Eat Up: Vertical Farming in Sustainable Cities

Adrian Silver

Columbia University
Contemporary Urban Issues
Professor Kathryn Yatrakis
5/6/14

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Eat Up: Vertical Farming in Sustainable Cities
Look at a satellite image of the Earth a night: It will reveal the shimmering lights of cities
flickering below, but also an ominous pattern. Cities are spreading like a cancer on the planets
body. Zoom in and you can see good cells and bad cells at war for control Cities are the true
daily test of whether we can build a better future or are heading toward a dystopian nightmare.
-Parag Khanna, Beyond City Limits (2010)
Introduction What is Vertical Farming?
Farming is historically antithetical to the urban setting. Taking place in rural scenes, the
prototypical farm sprawls out in pastoral landscapes for miles on endit is often thought of as
idyllic and an extension of nature (Figure 1). Cities are imagined as dense, chaotic farragoes of
human technology and activityconcrete, artificial, and not natural in any sense of the word.
In reality, however, farming is just as much of an artificial human invention as cities and
skyscrapers are (Germer 2011, Despommier 2014). Photosynthesis and germination are
processes that have existed well before man, but seed selection, irrigation, and harvesting are all
human ways of harnessing plants. Thus there is little inherently natural about farming. In fact,
the mismanagement of this invention has resulted in soil infertility that has led to several
societies demise due to fractured food supplies (Despommier 2014). Some even argue that
agriculture is the worst mistake in the history of the human race, giving rise to social and
sexual inequality, disease and despotism (Diamond 1987).
As the new field of urban agriculture has emerged, though, our very definition of farming
has changed. Cities are now sites for reinventing farms: rooftop greenhouses, rooftop farms,
community gardens, and organopnicos1 are now ways of producing food far from rurality. A
part of the greater initiative of sustainability, urban agriculture tends to be implemented in crafty
and creative ways, taking advantage of underutilized spaces like rooftops. Vertical farming is a
1

Cubas unique way of organic urban farming, birthed out of necessity after the Soviet Unions
collapse.
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relative newcomer to the fields of urban agriculture and sustainability. Widely credited to
Columbia professor Dickson Despommier, the novel conceit (only birthed in 1999) is to
substitute structure for land in the space-scarce environment that is the city.
Vertical farming (VF) is defined as the concept of cultivating plants and/or animal life
within skyscrapers or on vertically inclined surfaces (Despommier 2010). Simply put, vertical
farms are multi-story greenhouses. These skyscrapers grow food by means of hydroponics2, a
technology that eliminates the plants need for soil or fertilizer by suspending them in a medium
such as sand or gravel and feeding them with nutrient-rich water. VF is one technique within the
greater industry of controlled environment agriculture (Gordon-Smith 2014). In concept, each
component of VF is already in place: greenhouses can be configured to recycle nutrients and
wastewater, produce their food hydroponically, and use renewable energy to create selfsufficient, closed-loop systems (Figure 3). However, VF combines all of these processes in one
place: a VF requires a fluid delivery system (i.e., hydroponics or aeroponics), specialized LED
lighting, a regulated environment, waste and water management, food processing, and even
aquaculture in some cases (Figure 4). The challenge lies in integrating these technologies: there
is still much research to be done in mastering the synergy among them and designing a structure
that utilizes them together efficiently and effectively.
VF addresses many of the critical issues of sustainable development in cities today. Its
many benefits include: year-round crop production; reduced agricultural runoff; fewer food miles
(and thus less fossil fuel dependence/consumption); avoided crop loss due to shipping, storage,
or weather events; more efficient and less net water use; and finally, jobs for local residents. In
short, VF promises to provide more food while using fewer resources. However, since it is a
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Some models use aeroponics, a technology that suspends the plant roots in the air and uses a
nutrient-solution spray to grow them.
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largely unproven conceptthere has only just begun to be vertical farms established across the
globe3 (Banerjee 2012)some critics have challenged the feasibility of vertical farms,
dismissing them as a fanciful conceit limited to the drawing board (Alter 2010, Cox 2012,
Kretschmer 2011, Proefrock 2009). Indeed, many artists renderings and architects designs seem
futuristic and farfetched (Figure 6). However, as successful projects begin to sprout up (Figure
5), even some skeptics have changed their minds (Alter 2011).
While many speculate about the future of VF, more seems to be said than donethere
remain many questions to be answered: will the farms be built from the ground up, or will they
be built in abandoned lots and warehouses? Will they be built in blighted areas in the city or
should they be located in nearby peri-urban areas? And what kinds of VF will be usedones
with artificial or natural lighting, with aquaculture or just plants, and with aeroponic or
hydroponic methods? What kinds of crops will be produced: microgreens to increase the revenue
and to cater to a wealthier clientele, or high-calorie foods to ameliorate food security? The
optimal vertical farm has yet to be determined in theory, let alone built.
This paper examines the role of vertical farming in cities through the lens of sustainable
development and its three pillars (environment, economy, society). VFs interrelated nature cuts
across many arease.g., environmental issues, new business structures, and town-city
relationships (Specht et al. 2014). Using the theory and case studies from the colloquium
syllabus, this paper explores those overlapping areas and evaluates VFs potential. In the process,
this paper analyzes the various strengths and weaknesses of VF and weighs VF against its main
competitor (and the status quo), conventional agriculture. Finally, this paper provides the

The Association for Vertical Farming has an interactive map that lists many vertical farms. The
data are by no means comprehensive, since pilot projects are starting everywhere now.
http://vertical-farming.net/en/home/. Web. Accessed 3 Mar 2014.
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background information necessary to answer the pivotal questions: why is farming coming to the
city, why do we need vertical farming, and is it viable?

The Sustainable City A History of City versus Country

The notion of bringing farming and green space to the city is not new. The sustainable
city finds many of its roots in the Garden City. In 1902, Ebenezer Howard introduced his idea of
the Garden City, an urban planning concept involving self-sufficient cities being surrounded by
greenbelts (wild, undeveloped, or agricultural green space). The Garden City includes
Howards three-magnet concept that explains what the push and pull factors are that draw
people to the town (i.e., city) or country, reminiscent of the three-pillar model for sustainability.
The Garden City paved the way for what we call the sustainable city todayin his review of
Howards work Garden Cities of To-Morrow, author Brett Clark summarizes the conceit:
Ebenezer Howard advocated the construction of garden cities to reduce the alienation of
human society from nature. The social world was to be reorganized and integrated into
the surrounding environment to ensure sustainable interactions. In Garden Cities of Tomorrow, Howard provided an outline of a garden city that promised a clean environment,
free from air and water pollution, and an abundance of parks and open spaces. Social
production was organized for local demands with the goal of creating self-sustaining
communities, thus reducing the need for long-distance trade. Howard insisted that the
long-term sustainability of garden cities was founded on abiding by the law of restitution,
where all wastes were recycled back to the soil to ensure the continued productive
potential of the land. In this, Howards garden cities dissolved the divide between town
and country and provided a model for an ecologically sustainable society. (Clark 2003)
Clarks distillation of Howards philosophy essentially defines the sustainable city today. With
these criteria in mind, vertical farming seems to embody the values of the Garden City (and thus
the sustainable city). VF meets local demands and reduces long-distance trade, thus creating
self-sustaining communities; VF abides by the same law of restitution and recycles all wastes.
However, VF does not necessarily dissolve the divide between city and countryin fact, it

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turns the Garden City inside outVF swallows those greenbelts surrounding the city and spits
them back upwards. In this way, VF turns the idea of a Garden City on its head. Ultimately, both
still aim towards the sustainable city.
Howards invention of the Garden City implies that there was something lacking in the
city of the 20th century. Indeed, there washis urban planning sought to improve quality of life
for city-dwellers by providing sorely missed green space. Howard noted that there was a more
than just a divide between nature and manthere was a mutually destructive, exploitative
relationship at work (Clark 2003). He was hardly the first to notice the importance of agriculture,
however. In her article Can Mayors Save the World, author Emma Green cites Americas
founders who advocate for purely agricultural societies as early as 1787:
At the other end of the spectrum, agrarian idealists believed that the best political unit
was a small, lightly governed community. As Thomas Jefferson wrote to James Madison
in 1787, I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries, as long as
they are chiefly agricultural. That was before the industrial revolution, but even today,
many would argue that farmers markets and walkable communities are the most
powerful solutions to global warming. (Green 2013)
Perhaps Madison could not predict the vast extent to which America and the world would be
urbanized, but Green pinpoints the key component of his wisdom, which is that governments will
remain virtuous only if they can retain the principles of sustainabilitythe very same ones that
Howard espoused for his Garden City.
The baleful relationship between city and country has evolved into a conflict between
urbs and suburbs. In his article The City in the Future of Democracy, political scientist Robert
Dahl offers an explanation for how this urban-rural dissonance came about. He critiques the
American city as a hastily fabricated entity that has both invaded and simultaneously been
divorced from rural green space:

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We Americans have become an urban people without having developed an urban
civilization. Though we live in cities, we do not know how to build cities. Perhaps
because we have emerged so swiftly out of an agrarian society, perhaps because so many
of us are only a generation or two removed from farm and field we seem to lack the
innate grasp of the essential elements of the good city Our cities are not merely noncities, they are anti-citiesmean, ugly, gross, banal, inconvenient, hazardous, formless,
incoherent, unfit for human living, deserts from which a family flees to the greener
hinterlands as soon as job and income permit, yet deserts growing so rapidly outward that
the open green space to which the family escapes soon shrinks to an oasis and then it too
turns to a desert. (Dahl 1967)
Dahl supposes that cities failures stem from urban societys distance from farm and field,
implying that the essential elements of the good city can be found in the agrarian societyhis
guess echoes the agrarian idealist virtues expressed by Madison. While Dahls words were
written in 1967, many of his points still resonate with the suburbanization of America and its
perils. The stereotype still exists that the city is unfit for families: The traditional city no longer
is the place to be for families seeking a better life. In fact, housing, jobs, schools, and services
are worse in many central cities than they are in the neighboring suburbs (Rusk 2013). Indeed,
the inner city and ghetto are often used colloquially and interchangeably for an
impoverished neighborhood,4 contributing to the image of urban decay that shadows many
citiesjust like New York City, which was dubbed Fear City in the 70s during its fiscal crisis
(Greenberg 2008). Poverty and wealth have never been so intimateinequality now looks
different than it used to in this way: Instead of being stranded in sprawling ghettos, the poor are
confined to islands of deprivation, encircled by oceans of prosperity (Davidson 2014).
However, other scholars view suburbanization as a plague to the good city; sustainability
advocates like authors Birch & Wachter claim that suburban sprawl is now itself seen as a
prime contributor to ill health (Birch & Wachter 2008). At any rate, regardless of cities quality
4

Though now we know from observation that this is equally false as it is true. For example, the
poorest neighborhoods in NYC are ones far from midtown, and, in other cities, far from what is
the geographical center (e.g., banlieues outside of Paris).
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of life relative to suburban or rural places, they have no doubt resulted in the desertification of
hinterlands (another word for rural land). On this, authors concur.
To sum up, cities cannot afford to distance themselvesboth literally and
psychologicallyfrom the resources they need or the waste they produce. VF can help achieve
both food security (remedying food deserts in cities) and food sovereignty (empowering the
consumers to define their own food systems) (Besthorn 2013, Germer 2011). VF sits at the nexus
of the issues of sustainable development, fusing together its three pillars: By combining
agricultural sciences and urban planning, [vertical farming] intersects the disciplines of ecology
and landscape planning, design and architecture, and economics and social sciences (Specht et
al. 2014). VF is a distinctly urban solution to the multifaceted global problem of how to feed the
world.

Environment
We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
Native American Proverb
The need for vertical farming can be summed up in a few words: in the near future, we
will have less food and more mouths to feed. Mankind is reaching its capacity on the planet: the
status quo will not be able to feed the expected world population of 9 billion+ in 2050. By then,
we will require 100% more food than we produce today (Tilman et al. 2002). In order to
accommodate this, the planet would have to cultivate a billion more hectaresroughly the size
of Brazil (Despommier 2014, Fischetti 2008). In addition, there is not enough arable land to
provide for the populations of the future: almost 15% of arable land is destroyed by poor
management practices (Plantagon 2014), and climate change induces more frequent extreme
weather events (i.e., droughts, monsoons, hurricanes, etc.), which reduce crop yields and destroy

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harvests. As for peoples place in this precarious global food system, a few figures demonstrate
the current food crisis and its ravages: about 842 million people are hungry; 165 million children
are stunted; 3.1 million children (45% of all deaths under 5) die from malnutrition each year
(90% in Asia and Africa); 1.46 billion adults are overweight or obese; we waste 30-50% of food
produced; and 50% of the world uses human feces as fertilizer for crops (UN WFP) (World Bank
2010). These figures describe the dire state of the planet and the dangerous future trajectory that
business as usual holds. While VF seems to be a suitable solution to many of these issues,5 it is
unreasonable to argue that it is the singular option; it can be effective in tandem with traditional
agriculture (defined as soil-based, horizontally grown, and outdoors). However, these facts
indicate that VF must be implemented in some way as soon as possible.
By 2050, seven out of ten people will live in urban areas (WHO). In an increasingly
urbanized world, the issues outlined above naturally become concentrated in cities. And while
cities can be championed as mans greatest inventionthey do save resources through density
and add to productivity through agglomeration effects (Glaeser 2011)their pressure on the
environment cannot be ignored. Urbanization and climate change are the defining phenomena of
this century, and they are inextricably linked; cities account for more than 70% of greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions globally (World Bank 2010). If managed properly, cities can improve
quality of life; if not, they pose significant social, economic, and environmental risks. In this
light, cities will be the battleground on which sustainable development will be fought.
The environmental dimension of sustainability is filled with much doom and gloom. The
environment is arguably the gravest and most pressing issue of the three pillars of sustainability.

For instance, VF eliminates the need for fertilizer with hydroponics (aka the nutrient film
technique)disease-causing pathogens contained in human fecal matter (often used in the
global South) would be less of a problem if VF were implemented.
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In their Global Agenda for 21st Century Cities, scholars Hall & Pfeiffer emphasize the most
salient issue between cities and the environment, concluding that the demise of humankind is at
stake: In every city there is concern with the depletion of non-renewable resources; negative
externalities arising from pollution and contamination; and, most potently, the threat of
fundamental and irreversible damage to the global ecosystem the third danger could
potentially lead to the destruction of the human race (Hall & Pfeiffer 2000). Indeed, the stakes
are the highest they can bebefore thinking of economic and social issues, the environment
needs to be addressed. Summarizing Howards Garden Cities, Clark explains the specificities of
the toxic relationship between city and country, deeming the cycle robbery; in this case,
Britains intensive methods of agriculture were doubly detrimental:
Food and fiber were shipped over long distances from the country to the city. As a
consequence, the nutrients of the soilsuch as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium
were transferred from the soil to the city, where they accumulated as waste and pollution
rather than being recycled into the soil. The soil continually was depleted of its necessary
nutrients, decreasing the productive potential of nature. The degradation of the soil led to
a greater concentration of agriculture among a small number of proprietors who adopted
even more intensive methods of production, including artificial fertilizers. (Clark 2003)
This feedback looppositive in reinforcement but negative in valencehas resulted in the fall
of several societies; Mesopotamia and Meso-America are two salient examples in world history
(Hillel 1992). In a growing world, however, those externalities from pollution that Hall &
Pfeiffer mention no longer merely impact immediate communities; they affect the world on a
significant scale: Agricultural lands occupy 37% of the earths land surface. Agriculture
accounts for 52 and 84% of global anthropogenic methane and nitrous oxide emissions (Smith
et al. 2007). Much of that agricultural produce predictably is shipped to cities.

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As it stands now, the city is a parasite. Despommier views the city as an organism within
an ecosystem. His background as a microbiologist enables him to offer this unique and insightful
metaphor, where he explains how cities are running on the clock, so to speak:
The city is parasitic with regards to the environment. It doesnt manufacture anything it
simply uses up everything and then discards what it doesnt need. Ecosystems make their
own food. They process their own water. They live within their energy means A city
can behave exactly the same way; but it has to start with the same premisethat you
have to make your own foodyou cant depend on the environment around you My
future city is based on those ecological principles of a balanced ecosystem. (Economist
2010)
Cities are thus borrowing from the future. This principle of parasitism is critical in
acknowledging the citys dependence on land far outside its boundaries, which is the first step
towards living within sustainable means. Within this framework, the urgency of actualizing
sustainable cities becomes apparent; of course, eventually the lands resources and the
ecosystems services will expire:
Parasites kill their hosts. Cities also die because they parasitize too muchthey dont
maintain a give-and-take relationship with the landscape. So how can you turn a parasite
into a symbiont? Parasites eventually realize that if you want to sustain yourself, you
need to keep your host alive, or else youll die too. Cities need to see themselves as
parasites and the landscape as the host. (NYAS 2014)
The ties between the city and its life systems are, for the most part, invisible. Most city-dwellers
do not know where their food comes from, or where their waste goes. Few New Yorkers can say
that their water comes from the Catskills and Croton Reservoir. Furthermore, the vast complexity
of the global ecosystem and global economy in which cities operate is nearly incomprehensible.
Without considering the sociological implications of this alienation, such a divorce from life
systems has resulted in self-destructive habits, whether conscious or not: for instance, the meat
industrys profligate water consumption and GHG emissions (Cassidy 2013). Meat productions
intensive carbon footprint is unknown to many city-dwellers because they cannot directly see it.

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Something can be said for placing a skyscraper of food within eyesight of the city-dweller,
besides the obvious benefit of increasing accessibility to fresh produce and thus encouraging
healthier diets. VF can also contribute to energy savings since locally grown food reduces the
need for transport and refrigeration requirements significantly and improves the shelf-life of
perishable products (World Bank 2010). By making ones very life source visible and viscerally
close, VF promises to galvanize constructive action and cultivate sustainable behaviors.

Society
While the environment may be the most immediate and urgent issue, it is inextricably
connected to the social aspects of sustainability. Socioeconomic issues directly hinder
environmental remediation and protection: In the developing cities poverty is the greatest threat
to achieving a good environment (Hall & Pfeiffer 2000). VF, like all forms of urban agriculture,
offers many social benefits. By increasing the proximity of food to people, VF improves
education, nutrition, psychological health, and food securitya World Bank report elaborates:
Social benefits of improved urban agricultural practices include better health and nutrition as
well as increased livelihood opportunities for people living in and around cities Vertical farms
can utilize space in densely populated urban areas not only to provide income and easy access to
food but also to potentially decrease energy costs (World Bank 2010).
Food security, measured based on availability, access, and use of food (WHO), is a goal
of many citieseven developed, global cities have not yet achieved it. For instance, while New
York City can seem like a food paradise, it is in fact vulnerable to disaster. Hurricane Sandy
revealed the flaws of having all of New Yorks food warehoused sometimes more than 100
miles away, in places like Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, and in vastly bigger and more

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concentrated unitsin this system, one bridge or tunnel shutdown might delay countless
deliveries (Mahanta 2013). Thus climate-vulnerable cities are also food insecure to some extent.
Food deserts are a red flag for food insecurity, defined as places where fresh groceries are not
accessible to residentsmany neighborhoods in the South Bronx fall into this category. Food
deserts affect diet negativelyin Trenton, for example, where 40% of the population is obese
and result in significant costs to the public, such as in Camden where 13% of the population is
responsible for 80% of the citys health care costs (obesity causes diabetes and hypertension,
which require intensive care) (Blumgart 2012). The issues of health and food deserts are also
inextricably linked with race; 52% of Trenton is African-American. Because the poverty and
inequality of central cities are rooted in race, the issue is inherently social. Food deserts represent
the poverty that Dahl and Rusk discuss in their criticism of American cities. VFs solve both food
insecurity and food deserts by providing hyperlocal food; in many models, the street-level
floor is used as a grocery store to sell the just-harvested produce (Banerjee 2013), and since the
food is produced in a controlled indoor environment, extreme weather events will not wreak
havoc on food supplies.
By acting as a one-stop shop for neighborhood improvements, VF can offer a better
quality of life without the displacement or loss of culture that is often associated with
gentrification. In his challenge of gentrifications status as a dirty word or third rail topic,
author Justin Davidson tries to dispel its negative connotationsand it is no coincidence that he
emphasizes food as a significant driver of positive change: Communities fight for basic
upgrades in quality of life, and when theyre successful, their food options and well-kept streets
attract neighbors (and developers). It also works the other way A nice neighborhood should be
not a luxury but an urban right (Davidson 2014). Davidson mentions food options

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purposefully as an ingredient (pardon the pun) to a nice neighborhood, knowing it attracts
people.6 Just as the advent of Whole Foods stores represents the stamp of corporate approval for
a better neighborhood in the making, VFs could arrive with positive receptionespecially if they
were implemented by the community itself.
VFs social benefits also include education and aesthetic value. Many schools use green
roofs and rooftop greenhouses as living laboratories and classrooms to promote education
(Despommier 2014): in New York City, a few examples are the Fieldston School, NY Sun
Works Science Barge, and Barnards own Milbank Hallsoon even the Diana Center will open
as a green roof for students to enjoy (Bogler 2014). In this sense, VF should be supported in part
both by departments of education and departments of parks and recreation, considering that the
dual benefits of education and aesthetic value fall in line with these city organizations goals.
Vertical farms are skyscrapers filled with and sometimes even draped in vegetation
(Figure 6)a kind of visual green space. Green space promises to restore a sense of space and
nature in the city. The city is often called a concrete jungle for a reason; its hustle and bustle,
confined spaces, and immense density can sometimes tax the psyche of an urbanite. In his article
Fear of the City, author Kazin cites Olmsted, the designer of Central Park, in describing the
benefits of green space and the pitfalls of city-living: The main object [of Central Park] is
simply to produce a certain influence in the minds of the people and through this make life in the
city healthier and happier [The influence] is to be produced by means of scenes, through
observation of which the mind may be more or less lifted out of the moods and habits in which it
is, under the ordinary conditions of life in the city, likely to fall (Kazin 1983). Kazin chooses to
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Food venue optionsnamely, high-quality restaurants and grocery storesare integral

elements of a nice neighborhood, which in turn is a necessary to attract the people of Richard
Floridas so-called creative class, who want to try adventurous food experiences (Peck
2005).
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use the word escape, underscoring the latent (or perhaps conscious) mentality that the city is
something to flee as soon as possible, as Dahl depicts it. But just as scholars disagree over which
quality of life is betterurban or suburbanso too do scholars disagree on the effect of the city
on its inhabitants. Authors Logan and Molotch discuss the city as a growth machine,
maintaining that cities do not actually inflict social pathology on their dwellers: The idea that an
increase in numbers and density leads to severe social pathology has been, at long last,
thoroughly discredited (Fischer et al. 1975). We do believe, however, that size and rate of growth
have a role in creating and exacerbating urban problems such as segregation and inequality
(Logan & Molotch 2002). In turn, of course, segregation and inequality detract from quality of
lifebut Logan and Molotch fundamentally oppose Olmsteds idea that healthy moods and
habits fall prey to the city. In any case, VF could reverse this mentality and dispel the
bifurcation of urban chaos versus rural tranquility. While VFs may not provide the direct utility
of public space that Central Park might, they can offer this aesthetic value by means of scenes
and through observation. Thus the social benefits of VF are manifold: VFs can be not only be
an active solution to food security as well as an educational tool, but also can be admired and
enjoyed more passively as part of the urban spectacle.

Economy
In defining sustainability, authors Hall and Pfeiffer define the social dimension as the
inclusive city with supportive neighbourhoods and integrative labour markets (Hall & Pfeiffer
2000). Social equity is thus intrinsically bound up with the economic aspect of sustainability. By
creating local jobs, VFs stimulate neighborhood economies. However, VFs economic potential
does not end there: VF presents economic opportunity for entrepreneurship and tourism, as well

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as other unexpected ancillary benefits. Despommier posits that value-added industries would
spring up around vertical farms according to their produce:
What if you had a vertical farm that specialized in one crop (corn, rice, wheat) imagine
the ancillary industries that would spring up around these farms in an urban setting to
employ even more people. From wheat, you can make flour; from flour, bread; you can
make cupcakes and fresh-baked items, and it all comes from that building. (VerticalFarm
2014)
Entire neighborhoods could be shaped by these vertical farms and their produce. In an
imaginative future, one can envision a New York filled with neighborhoods named Kale
Corner and Avocado Alley instead of SoHo or Morningside Heights. VFs economic
advantages tie into the education and tourism aspects of VFs social benefits: The celebration of
local growth continues to be a theme in the culture of localities. Schoolchildren are taught to
view local history as a series of breakthroughs in the expansion of the economic base of their city
and region, celebrating its numerical leadership in one sort of production or another (Logan &
Molotch 2002). VFs would thus become focal points for local pride.
Since VFs can weave seamlessly into the social fabric of the neighborhood (as spectacles
for admiration and education), there is great potential for urban branding and thus tourismthe
first city to mint a host of vertical farms successfully will likely gain worldwide attention. And
since tourism impacts the urban form, so too can VF shape the way cities will develop. While
factories or production sites are not generally viewed as tourist attractions, a state-of-the-art
facility such as a VF can be multi-purposed, ranging from educational to artful: Tourism has
significant impact on urban form Whereas warehousing and goods production activities were
clustered around the ports of old industrial centers, luxury hotels and high-end residential
buildings usually line the waterfronts of contemporary tourist cities The city center belongs to
affluent visitors rather than to residents, resulting in the exclusion of working-class residents

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from the core (Judd & Fainstein 1999). By discussing the tourism industrys effect of
segregation, authors Judd & Fainstein echo Logan and Molotchs point that economic
development often begets inequality. However, since VFs can be replicated, they would not
create the same unique and concentrated hotspot that many tourist attractions do (like Midtown
Manhattan or the Statue of Liberty, for example); there would be no exclusion of workingclass residents from the core since there would be no core in the first place. Judd & Fainstein
also enter conversation with other authors in portraying the city center as an affluent place as
opposed to a place to flee as soon as job and income permit (Dahl 1967); this stance is
diametrically opposite to the perspective of cities as food deserts and places of poverty presented
earlier.
VF is also rich opportunity for entrepreneurship. VFs do not all need to be built from the
ground up. It would suit cities well if resourceful leaders spearheaded projects to retrofit existing
spaces such as abandoned warehouses into greenhouses. Indeed, while space is scarce in the city,
it is far from optimally used.7 Recalling VFs definition as the concept of cultivating plants
and/or animal life within skyscrapers or on vertically inclined surfaces, VF does not necessarily
need to be conducted in skyscrapers. The vertically inclined surfaces seen at Nuvege in Japan
(Figure 5) are possible systems to implement in unused spaces so that buildings need not be
razed. Considering the great expense (not to mention waste) of demolishing buildings, VF offers
a doubly productive opportunity in its benefits plus the cost avoided (EcoEng 2004). At any rate,
the need for existing infrastructure will dwindle as self-contained, ready-to-deploy technologies
come into the market (Figure 7). For instance, a patent-pending technology called VOHS
7

For example, an interview with professor Stuart Gaffin, an expert on green roofs, claims there
is a total roof space of 22x the area of Central Park (which is a 841 acres) in New York City.
Most of it is not used as effectively as it could be (e.g., for green roofs or other purposes). 596
Acres also lists the waste of public vacant lots, though it is a much less total area than roofs.
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(Vertically Oriented Hydroponics System) was just recently set up in a former Pfizer warehouse
in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (NJIT 2014). Finally, an even more established example of the
reclamation of unused city spaces is the Plant in Chicago (Figure 5): a former meat packing plant
is now an off-the-grid vertical farm due to the innovation of a single man, John Edel (CockrallKing 2012). Since there is no one-size-fits-all model for VF (each abandoned space is different),
it would seem as if these projects were all one-offs that are impossible to replicate: Developing
sustainable food-sheds means something different in downtown, ghetto, and suburban
environments, and in high-wealth versus low-wealth communities (Birch & Wachter 2008).
However, in the same way that mayors use special local knowledge to create solutions within a
greater framework of analysis or suggested plan of action, so too do entrepreneurs find ways to
implement VF with similar patterns.
Economics also overlap with the environment: for instance, one type of abandoned space
is brownfield, which is former industrial or commercial land where future use is affected by
environmental contamination. Brownfield sites pose a threat to public health and are often
expensive to clean up: The successful cleanup and redevelopment of brownfield sites depends
on financial incentives. In addition, brownfield redevelopment occurs as a partnership between
public regulatory and funding agencies on the one hand, and private investors, developers, and
neighborhood groups on the other (Birch & Wachter 2008). While brownfield sites present
great opportunity for public-private development (PPD), they require far more resources and
attention to fix, and for this reason are often ignored: Developers find it far more profitable to
build in farmland in the suburbs than in vacant land in the core. Its easier to acquire big sites
without worrying about hidden basements, or gas stations, or a reputation for violence, or
corruption, or inefficiency or the potential racism of your customers (Segal 2013). It is for this

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reason why cities like Detroit need entrepreneurs like Dan Gilbert to defibrillate the heart of the
city instead of taking the easy out by expanding outwards. But there are not enough private
investors with such large amounts of capital who have the same social conscience that Gilbert
does; thus governments need to subsidize and facilitate the resuscitation of vacant lots. With
tools such as urban growth boundariesproven to be effective with exemplars like Portland
governments can prevent developers from constantly growing out instead of upwards, thus
mitigating urban sprawl.
While VF embodies these economic opportunities, the economic climate (i.e., free
market) is more inhospitable to VF than it is conducive. The greatest roadblock is making the
industry commercially viable; commercial vertical farms are rare because the up-front
investment is so high and much R&D still needs to be done for profitable performancethey do
exist, though, such as Sky Greens in Singapore (Figure 5). VF fits in the broader scheme of
urban development: someone needs to sell the real estate to the vertical farmer, whether its a
private party or the government: Urban development policies are formulated at the juncture of
local politics and the international marketplace. While city governments may be constrained,
they are also active managers of development strategies. They play a critical role by mobilizing
resources, exercising policy choices, and bargaining over capital investment (Kantor & Savitch
2004). Kantor & Savitch make a similar point to Barber in his If Mayors Ruled the Worldboth
emphasize the power of local politicians because they see the way issues like climate change
actually play out on the ground (Green 2013). Thus city governments can either expedite or
hamstring the implementation of VF depending on their policy choices.
Howard created the Garden City on principles of communism to avoid this conflict of
public versus private goals: The public, having ownership of the land, would have the power to

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determine what industries were allowed to operate within their cities and under what
circumstances they would be allowed to operate Howard advocated a rational, scientific,
industrious society in which people held control over the means of production through public
ownership of the land and the internalization of social wealth (Clark 2003). Yet we do not live
in Howards ideal society. Because of the capricious nature of politics, then, VFs future success
is largely at the whim of government. Columbias Steven Cohen offers a solution, encouraging
individual independence as opposed to reliance on the public sector: While government can
encourage, set boundaries, and educate, real change is nearly always a reflection of
entrepreneurial self-interest. A system built on the profit motive makes things happen (Cohen
2010). Cohen pinpoints the reality that public-private development will be the road to success of
any industry in the cityVF will require the cooperation of many parties in order to come into
fruition.

Viability Politics, Implementation, and Roadblocks

While we have reviewed VFs role in society, economy, and environment, we have not
addressed how realistic VF is and whether it will be implemented on a significant scale. Politics
are integral in realizing VF on a substantial scale. In order for VF to become financially feasible,
local governments need to encourage private investment in R&D, as well as build VFs
themselves. Because the majority of projects are in the pilot stage, a critical issue is that
investment costs are too high (Specht et al. 2014). As iterated before, governments can create the
necessary incentives for building VFs: Although local government have only limited control
over the marketplace, they use public power to engage it. They do so whenever land is recycled,
development rights are granted, housing is built, taxes are collected, or capital is borrowed

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(Kantor & Savitch 2004). By proactively executing these policy tools, governments can curb
VFs steep learning curve. The amount of public vacant lots available is one example of VFs
potential: in NYC, there is over 432 acres of public vacant space, which is over half the size of
Central Park (596 Acres 2014). In his study of urban politics, author Paul Peterson elaborates on
how city governments can and do actively choose which activities to favor in their economy:
[Local governments] can even offer public land free of charge or at greatly reduced prices to
those investors they are particularly anxious to attract. They can provide a context for business
operations free of undue harassment or regulation. For example, they can ignore various external
costs of production, such as air pollution, water pollution, and the despoliation of trees, grass,
and other features of the landscape (Peterson 1981). In this case, VFs success largely depends
on how well governments can manage and regulate the carbon trading market (Cockrall-King
2012). As the environment section explained, the current mess of the world is in large part due to
the failure to internalize externalitiesthe cheapest foods are cheap because they do not reflect
the cost of transportation and climate change embedded in them.
South Korea is one example of a nation that has taken the technology into its own hands;
they have constructed a three-story pilot project in Suwon in order to learn the intricacies of VF
before scaling up (Figure 5), hoping to render the program commercially viable. It is no accident
that South Korea is one of the countries aggressively testing out VF; it is a small country, ranked
fifth from last in food security (Kretschmer & Kollenberg 2014). VFs market lies in three
primary places: first, in the Middle East, where arable land is exceedingly scarce; second, in
smaller countries such as South Korea, where land itself (arable or not) is scarce; and third, in
climate-vulnerable countries like the Netherlands, where food security is threatened by extreme
weather events (Banerjee 2013). Yet the countries that stand to benefit the most from VF (the

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global South with its food insecurities and climate vulnerabilities) and the countries that should
adopt it the most (the US as a giant consumer in the global agricultural food system) are not
trailblazingthe former because they lack the resources, and the latter perhaps out of apathy.
So what is holding these countries back? Community economic development, just as
much as PPD, is critical in realizing VF: after all, what initiative could a neighborhood rally
around more than a secure source of fresh food for years to come? Yet there is there no vertical
farm in NYC. In an interview with a project intern at New York City Economic Development
Corporation (NYCEDC) who is analyzing the cost-feasibility of VF in New York, the reasons
for VFs conspicuous absence in NYC were as follows: first, regulatory processes are
confusingthe process for meeting building and health codes is streamlined for restaurants, for
example, but not for a VF, since it needs to acquire a permit to sell produce as well (Chai 2014).
There is no knowledge industry on the topic of VF since it is still in the midst of being
researchedthere are no consulting firms who offer this service. 8 Only in the past two months
have a few research reports been released, and those cost several thousand dollars to purchase
(c.f. Supplementary Material), creating a significant barrier to entry for entrepreneurs. The other
reasons for VFs delayed implementation in NYC are simplerreal estate prices and energy
costs are high (Chai 2014).
In these ways, VFs future seems out of any single persons control. On the one hand,
optimists like Despommier are convinced that VF is now a movement, which will gain
momentum regardless of his action (Despommier 2014). On the other hand, critics maintain that
VF is at the mercy of global economics that until market pressures push incentives in the right
8

Interestingly, the greatest amount of knowledge capital actually is found in marijuana growers;
they have compiled the most R&D to date because they have been in the controlled environment
systems industry for so long and have made huge profits to support their research (Despommier
2014, Chai 2014).
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direction, VF will not replace current food systems (or even come into existence): Until the
movement cost of fuel to get cucumbers from Ohio to NYC or bananas from the Caribbean to
NYC is too high and more economic pressures are brought to bear on the displacement of where
food is grown to where food is consumed, I doubt vertical farms will happen (Buckell 2009);
Would a tomato in lower Manhattan be able to outbid an investment banker for space in a highrise? My bet is that the investment banker will pay more (Venkataraman 2008). Despite these
impediments, VF and the greater movement of urban agriculture has witnessed great success and
enjoyed much media attention (Cockrall-King 2012). In the chapter Growing Edible Cities of
Growing Greener Cities, contributing author Domenic Vitiello elucidates the role of mass action
in effecting transformational change: Decisions and actions at the level of individual households
and firms will help transform markets for food. Yet collective initiatives are arguably even more
significant, as they will enable the effective management of the broader restructuring of food
systems (Birch & Wachter 2008). In other words, supply will shape to demandin order for
VF to become vogue, consumer habits need to change. The reverse is also trueif the supply is
appealing, the demand will conform to it:9 [The vertical farm] also has to be stunning in terms
of the architecture, because it needs to work in terms of social marketing You want people to
say, I want that in my backyard (Venkataraman 2008).

Steve Jobs words spin this notion in a business perspective: People dont know what they
want until you show it to them.
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Conclusions and Further Questions
Industrialized agricultures dependence on fossil fuels is unsustainable. Rising energy costs
and expected declines in oil production are not the only causes: oil- and gas-based fertilizers
and pesticides have also depleted the worlds soil fertility. The solution lies in localizing food
production at the regional scale and shifting to organic farming methods that revive soils and
conserve water. Growing greener cities thus requires growing more of what we eat locally and
regionally (Birch & Wachter 2008).
This paper has expounded on the social, economic, and environmental benefits of VF in
moving towards sustainable cities, along with its drawbacks and obstacles. Much of this analysis
is speculative, though, exploring merely the possibilities of VF from different angles using urban
theories. As VFs continue to proliferate across the world, scientists will hone VFs technologies
and politicians will discover new applications and advantages, as well as new difficulties.
Further effective research must be learned by doing, such as in South Korea. The purview of this
paper cannot cover all questions; a few closing questions and areas of exploration remain.
The foundational ethos of urban agriculture is what underpins VFby localizing food
systems, VF mitigates the influence of globalization and reduces the dependency of cities on
land far removed from their own: The slogan Think Globally, Act Locally holds considerable
relevance for cities involved in greening efforts (Birch & Wachter 2008). Many argue that the
nation-state has failed, and that the logical solution is glocalizationa self-evident neologism
which mayors embody as they perform a balancing act between local and federal governments
(Green 2013). Just as VF turns the idea of the Garden City inside out, VF can redefine the
nation-state; since VF renders the city more autarkic, the city almost resembles a nation-state in
its self-sufficiency. This is one topic that could be explored further.
One author described a nice neighborhood as an urban right and others define basic food,
health, and water as basic human rights. In this light, to what extent could VF and food systems
be considered a public service, just as transportation or education? Will VFs indeed be

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implemented through PPD, and if so, how? What kinds of VFs will be built? There are many
kinds of VFs; each has a different goal/focus. There are trade-offs for each kindfor example,
VFs that build microgreens (basil, wheatgrass, sprouts) will lead to larger revenues, but they will
not be increasing food security or improving environmental problems in significant ways.
Finally, will these VFs eventually incorporate animals into ideas like Sty-scrapers or vertical
pig farms (MVRDV 2014), or will VFs only cultivate plants and eventually convince people to
change to vegetable-based diets?
In conclusion, Sharon Zukin synthesizes these ideas best in her philosophy of
authenticity: We cannot limit our efforts to buildings; we must reach a new understanding of the
authentic city in terms of people by creating new forms of public-private stewardship that give
residents, workers, and small business owners, as well as buildings and districts, a right to put
down roots and remain in place. This would strike a balance between a citys origins and its new
beginnings; this would restore a citys soul (Zukin 2010). If implemented with these virtues in
mind, VF would do just thisgive people not only the right to put down roots and remain in
place, but the ability and self-sufficiency to do so. Zukins words adeptly describe how VF
could be a gateway between a citys origins and its new beginningsperhaps VF will be the
key to restoring citys souls.

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Figures and Supplementary Material
Figure 1 Depictions of Rural vs. Urban Landscapes

The bottom pair of photos illustrates the stereotypical imagination of the country and city
respectively.
The top pair of photos demonstrates the paradigm shift in how we can and do farm now.
Traditional rural agriculture is increasingly industrialized, and urban space is increasingly
greened.
Photo credits:
Sauerborn, Joachim. Skyfarming: Multi-story food production to improve food security?
University of Hohenheim. PowerPoint presentation.
http://popupcity.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Brooklyn-Grange.jpg. Web. Accessed 2 May
2014.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hong_Kong_skyline_night_lights.jpg. Web. Accessed
2 May 2014.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/markdavis/1216237654/. Web. Accessed 2 May 2014.

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Figure 2 Ebenezer Howards Three Magnets Diagram

Ebenezer invented the three-magnet concept to explain what the various push and pull factors
are to draw people to the country or town (i.e., city) respectively.
Photo credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Howard-three-magnets.png.
Web. Accessed 4 May 2014.

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Figure 3 Key Processes Flow Chart: Plantagons PlantaSymbioSystem

This diagram illustrates the key processes involved in creating a closed-loop system for a
vertical farman extremely complex endeavor. A vertical farm would require collaboration
among experts in wastewater management, grow lighting fixtures, hydroponics, and HVAC.
This particular system is a registered trademark by a Swedish company, Plantagon.
Plantagon. Industrial Symbiosis. Web. Accessed 20 Apr 2014.
http://plantagon.com/urban-agriculture/industrial-symbiosis

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Figure 4 Key Processes Flow Chart

This flow chart demonstrates the many inputs and outputs of a hypothetical VF system.
Banerjee, Chirantan. Market Analysis for Terrestrial Application of Advanced BioRegenerative Modules: Prospects for Vertical Farming. MS Thesis University of Bonn, 2012:
33.

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Figure 5 Existing vertical farms:

(Clockwise: Suwon, South Korea; The Plant in Chicago; Sky Greens in Singapore; Nuvege in
Japan)
The vertical farms in action today are much more modest than the lofty designs often advertised
in journalism or press about VF. They are often small or medium-sized projects that progress
slowly.
Photo credits:
http://www.cityfarmer.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/suwon.jpg
http://www.chicagoloopster.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/brewery.jpg
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/09/business/eco-singapore-vertical-farm/
http://www3.jjc.edu/ftp/wdc12/jjurkiewicz/vfexistingdesign.html

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Figure 6 Architects renderings of hypothetical vertical farms:

(Clockwise: Vincent Callebauts Dragonfly in NYC, located on Roosevelt Island; Blake

Kuraseks Living Skyscraper in Chicago; Plantagons Helix Vertical Farm)
Photo credits:
http://vincent.callebaut.org/planche-dragonfly_pl07.html
http://blakekurasek.com/thelivingskyscraper.html
http://agritecture.com/post/17738148042/plantagon-is-an-innovative-vertical-farming

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Figure 7 Omega Garden Hydroponics Technology

This carousel design allows the light to be even and exactly the same distance from every plant.
In addition, the self-contained system utilizes geotropism, (the effect of gravity on plant
growth hormones called Auxins): if plants are continually rotated horizontally top to bottom,
these Auxins are evenly distributed throughout the plant aiding in plant growth and strength.
Photo credit: http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/omega-hydroponic-garden-gets-five-timesas-much-food-per-watt.html. Web. Accessed 7 Mar 2014.

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Supplementary Material
More designs of vertical farms:

http://www.verticalfarm.com/designs. Web. Accessed 21 Apr 2014.

Vertical Farming research reports for sale:

Vertical Farming, Plant Factory Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2014 to
2020. Wintergreen Research, Inc.: April 2014.
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/hfvr7n/vertical_farming
Like SWOTing a Fly: Knocking Down Vertical Farmings Hype. Lux Research: 28 Mar 2014.
http://www.giiresearch.com/report/lux299279-like-swoting-fly-knocking-down-verticalfarmings.html

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