Urban Vertical Farming as a Path to Healthy and Sustainable Urban Built Environment

Year 2022, Volume: 8 Issue: 1, 67 - 88, 08.08.2022

Abdulsalam Ibrahim Shema , Halima Abdulmalık

Abstract

The issue of global warming and food insecurity are among the most problematic challenges of the 21st century. Meeting the current and future demands for food production and the willingness to survive is one of the recent problems the world is facing today. The fundamental concern of this article is to explore the significant role of urban vertical farms (UVF) in how they can pave the way for a healthy and sustainable built environment. Within this 21st century, issues such as climate change, bio-and environmental degradation, and other related man-made activities that lead to the loss of agricultural lands and vertical farms can be regarded as a sustainable alternative to conventional agriculture. Consequently, urban farming provides impeccable opportunities for the sustainable development of places such as urban cities and provides a form of moral support economically, socially and ecologically, and also addresses the recent changes brought to the general built environment by the COVID-19 Pandemic. The primary objective of this paper is to explore and introduce possible and various functions which support the ecosystem and how they affect assessable benefits for urban masses at different scales of solutions within the scope of urban vertical farming. In conclusion, this research has demonstrated that UVF can enhance the general well-being of the urban masses as well as ensure a healthy and sustainable urban built environment at different scales and capacities.

Keywords

Vertical Farming, Urban Cities, Sustainable Development, Urban Farming, Social Sustainability

Supporting Institution

Girne American University

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