Integrating Vertical Farms To Mixed-Use Commercial Residential Condominium To Establish Sustainable Vertical Communities In Davao City

Abstract

The human population has been growing at least at the rate of 1.2% annually since 1960 reaching<br />up to 6.4B in 2002 and more than 7.0B in 2012. In Davao City, the annual population growth rate is running at 3.22%<br />in year 1990, at 2.41% last 2007 and recently in 2013 at 2.36%. The alarming problem we confront today is that<br />the increase in land area for human use does not expand in proportion to population density increase. It is the aim of<br />this study to address the future problems on land and food shortage through the efficient integration of vertical farms<br />on mixed-use multi-storied commercial-residential buildings in Davao City in order to provide income generating<br />condominiums and produce organic crops for residents in an urban setting. The result of the computations showed<br />that the integration of farms to mixed-use residential-commercial buildings in Davao City is highly feasible. The<br />gross profit is highest using gross floor area percentage ratio combination of 50:5:20 for residential, commercial and<br />vertical farm units respectively. (i.e., 50% of the building's gross floor area should be allotted to residential units, 5%<br />to commercial units, and 20% to farm units). Moreover the gross profit and ROI of the 50:5:20 gross floor area ratio<br />also generated the highest which amounted to Php 1,785,316,198.00B compared to only Php 501,045,100.00M for<br />the typical commercial-residential buildings in five years. This research has mainly focused on the integration of<br />hydroponics, but the inclusion of aquaponic farms in vertical structures can also be further explored.