Library & Innovation Centre

 Farming on Top: Rooftop Agriculture for Healthy Cities

Rooftop agriculture is a type of urban agriculture, in which food is grown on the tops of buildings. Rooftop agriculture can have many benefits. 

  Rooftop farms are teaching city dwellers how to grow food at home

From balcony beehives to car park market gardens, city dwellers are finding innovative ways to embrace urban agriculture while promoting social and ecological wellbeing in the process.

  Five of the world’s coolest urban rooftop farms

Sprawled across a rooftop in a quiet residential neighbourhood, overlooking a city’s bustling business district, positioned at the top of a parking structure: none of these locations exactly come to mind when one mentions the word “farming” – a term that is far more likely to conjure up scenes of rolling hills, verdant pastoral landscapes and wide-open spaces. 

 Up on a roof: why New Zealand’s move towards greater urban density should see a rooftop revolution

What's happening in New Zealand.  Rooftop gardens and the “green roofs” movement are trending internationally, both as domestic and commercial spaces. Once useful for solar power and collecting rainwater, roofs are now used for food production, growing mini “forests” to mitigate climate change, “wildlife gardening”, leisure and entertainment.

  Urban Rooftop Agriculture: Challenges to Science and Practice

This paper outlines opportunities and challenges for advancing the science of these constructed ecosystems with particular emphasis on rooftop agriculture. 

 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.

 The global rise of urban rooftop agriculture: A review of worldwide cases

This research paper summarizes the global trends and spatial distribution of Rooftop Agriculture cases and presents their main features. 

Search 'rooftop farming' for several articles and PDFs.

Singapore, a crowded city with over 5 million inhabitants is aiming to locally produce 30% of its nutritional needs by 2030. With limited space available on the ground they have to be creative in where to farm.

Sustainable Urban Delta. (2022, June 8). How Singapore is leading the way in efficient urban farming[Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/W9tGyNyfDbs?si=S_W45dTHJu7bCixV

Paris will soon be home to the world's biggest urban farm - the size of two football pitches - on the roof of the Paris Exhibition Centre.

BBC World Service. (2020, September 8). Welcome to the world’s largest urban rooftop farm [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/YerQvtlMPU0?si=zc2-BywyvpsU5Ms8

Forward to 10:00 for the section on roof top farming