The role of green roof technology in urban agriculture

Whittinghill, Leigh J.; Rowe, D. Bradley

doi:10.1017/s174217051100038x

Cited by 124 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 45 publications

(169 reference statements)

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“…Studies have previously suggested that rooftop farming can be a valuable supplement to conventional farming, particularly with locally popular vegetables (e.g., Astee and Kishnani 2010;Li et al 2012;Taylor et al 2012;Whittinghill & Rowe 2012;Specht et al 2014;Orsini et al 2014;Eigenbrod & Gruda 2015;Sanyé-Mengual et al 2015a;Goldstein et al 2016). We further confirm that certain leafy vegetables can be as productive in yield and quality as those sold by local farms.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

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Rooftop production of leafy vegetables can be profitable and less contaminated than farm-grown vegetables

Liu

Yang

Han

et al. 2016

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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Urban agriculture may solve issues of feeding urban populations. In China, for example, densely packed mega cities will continue to expand in number and size, necessitating increasing food miles. Interestingly, it has been estimated that the total rooftop space in China is about 1 million hectares, some of which can be converted for rooftop farming. Yet, despite some favorable reports on urban farming, the Chinese commercial sector has shown little interest. This may be explained by the dearth of data comparing urban and conventional farming. Therefore, we present here a feasibility study of hydroponically grown vegetables in a rooftop screen house in Guangzhou, China. From December, 2012 to May, 2014, we tested the production of seven leafy vegetables that are easily perishable and are not well suited to long-distance transport. We calculated the production cost and measured biochemical parameters. Results show that levels of vitamin C, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, and crude fiber were comparable to market counterparts. None of the roof hydroponic vegetables exceeded the maximum residue limit for lead, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, mercury, or nitrate. In contrast, 5 of 98 market vegetables were contaminated by exceeding the maximum residue limit for lead. Similarly 3 were contaminated for arsenic, 23 for nitrate, and 2 for organophosphate or carbamate insecticide. Compared to high-end vegetables sold on the market, rooftop-grown vegetables were competitive in cost and quality. Given that many countries have limited arable land to feed a large population, the widespread adoption of rooftop hydroponics could help expand the total area available for food production as well as meet the rising demand for safe high-quality vegetables.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…As for food safety, some studies have raised the concern of urban environmental pollution (Whittinghill & Rowe 2012;Specht et al 2014). For instance, a recent study in Italy found that soil-grown vegetables in urban gardens have high heavy metal content, likely due to soil contamination near city roads (Antisari et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rooftop production of leafy vegetables can be profitable and less contaminated than farm-grown vegetables

Liu

Yang

Han

et al. 2016

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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“…For green roofs in temperate climates, newly mixed substrates during installation contribute the phosphorus required for plant growth (Whittinghill and Rowe, 2012). However, phosphorus needs to be converted to a usable form, it becomes readily available because plants, fungi and bacteria alike produce numerous types of phosphatase enzymes that can release phosphate from the substrate (Whitelaw, 1999).…”

Section: Hypothesis 3: Microbial Diversity Increases the Availabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Green Roof Microbiome: Improving Plant Survival for Ecosystem Service Delivery

et al. 2018

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Plants are key contributors to ecosystem services delivered by green roofs in cities including stormwater capture, temperature regulation, and wildlife habitat. As a result, current research has primarily focused on their growth in relationship to extensive green roof (e.g., substrates <15 cm depth) ecosystem services. Green roofs are exposed to a variety of harsh abiotic factors such as intense solar radiation, wind, and isolation from ground-level habitats, making survival exceedingly difficult. Plants in natural habitats benefit from a variety of interactions with fungi and bacteria. These plant-microbial interactions improve mechanisms of survival and productivity; however, many green roof substrates are sterilized prior to installation and lack microbial communities with unstudied consequences for green roof plant health and subsequent survival and performance. In this paper, we present six hypotheses on the positive role of microbes in green roof applications. In natural and experimental systems, microbial interactions have been linked to plant (1) drought tolerance, (2) pathogen protection, (3) nutrient availability, (4) salt tolerance, (5) phytohormone production, and (6) substrate stabilization, all of which are desirable properties of green roof ecosystems. As few studies exist that directly examine these relationships on green roofs, we explore the existing ecological literature on these topics to unravel the mechanisms that could support more complex green roof ecosystem and lead to new insight into the design, performance, and broader applications in green infrastructure.

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“…Urban agriculture, growing globally, is also important to economic development and job creation, in addition to advancing food security. The use of green roof technology is gaining momentum [159] ( Figure 6). Properly implemented green roof technology could facilitate the use of formal space and water use, promote just use of ground level resources and minimize the use of contaminated land and polluted water, thereby reducing health risks (e.g., heavy metals) [159].…”

Section: Urban Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The use of green roof technology is gaining momentum [159] ( Figure 6). Properly implemented green roof technology could facilitate the use of formal space and water use, promote just use of ground level resources and minimize the use of contaminated land and polluted water, thereby reducing health risks (e.g., heavy metals) [159]. It is widely believed that urban gardens, agriculture and water management have a large potential to advance food security [152].…”

Section: Urban Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Strategic Soil Management

Lal

2014

Challenges

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Abstract:The complex and strong link between soil degradation, climate change and food insecurity is a global challenge. Sustainable agricultural systems must be integral to any agenda to address climate change and variability, improve renewable fresh water supply and quality, restore degraded soils and ecosystems and advance food security. These challenges are being exacerbated by increasing population and decreasing per capita arable land area and renewable fresh water supply, the increasing frequency of extreme events, the decreasing resilience of agroecosystems, an increasing income and affluent lifestyle with growing preference towards meat-based diet and a decreasing soil quality and use efficiency of inputs. Reversing these downward spirals implies the implementation of proven technologies, such as conservation agriculture, integrated nutrient management, precision agriculture, agroforestry systems, etc. Restoration of degraded soil and desertified ecosystems and the creation of positive soil and ecosystem C budgets are important. Urban agriculture and green roofs can reduce the energy footprint of production chains for urban and non-urban areas and enhance the recycling of by-products. Researchable priorities include sustainable land use and soil/water management options, judicious soil governance and modus operandi towards payments to land managers for the provisioning of ecosystem services.

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The role of green roof technology in urban agriculture

Cited by 124 publications

References 45 publications

Rooftop production of leafy vegetables can be profitable and less contaminated than farm-grown vegetables

Rooftop production of leafy vegetables can be profitable and less contaminated than farm-grown vegetables

The Green Roof Microbiome: Improving Plant Survival for Ecosystem Service Delivery

Climate Strategic Soil Management

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