Urban Vertical Farming as an Example of Nature-Based Solutions Supporting a Healthy Society Living in the Urban Environment

Anna Zaręba, Alicja Krzemińska and Renata Kozik
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Anna Zaręba: Faculty of Earth Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Wrocław, 50-137 Wrocław, Poland
Alicja Krzemińska: Faculty of Earth Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Wrocław, 50-137 Wrocław, Poland
Renata Kozik: Faculty of Civil Engineering, Cracow University of Technology, 31-155 Kraków, Poland

Resources, 2021, vol. 10, issue 11, 1-18

Abstract: The subject of the article concerns vertical urban farms that play an important role in nature-based solutions and ecosystem services for the city. In the face of a changing climate, progressive environmental degradation, and the related loss of agricultural land, vertical farms can be seen as an alternative to traditional agriculture. Woven into the blue-green infrastructure of cities, they may not only constitute a base for food production, but can also create a new valuable ecological, social, and economic hub in contemporary cities, changed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of this paper is to show whether it is possible to introduce various functions which support ecosystem and social services, and whether they affect measurable benefits for urban residents in a large-scale system of solutions in the field of vertical urban agriculture. This research shows that urban vertical farms can perform many functions and bring diverse benefits to the inhabitants of cities. In a multi-scale system, they allow for the creation of patchwork connections, which stabilise a specific city biome in the vertical space.

Keywords: urban vertical farming; nature-based solutions; multi-functional vertical farms; green roofs; green facades (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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