Dickson Despommier, a Canadian futurologist, has been promoting the concept of high-rise “vertical” farms within cities for many years.
Vertical faming is a very appealing idea in theory but, according to a 2013 French-made documentary, the average cost of the produce from such a farm would be about E12 per kilo. It was not specified whether that price was ex-farm or retail – or even what fruit or vegetable – but if that sort of cost is anywhere near the truth, then vertical farms are clearly not going to be competitive. The cost of buildings such as those above, especially if in a central city location, would be enormous and its easy to imagine how much more income could be extracted from renting offices and apartments than growing lettuce and tomatoes. The big advantage of vertical farms – that they would occupy far less land and be close to the consumer – is negated by the economic reality that city land can be a thousand times more expensive per unit than rural farm land.
Oasis Cities will have deep foundations and, since there will be no need for a huge car park, these subterranean spaces will be looking for a good job
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