How do urban greenhouses and gardens contribute to making buildings and cities more sustainable and circular?
Meeting with Prof. Haïssam Jijakli, GreenSurf - Liège University
"Urban farming can take many different forms. It ranges from community or allotment gardens to rooftop greenhouses and indoor cultivation inside buildings.
Urban farming only makes sense if it is sustainable. Thus, it offers social benefits such as access to a more balanced diet or social reintegration through apprenticeships in horticultural trades. It has been proven that cultivating one's own vegetable garden contributes to physical and mental well-being.
The benefits attributed to urban farming are also of an ecological nature. Vegetable gardens on the ground or on the roof improve biodiversity within cities. Vegetable rooftops can reduce heat islands. It is a model of circular economy since it uses the city's resources as raw materials. This is the case for organic waste that is composted to fertilize the soil, or for untapped resources such as rainwater to water plants or the waste energy from buildings to heat rooftop greenhouses, for example.
Finally, urban farming also brings economic added value: 'Going green' in cities increases the value of land and buildings. It also creates jobs that are difficult to relocate and contributes to the development of a local economy with short distribution channels."
Read the complete Geen Building edition in Neomag magazine #22 following this link : https://fr.calameo.com/read/0054587691cd3a090bde0
