Rooftop farms in Hong Kong skyscrapers provide fruitful and nutritious hobby to stressed-out urbanites
- The Urban Farm in Causeway Bay’s Hysan Place lets people grow and harvest their own crops on the rooftop
- These projects help tenants and other stakeholders fulfil some of their ESG goals
A high-rise office tower in Hong Kong’s bustling shopping district of Causeway Bay is an unlikely spot for planting aubergines and taros, but every quarter or so, 110 lucky people get to set foot on 8,000 square feet of soil located on the 38th floor of the 40-storey skyscraper to grow and harvest their own crops.
The open space in Hysan Place on Hennessy Road, called The Urban Farm, is just one example of several non-rural gardens in one of the world’s densest cities and one of the most expensive property markets.
“Hong Kong has a lot of high-rise rooftops … Hysan Place’s rooftop farm is perhaps the only major one in town where you actually plant on ground soil and not in pots,” said Mark Tung, Hysan Development’s general manager of corporate communications.
“Of course, farming can easily be done at the ground level, but Hong Kong’s land prices do not usually allow for street-level farming in the heart of urban areas. So rooftops can be the way to go if things are planned well.”
Any Hongkonger can get a chance to tend to their own crops every season by joining the Lee Gardens Club and entering a lottery, Tung said. Hysan tenants, employees, students, as well as members of charity organisations and elderly centres can also apply.
