The sky’s the limit for this space-saving initiative in the heart of the French capital.
It’s no secret that finding space for acres of farmland in the middle of a concrete jungle is an impossible task. But now, there might be a solution. The world’s largest rooftop farm – a promising step for urban agriculture – is currently under development, and it’s right on top of an exhibition centre called the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles.
This isn’t just your average roof, though. When completed, the farm will be about the same size as two football pitches, which should provide enough fresh produce to supply the local shops and hotels – that means that the farm’s carbon footprint can stay as low as possible. There’s even an on-site restaurant, and local residents can rent small plots to grow their own vegetables, too. Patricia, a local resident, said: “it’s difficult to find places where you can plant things in Paris, this is why this project is really useful. You don’t need to be an expert to grow things here. You just need to love plants and nature, to recreate your own little gardening space in the middle of a city, this is great.”
Innovation, resilience, and sharing – That’s the mantra of Agripolis, the company behind the project. They specialise in turning run-down urban areas and flat roofs into vibrant, green spaces that add some much-needed colour to the cityscape, whilst also promoting sustainable living. This definitely seems like a win-win scenario.
Vertical Veggies
Agripolis uses a unique method called ‘vertical farming’, which starts with completely hollow columns. Water enriched with organic nutrients is then pumped around them, and this means no soil, no pesticides, and less water is used in the growing process.
Julie, the project manager, says that “Paris needs this farm for three reasons: for environmental reasons, to teach people how to eat healthily, and also to educate and build a community.” She believes that COVID-19 provided an opportunity to rethink our approach toward the planet. “The pandemic made us all realise that the earth has a global balance, and for us it’s a call to go closer to nature. We wanted to be sustainable before but we did not realise how much we depended on supermarkets, on the global system, and the way it collapses, we should be ready to restart.”
Pascal Hardy, the founder of Agripolis, says that “The goal is to make the farm a globally-recognised model for sustainable production.” If all goes well, we might be seeing much greener cities in the years to come.
