Supporting Advanced Agriculture


SUNQIAO URBAN AGRICULTURE DISTRICT SHANGHAI, CHINA


As one of Asia’s most dynamic megacities, Shanghai is actively encouraging innovative solutions to provide food for the region. Unlike Western examples of corporate farms located at great distances from cities, smaller scale agriculture dominates Shanghai’s peri-urban landscape. This progressive approach has historically allowed the growing metropolis to carefully manage agricultural resources while also ensuring greater agricultural biodiversity. Like other cities in China, however, rapid growth is threatening this long-established system, resulting in a significant loss of agricultural land within city limits. Sunqiao— with its new approach to urban agriculture—seeks to shift the paradigm. The plan for the district focuses on the integration of vertical farming systems in conjunction with research and public outreach. The result is an interactive, playful, and socially-engaging experience that presents urban agriculture as a dynamic living laboratory for innovation and education.


Shanghai is the ideal context for vertical farming. Like many global cities, land prices are high, which makes building up rather than out the economically prudent choice. Even more significant is the Shanghainese diet, which typically consists of up to 56 per cent of leafy greens. Leafy greens thrive in hydroponic and aquaponic growing systems, making them an economical and efficient option. With a robust public realm that merges indoor and outdoor agricultural experiences, the Sunqiao experiment presents a new idea for urban life by celebrating food production as one of the most important functions of a city. Sunqiao addresses Shanghai’s increasing demand for locally-sourced food while educating a new generation of urban children about where their food comes from.


11 Shanghai is actively encouraging innovative solutions to provide food for the region and Sunqiao is one such experiment


Image courtesy of Sasaki 20 FUTURARC


11


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119