Optimizing productive green roofs for urban food self-sufficiency in Amsterdam

Xie, P.; Mogollon, J.M., Erisman, J.W.; Barbarossa, V. (2025)

Article / Letter to editor

Fulfilling urban dietary demand often hinges on importing food from rural areas, leaving the local food supply chain and food security vulnerable to disruptions. Productive green roofs have the potential to partially address this challenge by supplying food locally and therefore mitigating sudden disruptions in the urban food supply chain. However, increasing urban food self-sufficiency requires an understanding of urban food production potential and the optimal planting structures for crop rotation planning. In this study, we modeled various crop rotations spatially and temporally to assess the potential for urban productive green roof food production to meet the local dietary demand of specific crop groups. We estimated urban food self-sufficiency considering average productive green roof crop yields and climatic variability (2003-2021) within the city of Amsterdam. We find that Amsterdam's potential productive green roofs can achieve urban food self-sufficiency of 52 % for selected crops (41-54 % when accounting for climatic and spatial variability). When optimizing the planting structure, this number rises to 71 % (50-71 %). Our results highlight that productive green roofs in Amsterdam have the potential to strengthen the local food supply chain, especially if a strategic approach to the planting structure is adopted.

• All authors: Xie, P.; Mogollon, J.M., Erisman, J.W.; Barbarossa, V.
• Date: 2025-03-15
• Journal: Sustainable Cities and Society
• Volume: 123
• DOI: doi:10.1016/j.scs.2025.106284