Rotterdam and The Hague more greenhouses are situated. In the metropolitan area Rotterdam-The Hague knows 44% ha of all Dutch greenhouses. The maps below show different thought experiments with rough calculations.
The greenport is the Netherlands are producing a lot of vegetables for North-West Europe. Due to technological development and rising productivity, consumers have been more disconnected with their food production over time. This have caused a lack of knowledge and love for our food. Innovations are needed to feed our growing population and to provide enough healthy food for everyone. Vegetables consumption is still very low in Europe and especially in the Netherlands. By connecting the greenports to our daily life, knowledge and love of our food can be brought back. Besides, could this reconnection play a role in stimulating vegetable consumption for healthier cities.
Greenhouses in Midden-Delfland
Between Rotterdam and The Hague the protected landscape of Midden-Delfland is situated. If we would fill this area with greenhouses we could build 3.100 ha of green houses. A rise of 37 % on national scale.
No greenhouses around Rotterdam and The Hague
If we put out all the greenhouses in the area near Rotterdam and The Hague. The amount of greenhouses will drop with 3.665 ha. Only 56% of all the Dutch greenhouses will be left over in other places in the Netherland. Since only 14% of all the greenhouses products is consumed inland. The country could still be “self-sufficient”.
Greenhouses on all our roofs
Another option is to place greenhouses on our roofs of all our buildings. For this we should know which types of roof are suited for this and a solution should be designed for the logistics.
Greenhouses in the harbour.
The port of Rotterdam is slowly transforming form a oil/harbour towards a container harbour. If all oil related industries will be gone in 2050, a huge amount of surface will be free. The harbour know 5.978 ha of usable land. If we would transform the whole harbour towards greenhouses It would mean a rise of 72% on national scale.
Greenhouses from Westland to the harbour.
Another option would be to relocate the greenhouses in the Westland to the harbour. If we remove the all the greenhouses in the area and build the same amount of greenhouses in the port of Rotterdam only 61% of the harbour would be flit with greenhouses.
To feed the whole Netherlands we need to have 131 time the Rotterdam as surface. To feed Rotterdam we need 4,8 De Rotterdams.
When stacking greenhouses will be affordable, the most efficient way would be to put a towers of greenhouses in the Westland. The Westland will be an area full of towers which would look similar to datacentres and mega stalls. A unhuman place will be created and the weak connection with food will almost vanish. However, it also could create a completely new way of living, which I will show the upcoming half year.
Artificial sun light and Stacking greenhouses
Technical developments have influents the process of food production in the greenhouses a lot. One of the recent developments is the artificial led lights. These light blue to pink led-lights send out the right amount of radiation for optimising growth. Although the investments of these light is still very expensive, it is more energy-efficient. Whenever, the greenhouses are not dependent of the sun, stacking greenhouses could be a serious development.
Design location
In my design I want to make a connection between the cities (centres) and the greenhouses. In the Image below an analysis is made for the possible locations.
The main criteria for a location is a balance between an (sub-)central location and a strong international connection.
I prefer to design for the pier of the Sluisjesdijk in the Waalhaven. At the moment it is functioning as an industrial zone, but there are plan to develop it towards housing. I see possibilities in exporting its food by water (Nieuwe Maas), train (Betuwe route) and motorway (A15).
Other possible option are:
- The Merwehaven en Vierhaven
- Binckhorst
-Area between Westland and The Hague
-Rotterdam The Hague airport
-City centre of The Hague
-City centre of Rotterdam
Concepts
If we want to make have a strong connection with to production of our food. The production of vegetables and human should be close to each other. Just like we put plants is greenhouses, we can now cultivate plants in apartments too. Instead of stacking greenhouses on top of each other only, we can combine apartments and greenhouses with each other. Instead of a the vertical city we call it, a vertical farmers village. In this way, a mix between the peri-urban and urban life is made.
The upper apartments can be functioning as dwellings and the lower apartments can be used for food production. This combination of food production and living, creates a complete new lifestyle. The opportunities of this combination will be researched in the upcoming half year.
Numbers
A rough calculation shows that we need 1,18m2 greenhouse per person to provide us for enough healthy food. This means that a building like the Rotterdam of OMA could provide enough food for the city of Zwolle.
