Asian rooftop gardens are an effective step towards sustainable living and building communities.
Residents of high rise buildings in Asia are creating apartment gardens and “bringing gardening to the masses” and relieving the “monotony” of living in concrete.
People are growing:
- Trees in pots, including avocado, papaya and lemon trees in meter-deep troughs
- Lawn
- Vegetable
- Exotic species such as African violets, bromeliads, pitcher plants, orchids, ylang ylang
Eighty-two percent of Singapore’s 4.5 million people live in tower blocks built by the government Housing Development Board with the rest either in high-rise private condominiums or private houses. In April 2007, Singapore, the “garden city,” unveiled its first “green” housing estate with walls of cooling greenery incorporated into its architecture.
Beijing has pledged to add 100,000 square meters of roof gardens every year from 2007-2010.
Benefits
- People like being close to something living and natural like plants and fish
- People get together to swap ideas and plant cuttings
- A green image has been a selling point for property developers
- Reducing air and noise pollution
- Plants lower ambient air temperatures through evapo-transpiration, and by blocking heat from the sun with their leaves.
- From the scientific point of view, every plant produces a cooling effect. The rule of thumb is one degree less is a five percent energy saving.
