Many experts are proposing high-rise farming projects situated in urban centers to address future food needs as the global population grows. Vertical farms would cultivate plants and animals inside skyscrapers and on vertical surfaces using greenhouse and hydroponic techniques to reduce the need for new farmland and natural resources. High-rise farming could produce organic crops year-round in a controlled environment while providing employment and reducing the impacts of climate change and fossil fuel use in food production and transport. Dr. Dickson Despommier is a leading proponent of vertical farming as a solution to the coming food crisis.

1. High-Rise Farming for a
Healthier Lifestyle

2. What will civilization do for food when there is
predicted to be a human population of nine
billion by 2050 with more than 75 percent of
the earth’s population residing in urban
centers?

3. At present, throughout the world, more than
80 percent of the land that is suitable for
raising crops is already in use.

4. Many experts are already
creating details for high-rise
farming projects to be
situated in the heart of the
world’s urban centers.

5. This vertical farming would
cultivate plant or animal life
within a skyscraper
greenhouse or on vertical
surfaces using techniques
similar to glass houses.

6. This would reduce the need for new farmland,
keep from destroying land and forests, and
save natural resources.

7. The controlled growing
environment would produce
practical organic crops and
reduce the need for
pesticides.

8. Additionally, the vertical industry would
provide employment for farm laborers when
some traditional farms are dismantled; those
unemployed could move to the cities and find
work for which they are qualified.

9. The concept of indoor
farming is far from new.
Hothouse production of
tomatoes, other produce and
a wide variety of herbs has
been popular for some time.

10. What is new is the need to increase this
technology to accommodate another three
billion people and use cutting edge technology,
be inexpensive to construct, be safe to operate,
and sustain production of year-round crops.

11. Our food-bearing plants are
subjected to the rigors of the
great outdoors with the hope
for a good weather year.

12. However, because of rapidly changing
climates, there have been massive floods,
protracted droughts, fires, hurricanes,
tornadoes and other natural disasters that
have destroyed millions of tons of valuable
crops each year.

13. The time has come to learn how
to grow our harvestable food
inside environmentally controlled
buildings and give that food
protection from the elements and
encourage growth year-round.

14. Abandoned urban properties
could also be converted into food
production centers.

15. Gardens housed in glass
edifices could heat and cool
themselves, capture rain
water, and recirculate
domestic waste as plant food.

16. Energy would be harvested from the wind and
sun, trapping it between the building “wings”
for heating.

17. The natural sunlight could be augmented with
artificial lighting. Cooling would be achieved
through natural ventilation and transpiration
from the abundant plants.

18. Another major factor is that such farming
would substantially reduce the amount of fossil
fuels currently used to refrigerate and
transport farm produce.
It would also eliminate the conventional
planting and harvesting by fossil-fueled farm
machinery, reducing air pollution and carbon
dioxide emissions that cause climate change.

19. Dr. Dickson Despommier, a
Columbia University professor of
Public Health in Environmental
Health Sciences, is the leader
behind the “Vertical Farming”
initiative as a solution for the
upcoming food crisis.

20. Putting his ideas to use, the
Brooklyn design group Aprilli
recently won a Futuristic Design
award from A’Design for their
Urban Skyfarm concept.

21. High-rise farming would thus
help to solve the future food
problem and would create a
healthier environment for
humans as well as animals.

22. For more information on present-day
Scottsdale high rise condos in downtown
Scottsdale, please visit our website or contact
us.

23. If you have a green thumb or just enjoy
planting a few flowers in the spring, living in a
downtown high rise condo doesn't mean you
can't enjoy gardening! Urban living offers
many more amenities.

24. If you are interested in buying or renting a
high rise condo or loft, talk to the specialists at
We Know Urban Realty in Phoenix AZ.

25. Visit the site at
www.weknowurban.com
to see some of the fantastic condos available.

26. Will Daly, Broker
We Know Urban Realty, LLC
834 E Claremont Street, No 3
Phoenix, AZ 85014
(480) 510-8755
Email: Will@WeKnowUrban.com