farming posts, articles, and infographics | Sustainable Cities Collective

The Architecture of Banana Control

December 5, 2011 by Geoff Manaugh
with 117 views

[Image: A nearly empty banana truck; photo by the author].I had the pleasure two weeks ago of tagging along on a field trip led by Nicola Twilley, of Edible Geography, for a seminar she's teaching this fall at Columbia's GSAPP. Called "The Artificial Cryosphere," the class is an extended look at spaces and technologies of artificial... [read more]

Investing In Ecosystem Services Vital To Improving Food Security

August 22, 2011 by Sturle Hauge Simonsen
with 143 views

Recognising healthy ecosystems as the basis for sustainable water resources and stable food security can help produce more food per unit of agricultural land, improve resilience to climate change and provide economic benefits for poor communities, according to a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), in partnership with the centre, SEI and 17 other organisations. [read more]

Why Farmers are Embracing Social Media

May 11, 2011 by This Big City
with 729 views

She grew up on a dairy farm, bought her first calf when she was seven, and her husband’s a dairy nutritionist. So when Michele Payn-Knoper was stumped by her Holstein dairy calf not weaning, she did what any self-respecting 21st-century dairy person would: she went onto Twitter to get some advice. Within 20 minutes she had six... [read more]

U.K. Zoo’s Vertical Farming System

August 27, 2009 by The Dirt ASLA
with 764 views

The Paignton Zoo in South Devon has implemented a new vertical farming system. According to Greener Buildings, Paignton Zoo is using the VertiCrop system developed by Valcent Products, which is capable of producing 11,000 heads of lettuce every month. ”Eventually the farm will have vertical plots of red chard, mizuna,... [read more]

Urban farms everywhere. Is it for good this time?

August 12, 2009 by Andrew Stone
with 94 views

There is something about a tanking economy and a recession that just makes everyone suddenly care about money. We spent it until it was gone when we could and now we are trying to bring it back by living frugally and planting our own gardens, raising our own chickens and milking our own cows. We are returning to the days of... [read more]

Growing more than food in inner city

August 5, 2009 by Marc Lefkowitz
with 192 views

Bob Shields was raised in the Garden State, but walking through the Urban Farm between Lonnie Burten Recreation Center and the Outhwaite public housing projects on Cleveland's east side reminds him why he likes his transplanted home. He explains that neighbors like to pick and fry green tomatoes from the raised beds planted for the... [read more]

Farmland Fever

July 20, 2009 by Chris Nelder
with 90 views

For this week’s Energy and Capital column, I consider the recent mega-investment wave in farmland in light of peak oil concerns, and think farmland may be the trade of the century.What should a long-term investor invest in when stocks and bonds aren’t working very well?I’ve been asking that question a lot lately.Bonds continue to be... [read more]

Good Magazine on the Public Market Renaissance

July 9, 2009 by Project for Public Spaces
with 173 views

Washington DC's historic Eastern Market has reopened The resurgence of public markets in the United States was the subject of an interesting post on the Good Magazine website recently, focusing on the history of public markets, their decline and recent resurgence. Once the place to go for fresh food, local commerce and... [read more]

Mexico City's Plan to Use Green Roofs to Clean the Air

June 4, 2009 by Will Gorman
with 547 views

Mexico City is one of the world's largest urban centers and has some of the worst air pollution. However, Mexico City is a proponent of green roofs, as posted previously here and is committed to improving the environment for its population.Inhabitat.com and Archdaily.com report that to improve not only air pollution, but also green... [read more]

Sky Farms and Green Roofs

May 28, 2009 by Will Gorman
with 200 views

2009 has been full of stories about sky farms and green roofs. While this blog focuses on green roofs, the concept of sky farms is very intriguing.Inhabitat.com, treehugger.com, and verticalfarm.com have all been bringing new information to the scene about this growing concept.In three previous posts, "Food in the City," "New York's... [read more]

The Sahara Forest Project

May 26, 2009 by Tyler Caine
with 798 views

With a growing population raising the need for food, water and energy efficiency of spatial utilization is paramount. Our cities should be denser and farmland managed with greater care. But what if we could take some of the harshest land on the planet and use it to supplement these needs at a low cost? Three firms have proposed a method... [read more]

New York's Dragonfly Concept

May 19, 2009 by Will Gorman
with 1,406 views

In the race to insure food for ever larger urban populations, designers and architects are working on vertical farms inside cities.As I have written about both Vancouver's Harvest Tower and Dubai's Food City, New York City is looking to join the club in a big way.Vincent Callebaut Architectures has designed the Dragonfly building, based... [read more]