Installing rooftop vegetable gardens for sustainable cities

From producing food to regulating water runoff, urban agriculture has a lot to offer. Scientists from INRA and AgroParisTech have shown that rooftop vegetable gardens are an interesting way to recycle urban waste, produce food, and retain rainwater. Their The challenges of making today's cities more sustainable are legion: waste management, food supplies, sensitivity to heatwaves and the risk of flooding linked notably to the impermeabilisation of soils. These issues are an invitation to re-think how cities are designed, and urban farming is one solution, among others, likely to foster ecological functioning and generate ecosystem services. But land constraints and the risk of urban soil pollution prevent such initiatives from being carried out. That's where productive rooftops come in; they are a key solution to developing urban farming and leaving more room for nature in cities. In order to evaluate the ecosystem services inherent to this form of agriculture, innovative and experimental gardens that put urban waste to good use were installed on rooftops.