High-Rise Farming for a Healthier Lifestyle

What will civilization do for food when there is predicted to be a human population of nine billion by 2050 with more than 75 percent of the earth’s population residing in urban centers?

At present, throughout the world, more than 80 percent of the land that is suitable for raising crops is already in use.

Many experts are already creating details for high-rise farming projects to be situated in the heart of the world’s urban centers.

This vertical farming would cultivate plant or animal life within a skyscraper greenhouse or on vertical surfaces using techniques similar to glass houses.

This would reduce the need for new farmland, keep from destroying land and forests, and save natural resources.

The controlled growing environment would produce practical organic crops and reduce the need for pesticides.

Additionally, the vertical industry would provide employment for farm laborers when some traditional farms are dismantled; those unemployed could move to the cities and find work for which they are qualified.

The concept of indoor farming is far from new. Hothouse production of tomatoes, other produce and a wide variety of herbs has been popular for some time.

What is new is the need to increase this technology to accommodate another three billion people and use cutting edge technology, be inexpensive to construct, be safe to operate, and sustain production of year-round crops.

Our food-bearing plants are subjected to the rigors of the great outdoors with the hope for a good weather year.

However, because of rapidly changing climates, there have been massive floods, protracted droughts, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters that have destroyed millions of tons of valuable crops each year.

The time has come to learn how to grow our harvestable food inside environmentally controlled buildings and give that food protection from the elements and encourage growth year-round.

Abandoned urban properties could also be converted into food production centers.

Gardens housed in glass edifices could heat and cool themselves, capture rain water, and recirculate domestic waste as plant food.

Energy would be harvested from the wind and sun, trapping it between the building “wings” for heating.

The natural sunlight could be augmented with artificial lighting. Cooling would be achieved through natural ventilation and transpiration from the abundant plants.

Another major factor is that such farming would substantially reduce the amount of fossil fuels currently used to refrigerate and transport farm produce.

It would also eliminate the conventional planting and harvesting by fossil-fueled farm machinery, reducing air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions that cause climate change.

Dr. Dickson Despommier, a Columbia University professor of Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences, is the leader behind the “Vertical Farming” initiative as a solution for the upcoming food crisis.

Putting his ideas to use, the Brooklyn design group Aprilli recently won a Futuristic Design award from A’Design for their Urban Skyfarm concept.

High-rise farming would thus help to solve the future food problem and would create a healthier environment for humans as well as animals.

For more information on present-day Scottsdale high rise condos in downtown Scottsdale, please visit our website or contact us.

If you have a green thumb or just enjoy planting a few flowers in the spring, living in a downtown high rise condo doesn't mean you can't enjoy gardening! Urban living offers many more amenities.

If you are interested in buying or renting a high rise condo or loft, talk to the specialists at We Know Urban Realty in Phoenix AZ.

Visit the site at

www.weknowurban.comto see some of the fantastic condos available.

Will Daly, BrokerWe Know Urban Realty, LLC

834 E Claremont Street, No 3Phoenix, AZ 85014

(480) 510-8755Email: Will@WeKnowUrban.com