Urban agriculture’s bounty: contributions to Phoenix’s sustainability goals

Urban Farm DB summary

This city-scale study analyzed how urban agriculture (UA) could contribute to Phoenix's 2050 Sustainability Goals, eliminating food deserts, providing green open space, and reducing building energy use and CO2 emissions, for the fifth-largest US city by population. Examining three UA deployment surfaces (undeveloped vacant lots, flat rooftops, building facades), it found existing building stock provides 71% of available UA space in the study area; estimated total UA food supply is 183,000 tons per year, enough to provide local produce in all existing Phoenix food deserts and meet 90% of current annual fresh-produce consumption based on national per-capita patterns. UA would also add green open space, reducing by 60% the number of block groups underserved by public parks, and rooftop UA deployment could reduce building energy use and potentially displace more than 50,000 tons of CO2 per year.