Download Article

Join our upcoming conferences for groundbreaking insights and global collaboration!

Register Today
 Journal Article   Open Access   Published 
 Journal of Sustainability Outreach (ISSN 2435-7243)  Crossmark

Feasibility and community acceptance of modular urban farming in Singapore: Design, prototyping, and pilot testing  2025, 5 (1): 13-23  DOI 10.37357/1068/JSO/5.1.02

Barbara Ting Wei Ang1, Yin Mei Fong1, David Tan2, Hui An1, Szu-Cheng Chien1, Chew Beng Soh1, Matteo Clementi3, and Valen-tina Dessi3

1Engineering Cluster, Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore 138683, Singapore

2Engineering Division, Netatech Pte Ltd, Singapore 469028, Singapore

3Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy

Food security is a growing global challenge, intensified by urbanization and industrialization that encroach upon valuable agricultural land. In Singapore, a city-state with limited land and heavy reliance on food imports, ensuring nutritional self-sufficiency for its 5.9 million residents is an in-creasingly critical concern. This study investigates community attitudes toward the implementation of urban farming structures in residential areas and explores the feasibility of integrating space-saving farming solutions, such as urban, rooftop, and vertical farming, into Singapore’s urban land-scape. A survey conducted among local residents revealed a 73.4% positive outlook toward the concept of community urban farms, with respondents expressing strong support for the idea of localized food production. However, the survey also highlighted a significant gap in opportunities for residents to engage actively in the operation and maintenance of urban farms. Community in-volvement is a critical factor that influences the long-term sustainability and scalability of urban farming projects. These findings underscore the importance of developing strategies that foster and incentivize resident participation in these initiatives to enhance their success and viability. Based on the positive survey feedback, a modular urban farming unit was conceptualized and pro-totyped. With a focus on adaptable design and speed of installation, the designs focus on the inte-gration of agricultural spaces with minimal to zero modifications required for existing architectures. In particular, Housing Development Board (HDB) rooftops in Singapore, often have uneven terrain. To optimize environmental conditions for crop growth, advanced design tools such as Revit BIM for architectural modeling, IESVE for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to optimize air-flow, and BIM HVAC for assessing lighting conditions were utilized to study the environmental con-ditions critical to crop growth. Following the successful digital prototyping phase, a physical proto-type was constructed at SIT@Dover campus, in Singapore. Between March and August 2023, Kailan and Bok Choy were cultivated, averaging an annual yield of 25.6 kg/m². A second prototype, optimized for maximum yield per floor area, was installed at the Oasis Living Lab between Septem-ber 2023 and February 2024, achieving a yield of 130.2 kg/m² per year. These results demon-strate the feasibility and adaptability of modular urban farming systems in high-density environ-ments. With supportive policies and collaboration among stakeholders, the widespread adoption of such systems can be realized in the near future.
 
  1. Singapore food statistics 2023 (2023) Singapore, Singapore, Singapore Food Agency (SFA). (https://www.sfa.gov.sg/docs/default-source/publication/sg-food-statistics/singapore-food-statistics-2023.pdf) Accessed: 17 February 2025
  2. RuiZhi C (2022) “Food supply of change & challenges: reminders from Singapore’s past agricultural transformations” The Food for Thought. (https://www.sfa.gov.sg/food-for-thought/article/detail/of-change-challenges-reminders-from-singapore-s-past-agricultural-transformations) Accessed: 17 February 2025
  3. Tatum M (2020) “Inside Singapore’s huge bet on vertical farming” MIT Technology Review (https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/10/13/1009497/singapore-vertical-farming-food-security/) Accessed: 17 February 2025
  4. Ichioka SM (2016) “Food security and community bonding in a globalised city-state: The case for urban farming in Singapore” Citygreen. (https://www.nparks.gov.sg/-/media/cuge/ebook/citygreen/cg12/cg12_food_security_and_community_bonding_in_a_globalised_city-state.pdf) Accessed: 17 February 2025
  5. Mir MS, Naikoo NB, Kanth RH, Bahar FA, Bhat MA, et al. (2022) “Vertical farming: The future of agriculture: A review” Pharma Innovation (vol. 11, no. 2S, pp. 1175–1195)
  6. William YE, An H, Chien S-C, Soh CB, Ang BTW, et al. (2022) “Urban-metabolic farming modules on rooftops for eco-resilient farmscape” Sustainability (vol. 14, no. 24, pp. 16885) https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416885
  7. Climate of Singapore (n.d.) Weather Information Portal (https://www.weather.gov.sg/climate-climate-of-singapore/) Accessed: 17 February 2025
  8. Lombardia A, Schroepfer T, Silva A, Banon C (2023) “Crop-centric agricultural potential of urban surfaces: A sunlight-based computational approach for food security” Proceedings of the 28th CAADRIA Conference Ahmedabad, India, CUMINCAD - pp. 573–582. (https://papers.cumin cad.org/ cgi-bin/works/paper/caadria2023_27) Accessed: 17 February 2025
  9. Know 10 leafy vegetables (2025) (https://www.nparks.gov.sg/-/media/nparks-real-content/gardening/gardening-resources/what-to-grow/know-10-leafy-vegetables-%28printable%29.ashx?la=en&hash=FF2F16D64ED6C9FC91F2AB460F9BF174EDEE5CFD) Accessed: 17 February 2025
  10. McDougall R, Kristiansen P, Rader R (2019) “Small-scale urban agriculture results in high yields but requires judicious management of inputs to achieve sustainability” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (vol. 116, no. 1, pp. 129–134) https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1809707115
  11. Faust JE, Logan J (2018) “Daily light integral: A research review and high-resolution maps of the United States” (vol. 53, no. 9, pp. 1250–1257) https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI13144-18
  12. Zhou J, Li P, Wang J (2022) “Effects of light intensity and temperature on the photosynthesis characteristics and yield of lettuce” Horticulturae (vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 178) https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8020178

The authors acknowledge the funding support by (i) Singapore Science and Technology Cooperation R22I0IR116 and (ii) under the Singapore Food Story (SFS) R&D 621 Pro-gramme first Grant Call (Theme 1 Sustainable Urban Food Production) Award SFS_RND_SUFP_ 001_09.