agriculture Review
Sustainability of Urban Agriculture: Vegetable Production on Green Roofs Stuart Alan Walters * and Karen Stoelzle Midden Department Plant, Soil, and Agricultural Systems, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +1-618-453-3446 Received: 21 September 2018; Accepted: 23 October 2018; Published: 25 October 2018
Abstract: The practice of producing vegetables on green roofs has been gaining momentum in recent years as a method to facilitate agricultural sustainability in urban areas. Rooftop gardens are becoming an important part of the recent rejuvenation of urban agriculture, and offers alternative spaces to grow vegetable products for urban markets. Green roofs create spaces for the production of vegetable crops, which then generate opportunities for integrating agriculture into urban communities. However, vegetable production activities on rooftops are currently minimal due to multiple challenges that must be overcome before widespread implementation will occur, and these are presented and discussed herein in great detail. Although intensive green roof systems (>15 cm medium depths) are thought to be most suited for vegetable production, the greatest potential for sustained productivity is probably through extensive systems (
