Urban Agriculture Center Demonstrates Potential of Vertical Smart Farms
Gwacheon City delivered eco-friendly salad greens grown in the Urban Agriculture Center’s vertical smart farm to local welfare facilities, illustrating a new avenue for urban agriculture and municipal sustainability initiatives.
On the 10th, the city said it delivered 8.5 kilograms (18.7 pounds) of European-style salad greens, grown in the Urban Agriculture Center’s glass-greenhouse vertical smart farm, to the city’s Welfare Center for People with Disabilities.
The shipment comprised five varieties of pesticide-free salad greens cultivated since January. The city harvested the produce that day and supplied it to the Welfare Center’s cafeteria, which incorporated the greens into its lunch service. The cafeteria serves roughly 350 people daily.
Vertical smart farms maximize production in limited urban footprints and provide stable, year‑round yields independent of weather and season. Their controlled, uniform growing conditions yield consistent, high-quality crops, making them an increasingly viable model for sustainable urban food systems.
The city plans to make regular donations of vegetables from the vertical smart farm to local welfare facilities. It also intends to coordinate with participants in community garden-plot programs so that more than half of participants’ harvests are donated to welfare facilities, expanding community-sharing efforts.
A city official said, “Through the urban vertical smart farm, we have confirmed new possibilities for urban agriculture. We will run the Urban Agriculture Center as a space for sharing and hands‑on experiences with residents.”
Gwacheon’s initiative is expected to strengthen community connections and enhance the long-term sustainability of urban agriculture.
Gwacheon — Reporter Seung‑sik Lee, thankslee57@viva100.com
