Urban Green Roof

One of the additional benefits of urban green roofs for agriculture is that they inevitably enhance urban biodiversity.

Urban green roof.

Creating low maintenance terrestrial naturalistic green spaces in the urban core is not popular. Green roofs may provide one solution. On a wider scale green roofs improve air quality and help reduce the urban heat island effect a condition in which city and suburban developments absorb and trap heat. They are particularly cost effective in dense urban areas where land values are high and on large industrial or office buildings where stormwater management costs are likely to be high.

During summer the temperatures in cities are approximately 5 7 c higher than in the countryside due to buildings and roads heat absorption and the temperature on the traditional roof can be up to 40 c higher compared to the green roof. Beetles ants bees and spiders are among these invertebrates qin et al 2013 p. Furthermore it is roof level green space that is accessible to the local community. Studies have documented that invertebrate communities can live on a variety of green roofs in several countries.

Anyone who has walked across a scalding parking lot on a hot summer day has felt one effect of an urban heat island. Green roofs can provide both visually and physically accessible green space.