Rooftop Urban Agriculture Design and Sustainability Benefits in Bangkok Area

Abstract

           Rooftop Urban Agriculture (RA) is one of many systems for optimizing the land for Agricultural production in major urban cities around the world. With varieties of practices, stakeholders, objectives, design considerations, and occurred benefits.
           This study focused on the design and the benefits of Rooftop Urban Agriculture in Bangkok Metropolitan Area (BMA). The method was ranging from reviewing related literature, choosing study areas and interviewing responsible staff. Then analyzed and compared acquired project information in terms of design considerations and sustainability benefits; comprise of social, environmental, and economic.
           Findings from Rooftop Urban Agriculture in BMA can be categorized into the built-in projects that came with the design of the buildings and the projects that installed later on. The design considerations consist of several issues such as site area examination, which is vital to have convenient access for long-term maintenance and having protection from wind and sunlight that conform to the building usage. In construction, the built-in projects show a better readiness in usage but the installed projects also held good examples of lightweight cultivation innovations. The design elements must be considered in terms of the suitability of the plant types; small shrubs, short-term vegetables, climbers and medium shrubs with building space and structure. Lastly, for maintenance, the project manager must hold a considerable knowledge of rooftop applicable soil maintenance, irrigation, and controlling of production quality and pests.
          The most visible Social benefit is for the projects to be the agricultural learning space for metropolitans and being the identity and knowledge representation area for the projects team members which largely are workforces from the supporting organizations. The evident Environmental benefits are to enhance landscape aesthetics and contribute to the conservation of energy, water usage, and waste management for the building. Finally, the prominent Economic benefits are to create a good public corporate image for supporting organizations and raise awareness for economical potentials of urban rooftops.