Print PageUrban agriculture is a global and growing pursuit enabling economic supplementation, job creation, food security, and community building. It can however be limited by competition for space with other urban forms of development. A lack of formalized land and water use rights has created some conflict between urban farmers and land owners and municipalities. Health hazards related to contamination of food with heavy metals and pathogens is also a major concern in urban agriculture due to the use of contaminated land, water and fertilizers. The use of green roofs provides urban areas with benefits relating to energy savings, storm water retention and mitigation of the urban heat island effect. The use of green roof technology in urban agriculture would add food production to this list of benefits. It also has the potential to alleviate some of the problems associated with urban agriculture, without adversely affecting the benefits provided by urban agriculture.
Results/Conclusions
The use of green roof technology in urban agriculture would not only enable the use of land for development and agriculture, but may facilitate the formation of formal resource use agreements. This could enable greater investments in urban agriculture and enable reallocation of ground level resources. When coupled with policy reform, more formal resource use agreements could enable greater oversight of urban agriculture, fostering greater participation and improved public opinions. Many health hazards associated with the use of land or water contaminated with heavy metals or pathogens could be alleviated through the use of engineered green roof media and access to higher quality water sources. Before green roof technology can be used for urban agriculture on a larger scale, instillation costs must be reduced, roof weight limitations assessed, and appropriate management practices developed which will ensure that food is produced in a manner that provides the benefits of green roofs to urban communities.
