Residential Rooftop Urban Agriculture: Architectural Design Recommendations

It is evident that, due to population growth, future urbanization and urban growth are inevitable. It is estimated that the food supply demand of future urban centers will grow, which will place an additional burden on the agriculture sector to produce more food. It is projected that securing the food supply chain for future urban centers will be a challenge. Urban agriculture can be regarded as a remedy for possible future challenges that the global food system will face. It might be able to reduce the future burden on the agriculture sector. This research proposes that urban rooftop agriculture, as a subset of urban agriculture, can produce local fresh food in dense urban environments. The principal aim of this research is to suggest a series of design recommendations for architects interested in designing residential buildings capable of rooftop food production. This research attempts to highlight the specific design recommendations and the principal limitations regarding designing residential rooftop farms. To extract the data for developing the proposed design recommendations and limitations, a review of the literature within the fields of urban agriculture, building-integrated agriculture, and horticulture was conducted. Based on the literature review results, this research suggests that the following three types of farming methods can be developed on residential rooftops: (1) open-air rooftop food production, (2) “low-tech” rooftop greenhouses, and (3) “high-tech” rooftop greenhouses. In addition, factors that can be considered principal limitations are suggested. In sum, this research proposes that current and future residential buildings can be designed so that their rooftops are utilized as farms. In this way, such buildings can contribute to delivering local fresh food to current and future metropolitan dwellers.