Vertical farming

A Columbia professor believes that converting skyscrapers into crop farms could help reduce global warming and make New York cleaner. It’s a vision straight out of Futurama—but here’s how it might work.

http://nymag.com/news/features/30020/

I love how "Wastewater taken from the city’s sewage system is treated through a series of filters, then sterilized, yielding gray water—which is not drinkable but can be used for irrigation. (Currently, the city throws 1.4 billion gallons of treated wastewater into the rivers each day.)" -this isn't just growing vegetables, it is an urban battery, taking waste and solar energy and producing food, clean water and electricity.

[mellow_hendrix]

What an awesome idea. Haha, brilliant

I swear I built this in one of the SimCity games.

[arno]

I would love to see one of these become a reality. It would enable us to build sustainable communities in the city. Also, being able to produce your food in a controlled environment should help you obtain superior quality food. i.e. control pests, sunlight, water, humidity etc. Maybe even grow out of season crops.

Here is a link to some other vertical farms:
http://www.verticalfarm.com/designs.htm

[milifestyle]

Wow... that actually looks achievable... I am seeing huge potential for third world countries...

[altyfc]

I had assumed that the proposal would be for existing tower blocks to become dual purpose but judging from this picture...



...it would appear that they might be being constructed solely for the purpose of growing crops. I can't see that becoming a reality any time soon on premium land.

[david16]

Interesting piece about a skyscraper farm in Toronto http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?storyID=7251

[fireandrain]

Wouldn't pollution interact with the quality of whatever is produced from such a farm in the middle of the city? I mean, I wouldn't put that thing in LA, but when any city has a few relatively windless days, things don't look or smell pretty.

[Richard]

It's not a new idea but it's still pretty cool.

Fascinating idea, I'm surprised it hasn't come up sooner.

It would depend on the foods grown -- the more space they take up, the less return received.