Feb 19, 2012

6 notes

Recently, I got a question about vertical urban farming in Hong Kong, from Paul at everydayhybridity.

And I have to say, it is actually a tough question to answer. Now, I’m posting here a video where the “father” of vertical farming, Dickson Despommier, explains the whole thing in about 2 min (I especially love his example of stacking Apple Stores to make a vertical greenhouse). But, as for Hong Kong, the question has many sides. The architectural visions of vertical farming seem usually more technical excercises than simply farming on balconies or rooftops, which reportedly happens in HK too, though in the light of statistics, the city is a major importer of food stocks, in addition to having regular food safety scares from mainland China.

But as the CNN’s report says, farming has not been very popular in money-driven Hong Kong. And in this aspect, the Apple Store example is quite fitting. It might be more likely in HK to see hi-tech crazy expensive green towers (such as these), than have an urban farming strategy being introduced. Though, I would guess that once the home-grown organic continues to become fashionable, the middle-class will eventually start to accessorize accordingly.

However, Hong Kong certainly has many spots where verticality meets green. And, people seem to just love their plants, judging from the amount of fabulous flowerpot arrangements outside many apartments. But as an answer to the original question, I promise to keep my eyes open.

Blog comments powered by Disqus

  1. mikasavela posted this
About
Research & practice in the urbanity.
info(at)mikasavela.com Subscribe via RSS.