Building-integrated agriculture: a new approach to food production

Gould, David M.; Caplow, T.

doi:10.1533/9780857096463.2.147

Cited by 29 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…HTUA practices are one type of building-integrated agriculture [13]. Bringing agriculture into the built environment changes the relationships between urban residents, agriculture, food, and the landscape.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…HTUA contributes to the creation of a "productive green infrastructure for social wellbeing" through "local food production" and "improving the health of urban residents" [14] (p. 160). Gould and Caplow [13] argue that these kinds of practices have "the potential to significantly reduce fossil fuel consumption, improve urban ecology, enhance food safety and security, enrich the lives of city dwellers and conserve building energy" [13] (p. 150).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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High-Tech Urban Agriculture in Amsterdam: An Actor Network Analysis

et al. 2020

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The agriculture and horticulture sector in the Netherlands is one of the most productive in the world. Although the sector is one of the most advanced and intense agricultural production systems worldwide, it faces challenges, such as climate change and environmental and social unsustainability of industrial production. To overcome these challenges, alternative food production initiatives have emerged, especially in large cities such as Amsterdam. Some initiatives involve producing food in the urban environment, supported by new technologies and practices, so-called high-tech urban agriculture (HTUA). These initiatives make cultivation of plants inside and on top of buildings possible and increase green spaces in urban areas. The emerging agricultural technologies are creating new business environments that are shape d by technology developers (e.g., suppliers of horticultural light emitting diodes (LED) and control environment systems) and developers of alternative food production practices (e.g., HTUA start-ups). However, research shows that the uptake of these technological innovations in urban planning processes is problematic. Therefore, this research analyzes the barriers that local government planners and HTUA developers are facing in the embedding of HTUA in urban planning processes, using the city of Amsterdam as a case study. This study draws on actor-network theory (ANT) to analyze the interactions between planners, technologies, technology developers and developers of alternative food production practices. Several concepts of ANT are integrated into a multi-level perspective on sustainability transitions (MLP) to create a new theoretical framework that can explain how interactions between technologies and planning actors transform the incumbent social–technical regime. The configuration of interactions between social and material entities in technology development and adoption processes in Amsterdam is analyzed through the lens of this theoretical framework. The data in this study were gathered by tracing actors and their connections by using ethnographic research methods. In the course of the integration of new technologies into urban planning practices, gaps between technologies, technology developers, and planning actors have been identified. The results of this study show a lacking connection between planning actors and technology developers, although planning actors do interact with developers of alternative food production practices. These interactions are influenced by agency of artefacts such as visualizations of the future projects. The paper concludes that for the utilization of emerging technologies for sustainability transition of cities, the existing gap between technology developers and planning actors needs to be bridged through the integration of technology development visions in urban agendas and planning processes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-Tech Urban Agriculture in Amsterdam: An Actor Network Analysis

et al. 2020

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“…Urban agriculture is often cited as a strategy to provide fresh food for underserved communities located in food deserts, yet few commercial urban farms target this demographic, proving that commercial-scale urban agriculture can be just as exclusionary as conventional supply chains (Gould and Caplow 2012;Sanyé-Mengual et al 2018;Thomaier et al 2015). Aquaponic farms that use high-tech infrastructure try to redeem their high investments by achieving premium prices in urban markets, though aquaponics can also stem from grassroots and hobbyist applications.…”

Section: Accessibility and Food Securitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Aquaponics in the Built Environment

Proksch

Ianchenko

Kotzen

2019

Aquaponics Food Production Systems

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Aquaponics' potential to transform urban food production has been documented in a rapid increase of academic research and public interest in the field. To translate this publicity into real-world impact, the creation of commercial farms and their relationship to the urban environment have to be further examined. This research has to bridge the gap between existing literature on growing system performance and urban metabolic flows by considering the built form of aquaponic farms. To assess the potential for urban integration of aquaponics, existing case studies are classified by the typology of their building enclosure, with the two main categories being greenhouses and indoor environments. This classification allows for some assumptions about the farms' performance in their context, but a more in-depth life cycle assessment (LCA) is necessary to evaluate different configurations. The LCA approach is presented as a way to inventory design criteria and respective strategies which can influence the environmental impact of aquaponic systems in the context of urban built environments.

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“…BIA can benefit in designing truly sustainable cities by incorporation of a more detailed evaluation of the land, water and energy consumption during food production, delivery and disposal processes. Hydroponic systems are one of the most efficient forms of BIA [55]. Furthermore, if crops are grown vertically using hydroponic systems, the farm can generate 20 times more yield and only uses 8% of water compared to traditional practices [56].…”

Section: Building Integrated Agriculture (Bia)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Building integrated agriculture information modelling (BIAIM): An integrated approach towards urban agriculture

Khan

Aziz

Ahmed

2018

Sustainable Cities and Society

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Urbanisation is transforming human societies in many ways. Besides bringing benefits to people in cities, it also has negative impacts such as food security. One way to meet the challenge is urban agriculture; however, traditional agricultural practices are not suitable within urban areas due to limited availability of land. Therefore, the alternative option is to grow crops inside or on top of buildings, e.g. building integrated agriculture (BIA). But, there is limited research and information available for designers and planners to design such buildings. The presented research project bridges the gap between agriculture and architecture by proposing a building integrated agriculture information modelling tool in integration with Building information modelling. The plugin tool has data on plants' requirements and automatic response to environmental factors. Environmental factors include temperature, light, water, nutrients, air, humidity, spacing and support. In this paper, seasonal tomato is selected as a reference crop, and the impact of environment (temperature, light, water, nutrients and spacing) on its health is discussed and simulated for germination stage. The undertaken project contributes to the concept of BIA and BIM maturity level, which would help to design an optimum environment building for plants.Historically, these practices have been used in many countries, while developed countries have also started taking interest due to increasing food security problems [19]. However, in urban regions, available land is limited therefore UA can be in two ways: open rooftop farming; or high-tech controlled environment agriculture (CEA) [20], which provides ultimate results by providing optimum conditions [21].CEA has been adopted to cultivate off-season crops and producing high-quality crops [22]. Though, for controlled environment building integrated agriculture (BIA), there is limited literature available. The key issue is the structural design of such modern BIA design; where the information on the plant-environment relationship is not available on state-of-the-art building designing tools [23][24][25]. For such practices to be possible, experts from various disciplines, i.e. agriculture, agronomy, architecture, urban planning, engineering, economics and public health will have to come together and work collaboratively [26]. Such intelligent collaborative platforms are also known as Building information modelling (BIM). BIM is a methodology, comprised of processes to generate and manage the information of building or group of buildings [27]. BIM can also be defined as "modelling technology and associated set of procedures to produce, communicate and analyse models" [28]. BIM tools get people and information working together effectively and efficiently through defined processes and technology [29]. Most of the developed countries have been using these tools for improvement in productivity and cost-savings throughout all stages of architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) industry [30]. Therefore, BI...

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Building-integrated agriculture: a new approach to food production

Cited by 29 publications

References 4 publications

High-Tech Urban Agriculture in Amsterdam: An Actor Network Analysis

High-Tech Urban Agriculture in Amsterdam: An Actor Network Analysis

Aquaponics in the Built Environment

Building integrated agriculture information modelling (BIAIM): An integrated approach towards urban agriculture

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