gardens, he decided to create a kitchen garden on the roof behind The Dairy. Food, such as herbs and salad stuff, was grown in deep recycled plastic food delivery trays, placed in rows on wooden staging. His roof-top garden was a perfect example of micro-farming, where food is grown a few steps from the table in a sustainable fashion.

The Dairy Roof-Top Garden (Image: Homes & Property)

Overground, Underground

And The Dairy is not the only example in this part of London. A company called Growing Underground (http://growing-underground.com) grows fresh micro greens and salad leaves sustainably 33 metres below the busy streets of Clapham, in tunnels previously dug when London’s Underground was being built. As its website says, “using the latest hydroponic systems and LED technology, our crops are grown year-round in the perfect, pesticide-free environment that these forgotten tunnels provide. Thanks to a controlled environment, each tiny leaf tastes as amazing as the last. Our greens are unaffected by the weather and seasonal changes, and thanks to our prime location, we reduce the need to import crops and drastically reduce the food miles for retailers and consumers. We prioritize sustainable growing practices and are working towards carbon neutral certification. Our hydroponics system uses 70% less water than traditional open-field farming, and all nutrients are kept within the closed-loop system removing any risk of agricultural run-off. Since we’re limiting food miles and keeping our produce local, our leaves can be in your kitchen within 4 hours of being picked and packed”.

Growing Underground Tunnel Farm (Image: Christoffer Rudquist)

Roof-Top Paris

In France urban farming has been given an added incentive in the form of the French government’s 2015 law mandating that all commercial building roofs must be covered in solar panels or vegetation. Paris has embraced the concept and through initiatives like its Parisculteurs project the city has committed to planting 100 hectares of vegetation across the capital, of which one third will be devoted to urban farming. Examples abound around the city. La Recyclerie, installed along the old railway line at Porte de Clignancourt, the organic mushroom operation, La Caverne, located in an underground car park at Porte de La Chapelle and the roof-top plantation in Marais are just a few. And a massive 14,000 square metre urban farm is being developed on the roof of a major exhibition complex under development in the 15th arrondissment, the Paris Expo Porte de Versaille.  According to Pascal Hardy, founder of Agripolis (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-53853788) the urban-farming company at the centre of the project, the farm “will be using quality products, grown in rhythm with nature’s cycles, all in the heart of Paris…Our fresh produce will be used to feed the inhabitants across the south-west of the city - either directly, through veg-box schemes or via shops, hotels and canteens - thereby helping to reduce food…Furthermore, we won’t be using any pesticides or chemicals, so the farm will be a haven for biodiversity”. The new farm will grow crops vertically, with plants sprouting out of the side of towers. This means that more crops can be grown over a smaller surface area. Additionally, the plants won't gain nutrients from the soil (there won't be any) but instead, they will be fed through a nutrient-filled mist spray, which uses far less water.

Paris Expo Porte de Versaille Urban Farm (Image: Valode & Pistre Architectes Atlav AJN)

New Shoots in Singapore

Urban farming and roof top gardening has also taken root in the East and Singapore is a good example of this. For example the Raffles City mall features a 930 square metre roof-top site, part of a drive to produce more food and reduce the countries reliance on imports (which currently stand at 90%). Samuel Ang, Chief Executive of Edible Garden City which runs the Raffles City mall roof-top site and has more than 200 farms across the island, has been quoted as saying, “The common misconception is that there's no space for farming in Singapore because we are land scarce. We want to change the narrative”. Other urban farms in the city include Comcrop’s greenhouse in Woodlands Loop, Citiponics’ farm on the roof-top of a multi-storey car park and Skygreens, whose farm is the first low carbon, hydraulic drive vertical farm in the world.

Citiponics Car Park Roof-Top Farm (Image: Citiponics)

The drive to develop urban farming is being encouraged by Singapore’s Urban Development Authority. In the latest phase of its Landscaping for Urban Spaces and High-Rises (LUSH) 3.0 scheme, it stated that “developers of commercial and hotel buildings located in high footfall areas can propose rooftop farms to meet landscape replacement requirements”. One such development is the urban rooftop farm run by EGC for Japanese restaurant Noka (http://www.noka.sg). Diners get to enjoy ingredients grown right outside its windows.

Taking a Fresh Approach

The pandemic has impacted our lives in so many ways and has had a dramatic effect on so many sectors of business and society. City business centres have become ghost worlds as more and more people work from home, with a knock-on effect on those businesses which relied on a daily influx of workers. Property Wire quotes an independent survey by Accumulate Capital of more than 500 senior decision-makers at companies which found that 73% expect businesses to downsize as a result of the coronavirus pandemic

(https://www.propertywire.com/news/73-of-uk-business-leaders-predict-office-downsizing/). Retailers are failing and not just the small ones. Big names that once seemed unassailable are being forced to close department stores. High streets, already suffering from a dearth of customers, high rents and punitive rates, are becoming a shadow of their former selves, as the Grimsey Review Grow Back Better identified (http://www.vanishinghighstreet.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Grimsey-Covid-19-Supplement-June-2020.pdf).

 Perhaps now is the time for government (both national and local) to relook at the planning laws laid down decades ago and reframe them so that new ideas can be embraced. New ideas like:

• Urban farming, both rooftop and other formats

• More diverse mixed-use developments where businesses, educational establishments, retail, cultural venues and residential truly sit side by side

• Building repurposing, such as offices, department stores, shopping malls and car parks.

Austin Community College - repurposed shopping mall (Image: Barnes Gromatzky Kozarek Architects)

In the UK John Lewis recently launched its Five-Year Partnership Plan, which includes the idea of transforming many of its stores into private and social housing which it would rent out. Although many have questioned the wisdom of it stepping outside its core competency, it has to be applauded for thinking outside the box and with an eye on its community role. Reframing the approach to our towns and cities can have multiple benefits as Bjorn Low, co-founder of EGC (the operators of Noka’s roof-top farm) states, “The urban farming space is still in the emerging stages of development. We are literally scratching the surface of what’s possible. The areas of growth are in the application of urban food production in urban design and city planning, the use of urban farms for deeper community engagement and the role urban farms plays in creating social and environmental impact in the city”. Regenerating our towns and cities’ dormant and empty spaces while accruing commercial, economic, social, educational and environmental benefits has to be a good thing.