There are a range of challenges that we look to address in our practice as landscape architects. Some of the more pressing challenges that we look to provide solutions for are food insecurity, increasing cost of living, poor nutrition, social disconnection/isolation, the urban heat island effect, stormwater pollution, and lack of urban green space. Through the design and construction of urban farms in urban centres we hope to address these problems, by empowering people to grow more of their own food. In empowering communities to grow more of their own food, we hope to create opportunities for people to meet their needs in meaningful ways, such as through social prescribing.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted supply chain issues that directly affect food availability. Producing food in urban centres close to those who will consume it reduces transport needs, thereby reducing fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions. The effects of climate change have also affected food security with crops being damaged by extreme weather events. With rising costs of living due to a range of impacts, food production and supply is one issue that we are well-placed to address with the existing products and technology available to us. Producing food in urban environments aligns with many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The goals of no poverty, zero hunger, good health and wellbeing, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action and life on the land can all be connected to urban food production.
By incorporating urban farms into underutilised urban spaces, we can provide a range of benefits for people living and working in urban environments. These benefits include improved food security and nutrition, reduced food bills, increased social connection, and opportunities for exercise and team building in workplaces. Urban farms with seating areas provide a beautiful space for people to meet, connect, relax, and gather, transforming previously bare spaces into lush ecosystems that support social inclusion. These spaces are cool, green, growing fresh food, and alive with urban biodiversity. Urban farms add environmental and social amenity to urban spaces, and economic value. Vegetables and herbs are a basic cost of living and directly affect the household budget. Spending time in green spaces has been shown to improve mental health. Green spaces woven into and around the built form provide a sense of human scale and relationship to the broader urban form. Installing urban farms on existing impervious surfaces allows stormwater to be captured and filtered, slowing, or even stopping it before it reaches our waterways, mitigating flooding and drainage issues in high rainfall events.
Urban greening and food production also contribute to biodiversity by providing habitat and food for wildlife, such as birds and insects. Creating more green spaces and food production in cities means less land outside of the city needs to be converted to farmland, slowing the loss and degradation of natural habitat. Australia generates substantial amounts of green- and food waste per annum, and our cities and towns generate large volumes of rooftop rainwater runoff. Cities have enormous potential to cycle readily available resources such as food and green waste and cycle that into water efficient urban farms that can be built in a wide variety of city spaces – carparks, rooftops, community settings, backyards, balconies, schools, aged care centres and more. Both resources could be repurposed as a valuable resource into productive urban farms. The missing link has been the right food growing architecture and we have now developed this with Foodcube wicking beds. This opens up the opportunity to grow large volumes of food within city limits, reducing food miles to food meters, reducing food bills and poverty while building resilience and social connection.
We specify and install an Australian designed and manufactured compact, modular, soil based self-watering urban farming system for the urban farms that we design and construct. Foodcubes are manufactured using 80% food grade recycled plastic sourced from the food industry. They can be linked together to form large, connected urban farms that maximise water efficiency and retain nutrients for more efficient food growing in urban areas. With a 110-litre reservoir at the base of each Foodcube, one need only fill the reservoir once a week in summer and once a month in winter, not every day, dramatically reducing time spent watering. Each cube also has two access points to fill up the 110L reservoir, and when linked in series they can all be filled up from a single point.
The urban farms are raised, sealed, and separate from potentially contaminated soils and groundwater. Foodcubes can also be recycled into other plastic products at the end of their life, contributing to the circular economy. These innovative features make urban farming easier, less time consuming and more accessible for gardeners of all ages and skill levels, making the above outcomes very achievable. Trial farms we have designed and built here in Melbourne and at The Cape have produced large amounts of fresh food for food charities and staff groups from farms that occupy small footprints.
If you are interested in an urban farm, our team at The Sustainable Landscape Company can design and construct one for you. We work to design and build landscapes that are food producing, climate resilient, and nature friendly, that help with urban cooling, contribute to the circular economy, and foster social connection and liveability. From the design process through to construction and maintenance, TSLC has the experience needed to bring your urban farm vision to life.
