Singapore's Rooftop Spaces

With an annual consumption of fresh vegetables approaching 400,000 tons per year and less than 1,500 hectares of potential farm land remaining, the Republic of Singapore will need to start making some revolutionary changes with the way it gets its food in the near future. That is, if it wants to meet the government's objective for displacing 20% of its annual vegetable consumption with local production, which currently stands at 5%.

Fortunately, Gregory Chow, an expert on hydroponic farming from the Department of Biotechnology at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, has shown that this is more than feasible via rooftop farming with his award-winning studies and projects inside the city. For instance, at the 800-bed Changi General Hospital Chow assisted with the installation of a hydroponic farm on the concrete roof atrium that grows cherry tomatoes and herbs. Not only does this provide fresh food for those within the hospital, but the plants also dramatically reduce the temperature inside the naturally ventilated wards by absorbing heat that would otherwise pass through the roof. To read more about how the Changi General Hospital has been "improving patient care through improving the environment" check out its website and environmental awards here.



With the assistance of his students, Dr. Chow also developed a survey to analyze the potential of urban, rooftop food production among four suburban areas in norther Singapore. Chow and his students discovered that these suburban areas provided roughly 212 hectares of rooftop that, through hydroponic production, could yield close to 38,000 tons of vegetables each year. As for all apartment and commercial rooftop space available for food production, the number stands closer to 1,000 hectares. After looking at the math it's no wonder that some, such as Geoff Wilson of the Urban Agriculture Network, believe Singapore holds the potential to produce more than a third of its fresh vegetable needs from its rooftops alone.

As more rooftop hydroponic units come online in Singapore, such as the bok choy growing operations on top of some high-rise apartments, one can only wonder when we might see the first "sky farm" cat walk between buildings. Or, for that matter, a vertical farm of cherry tomatoes and other veggies sprawling down the sides of apartment buildings, harvested and consumed by the tenants themselves. Whether on the roof of a hospital, apartment, school or business, there's no question that urban agriculture will play a vital role in our ability to keep up with the growing number of mouths to feed as we see the level of our globe's farmland diminish. How long will this exactly take, no one knows for sure. The sooner the better. But what's important is it's already here, and more importantly, it's here to stay.