It’s space utilization that will
harvest a new crop of ideas
about urban living. In the con-
crete jungle, a patch of bounti-
ful greenery seems almost
contradictory.
Yet residents in a youth
apartment building in down-
town Shenzhen, Guangdong
province, have planted the seed
from which a new approach to
city living is growing, cultivating
an unusual lifestyle.
They till their own land, which
can be accessed just an elevator
ride away to the top of their build-
ing. There they grow vegetables
while socializing with other ten-
ants and taking in the city skyline.
Huang Suyun, 32, has seen
positive changes in her own life
since farming and other social
activities were introduced to the
rooftop of the youth apartment
building she has managed for
the past three years.
Huang gladly provides a sam-
ple of the farm produce she has
nurtured with her own hands
over the past three months. This
includes green beans, cucum-
bers, chilis and eggplants.
Additionally, the experience
of tending the gardens allows
people to make friends and get
to know others who either live in
the building or visit from outside.
For the space to plant, ten-
ants need to pay 300 yuan
($44) per square meter (10.76
sq. ft.) a year.
Those who do get to live a
double life as an urban farmer,
regularly watering, fertilizing
and managing their own green
patch, which off ers solace and
some rural charm high above
the traffi c and bustle of the city.
Over the past few months,
since the rooftop green space
opened, about 20 people have
claimed their spots.
Events such as open-air
performances are staged on
weekends, drawing in residents
from the neighborhood who
may have the seed of a similar
idea planted in their own mind.
The rooftop garden is one of
10 community gardens whose
construction was initiated by
the urban management depart-
ment with the city’s Nanshan
district last year.
The other gardens are mostly
on the ground close to the
streets. The rooftop garden is
the only fl oating green land and
has turned out to be a success,
bringing young people together
and enhancing their sense of
community.
It is open to the public in the
daytime, visitors needing only to
register at the reception on the
fi rst fl oor to get access.
The rooftop idyll covers 4,840
sq. ft. and consists of a sightsee-
ing zone, a shaded leisure area
and the urban farming section.
“There’s space to exercise,
such as doing yoga at the
leisure zone, and then to walk
over to check the vegetables,”
says Xie Jing, an architect with
11 Architecture of Shenzhen, a
company that undertook the
project.
Xie’s company applied a
modular design. Her team had
more than 700 plastic logistic
containers, each customized as
a small plantation. They were all
colored green and then arranged
to create a variegated landscape
that is pleasing to the eye.
“The casing soil in the
container is very light, and
wouldn’t put too much of a
burden on the drainage system
of the roof,” Xie says.
Thanks to the container, the
roots of the vegetables do not
interfere with the roof’s water-
proof layer. The porous bottom
of each container is laid with fi l-With rooftop cultivation,
residents reap harvest
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Farming hits
the high life
Visitors enjoy time in a green space featuring vegetable patches in a high-tech park in
Bao’an district of Shenzhen, Guangdong province. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILYBY YANG FEIYUE
Residents take care of their crops.A performance is held marking the opening of a rooftop garden in Nanshan district,
Shenzhen, in December.tering layers of ceramic particles
and nonwoven fabrics.
“When too much water is
applied to the plants, or there
is heavy rain, the overfl ow can
be purifi ed and is discharged
through the original drainage
system of the building,” Xie says.
The shaded area is also an im-
portant part of the rooftop design.
“The summer is smoldering
hot in Shenzhen, and exposure
to the sun for 10 minutes will be
too much,” Xie says.
So the team brought in a
modular steel ceiling with solar
panels, which ensure both acomfortable respite from the
midday sun, while also harvest-
ing solar energy for residents.
As for the sightseeing area,
plants with small fl owers and
leaves, as well as thin branches
that wave in the breeze, were
chosen to create a soft and up-
lifting experience for visitors.
An increasing number of
urban residents at home and
abroad have started to seek a
social life that promotes environ-
mental protection and personal
health, which is good news for
sustainability and community ac-
tivity development, experts say.