A Landscape Architect by training, Rupert has worked across a wide range of disciplines including Strategic Planning, Masterplanning & Urban Design focusing on the strategic importance of Landscape and the City. As an Associate Director at Atkins, he is responsible for developing new design approaches to Landscape, Ecology & Creating Healthy Cities. In this talk Rupert explores trends in urban agriculture as well as propose some thoughts on new possible directions this might develop. Rapid urbanization has led our cities to have a dysfunctional relationship with the environment. What new safe agricultural industries will emerge from this new urban economy.

1. urban agriculture
“The Challenge of feeding the city of the future”
Green Drinks China, Shanghai, 22nd May 2014

2. rapid urbanisation
50% of the population live in cities

3. Space to feed Shangha
Shanghai
Popula-on
(2013
Census)
23,470,000
Land required to feed a person (FAO
1993) 2500 – 5000m2
Hectares required to feed shanghai
58,800 -
117,350km2
Land area of Shanghai 6,340.5km2
Density 3,800/km2

4. Approximate food per person per day 1250cm2
Approximate food for shanghai per day 30,625 m2
Typical 30 story residential building 42,000m2
Typical height of 30 story residential
building 105 – 120m
How much food do we consume?

5. What type of food should we provide?
Healthy Balanced diet
Weekly Consumed in
Shanghai
Cereals are 41.1% of consumption 12,586m2
Proteins are 19.2% of consumption 5,880m2
Vegetables are 39.7% of consumption 12,158m2

6. culture & trends
Exploring emerging technology & businesses taking on the challenge

7. Edible Estates is an ongoing initiative to create a series
of regional prototype gardens that replace domestic
front lawns, and other unused spaces in front of homes,
with places for families to grow their own food.
The sixteen gardens have been established in cities
across the world. Adventurous residents in each town
have offered their front yards as working prototypes for
their region.

8. • Where: Manhatten Warehouse Rooftop
• What: Vegetables, greens, herbs and flowers grown. Chickens and bees kept.
• Size: 6,000 square feet.
On the shoreline of the East River and with a sweeping view of the Manhattan skyline, Eagle Street Rooftop Farm is a
green roof organic vegetable farm.

9. • Where: London underground bomb shelter
• What: Fresh salad and herbs grown.
• Size: 2x 430m long tunnels
Zero Carbon Food is a commercial venture that utilizes underground
redundant space in order to produce leafy greens, herbs and micro-greens.
Grown using LED lights and a hydroponics system.

10. • Where: Hong Kong, 15th floor of a skyscaper
• What: Vertical Fish farm
• Size: 10,000 square feet
OceanEthix International Holdings Limited in New Territories district sells two
tonnes of fish to wholesalers each week. Also selling the technology of their
100% water recycling aquaculture system.

11. • Where: Germany, at the International Building Exhibition
• What: Algae powered building
• Size: 839 square meters
Natural, efficient and unique: the BIQ is setting new standards as the first building in the world to
have a bioreactor façade. Microalgae are cultivated in the glass elements that make up its “bio skin”.
These are used to produce energy, and can also control light and provide shade.
Algae Biofuel Facade

12. Water Quality: Shellfish and seaweed act as filters, drawing out nitrogen. While an important nutrient for
humans, excess nitrogen from agricultural runoff is creating ever-expanding dead zones in our coastal
waters. Kelp and oysters need nitrogen to grow, so act to restore water quality. Then, after we've soaked
up the nitrogen, we turn our kelp into liquid fertilizer for local organic farmers.
Biofuel: We’re working with a team of scientists and engineers to grow kelp biofuel. On our farm alone
it’s possible to grow up to 2000 gallons of biofuel per acre.
Restoring Habitat: The lines and cages function as artificial reefs, attracting over 150 species that
come to hide, eat and thrive.
Food Production:
3D Ocean Farming

13. A no-soil, vertical garden that grows everything from Swiss Chard to
green beans inside O’Hare Airport. Some of O'Hare's restaurants are
serving the garden's veggies to customers. O'Hare's veggies are
growing inside 11-foot-high plastic towers. The roots are suspended in
the air and fed a nutrient-rich water that trickles down through the
towers and then gets recycled.
O’Hare Airport Vertical Garden

14. Crickets Or Cultured Beef Anyone? 5 Proteins Of The Future
As global demand for meat increases, it’s clear that future protein
production will require incredible innovation. Our global population
is set to reach 9 billion by 2050, and both demand for meat and
meat prices are expected to double concurrently.
Today, nearly 1/5 of all greenhouse gases come from industrial
livestock production and roughly two thousand gallons of water go
into a single pound of industrial beef. But a new study from Oxford
University found that lab-grown meat would require just one percent
of the land and four percent of the water of traditional livestock
production.
Tiny Farms

15. some of our thoughts
How to scale up urban agriculture to meet the challenge.

16. Online Community Food Network
Online food market connecting local consumers with local growers.
Allows orders to be placed for produce as well as next year planting requests.

17. Infrastructure Farm
Taking public space for food

18. Façade Farm
Retrofitting our aging residential towers as farms to grow produce

19. Mechanical hoist
system
For harvesting kelp.
Kelp
Mussel
Creating of new shoreline habitat
Crabs
Fish
Waterfront Farms
Creating new eco-systems and sea-farms along the Bund.

20. Landscape Planning & Design
景观规 和景观设计!