Canberra’s path to global leadership in urban farming - Lethal Heating Editor BDA

Key Points

Canberra’s population is projected to reach nearly 700,000 by 2050, intensifying pressure on land, housing and food systems. 1 The Canberra Region Local Food Strategy 2024–2029 positions urban and regional agriculture as a core pillar of food security and emissions reduction . 2 More than 100 community gardens already operate across the ACT, providing a base for scaling urban food production. 3 Singapore’s rooftop and high-tech farming policies show how incentives and spatial planning can rapidly expand urban agriculture. 4 Global bodies such as FAO and OECD identify urban agriculture and productivity gains as critical to resilient, low-emissions food systems. 5 In the next five years, integrating urban farming into planning codes, climate strategies and housing policy will be decisive for Canberra’s long-term food resilience. 6

On the northern edge of Canberra, where new suburbs encroach on paddocks and construction cranes redraw the skyline, a quieter experiment in survival is unfolding in raised beds, school plots, and makeshift hydroponic rigs.

As the city prepares for a population approaching 700,000 by 2050, planners and growers are asking whether Australia’s bush capital could become a world leader in feeding itself from within its own urban footprint.⁷

The stakes are high, as rising food prices and pandemic‑era supply shocks have exposed how dependent Canberra remains on long road, rail and air corridors stretching to coastal ports and distant farms.⁸

At the same time, the ACT’s climate strategy commits the territory to net zero emissions by 2045, forcing a reckoning with the carbon cost of everything from refrigerated freight to fertilisers.⁹

The Canberra Region Local Food Strategy 2024–2029 sketches a future where urban farming, community gardens and peri‑urban agriculture help cut emissions, reduce food waste and increase access to fresh food, but it leaves open the question of how bold the city is prepared to be.¹⁰

Globally, agencies such as the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation describe urban and peri‑urban agriculture as a critical tool for making cities more resilient to climate, economic and health shocks.¹¹

From Singapore’s rooftop farms to controlled‑environment vertical farms in Australia’s industrial parks, high‑tech food production is moving closer to consumers and into spaces once reserved for cars and machinery.¹²

Canberra already has more than 100 community gardens, dozens of school kitchen gardens and a growing ecosystem of local producers, yet most of what its residents eat still arrives by truck.¹³

This investigation examines whether the ACT’s policy settings, spatial planning, technological capacity and social fabric are aligned to turn Canberra into a global exemplar of urban farming, rather than a city that watched the opportunity pass by.

Demographics, demand and land pressure

Canberra’s population is projected to rise from about 482,000 people in 2024 to nearly 700,000 by 2050, an increase of 319,000 residents.¹⁴

ACT Treasury data indicate growth of around 8,000 people each year, with higher-density housing and infill development expected across all districts as greenfield sites become scarcer.¹⁵

The ACT’s Guide to Community Gardens notes that as more residents live in apartments or on smaller blocks, demand for shared gardening spaces rises because private yards are no longer sufficient to grow food.¹⁶

This demographic shift reshapes food demand and land use, increasing the volume of fresh produce required while making traditional backyard gardening less feasible for many households.¹⁷

Nationally, an ABARES‑informed discussion of food security shows Australia exports about 70 per cent of its agricultural production, highlighting that the country is a net food exporter even while some urban households struggle to access affordable, healthy food.¹⁸

Within this context, urban farming in Canberra is less about replacing broadacre agriculture and more about reshaping how and where food is produced, distributed and consumed inside the city.

Mapping Canberra’s food system

The Canberra Region Local Food Strategy describes the territory as part of a wider city‑region, drawing much of its fresh produce from surrounding New South Wales farming districts while importing significant volumes of packaged and processed food from interstate and overseas.¹⁹

The strategy aims to strengthen local food systems by fostering urban and regional agriculture, reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with long‑distance freight, and increasing community access to fresh, affordable food.²⁰

According to Agriculture and Food in the ACT, there are over 100 community gardens across the territory, 77 school kitchen gardens and at least nine gardens in public housing complexes, showing that small‑scale local production is already embedded in the city’s fabric.²¹

The ACT Government also recognises community gardens as a form of outdoor recreation facility in its Territory Plan, effectively legitimising food growing as a planned land use in new estates and urban renewals.²²

Yet large supermarket chains continue to dominate food retail and pricing, and an ACCC grocery inquiry submission notes that food price inflation between 2019 and 2023 added almost 19 per cent to Australian grocery costs, exacerbating cost‑of‑living pressures for low and middle income households.²³

Local production currently contributes to food security mainly by improving access to fresh fruit and vegetables in specific communities and by building social connections, rather than by supplying a large share of total calories consumed in the territory.²⁴

Sustainability potential and trade‑offs

A national research project on urban food security and climate change concludes that urban agriculture can strengthen food security and urban resilience by improving access to fresh produce, using waste streams productively and creating opportunities for community engagement.²⁵

The same study finds that urban agriculture is unlikely to make Australian cities fully self‑sufficient, but argues that it can play an important role when integrated into broader planning for resilience and sustainability.²⁶

For Canberra, the environmental opportunities include cutting emissions from food transport, using composted organic waste as fertiliser, and integrating green infrastructure that cools suburbs and manages stormwater alongside food production.²⁷

The ACT’s Urban Forest Strategy 2021–2045 sets a target of 30 per cent tree canopy cover and 30 per cent permeable surfaces in urban areas by 2045, aligning food‑producing landscapes with shade, biodiversity and heat‑island mitigation goals.²⁸

However, trade‑offs are real, as high‑tech indoor farms can be energy intensive and rooftop farms must compete with solar panels, mechanical services and structural constraints on buildings.²⁹

To maximise benefits, Canberra’s planners will need to balance space for food production with renewable energy generation, tree canopy and housing, rather than treating any single use as automatically dominant.³⁰

Policy, governance and gaps

The Canberra Region Local Food Strategy 2024–2029 marks a new approach to valuing local food production in the ACT, setting out actions to diversify the local food economy, reduce and repurpose food waste and strengthen community wellbeing.³¹

The strategy positions Canberra as part of a global community of city‑regions working to foster urban and regional agriculture, signalling that food systems are now a recognised part of climate and sustainability policy rather than an afterthought.³²

The ACT Climate Change Strategy 2019–2025 commits the territory to net zero emissions by 2045 and to a 50–60 per cent emissions cut below 1990 levels by 2025, creating a strong rationale for reducing emissions in food supply chains through local production and circular economy practices.³³

AdaptNSW’s summary of the ACT region highlights heightened risks of drought and bushfires, which will place pressure on water supplies and agriculture, underlining the need for climate‑resilient urban food systems that can operate under variable rainfall and heat extremes.³⁴

At the national level, Feeding Australia, a National Food Security Strategy initiative, notes that Australia’s strong export position coexists with pockets of food insecurity, particularly among disadvantaged groups, pointing to the importance of local initiatives alongside national production.³⁵

Despite these frameworks, researchers have found that complex regulations governing land use, health and small business operations can unintentionally thwart attempts to establish new urban agriculture enterprises, suggesting that regulatory reform is a key enabler for Canberra’s ambitions.³⁶

Technology, innovation and controlled environments

Globally, urban agriculture is shifting from small community gardens to systematised, technologically advanced and policy‑integrated models that use vertical farming, hydroponics and controlled environment agriculture to boost yields and resource efficiency.³⁷

In Australia, an automated vertical farm profiled by industry media claims output equivalent to a 20‑acre farm on a 1,000 square metre footprint, using up to 95 per cent less water than conventional agriculture and delivering produce within kilometres of urban consumers.³⁸

Vertical farms typically rely on LED lighting, hydroponic systems and data‑driven climate controls, and Australian agri‑tech commentary emphasises their potential to strengthen local food systems and complement rather than replace traditional farms.³⁹

For Canberra, integrating such facilities into industrial estates, logistics hubs and even repurposed car parks could allow continuous year‑round production of leafy greens and herbs close to population centres.⁴⁰

Linking these systems to the territory’s high penetration of renewable electricity would help ensure that the additional energy demand of controlled environment agriculture does not undermine the ACT’s emissions targets.⁴¹

Experts also highlight that digital platforms connecting urban producers directly with consumers, including subscription boxes and online marketplaces, can increase the economic viability of small urban farms by shortening supply chains and reducing waste.⁴²

Spatial strategies and reimagined spaces

The Guide to Community Gardens in the ACT confirms that community gardens now operate in schools, public housing and retirement villages, illustrating how non‑traditional spaces can be adapted for food production within existing urban layouts.⁴³

Agriculture and Food in the ACT reports that there are more than 100 such gardens across suburbs, showing a city‑wide patchwork of small plots that could be expanded or linked through planning frameworks and incentives.⁴⁴

Internationally, Singapore’s food agency has tendered the rooftops of public housing car parks and other public buildings for commercial hydroponic farms, repurposing previously under‑used structures to help meet a goal of sourcing 30 per cent of nutritional needs locally by 2030.⁴⁵

Singapore’s planners also sweeten rooftop transformations by offering gross floor area exemptions when mechanical equipment is relocated to make space for urban farms and gardens, reducing the financial barriers for developers and building owners.⁴⁶

Research by Australian universities has proposed turning car parks into horticulture farms and installing controlled‑environment agriculture in under‑utilised urban structures, arguing that such conversions can combine food production with climate adaptation benefits like shading and cooling.⁴⁷

For Canberra, similar policy tools—such as planning bonuses for rooftop farms, design competitions for food‑producing buildings and explicit mapping of suitable industrial roofs—could unlock a network of productive spaces from Civic to Tuggeranong.

Socio‑economic impacts and community identity

Studies of community gardens in Canberra and other cities have found that participants value not only the fresh food produced but also the social connections, mental health benefits and opportunities for learning new skills.⁴⁸

The ACT’s community garden guide notes that gardens attract a diverse range of residents and can help address the lack of private growing space in higher density housing, supporting social inclusion as well as nutrition.⁴⁹

At a broader scale, national analyses of food insecurity highlight that rising grocery prices and housing costs leave many households struggling to afford healthy diets, and that local food initiatives can reduce reliance on food relief services by improving access to low‑cost produce.⁵⁰

Urban agriculture can also create jobs in farming, logistics, processing and education, particularly in high‑tech facilities that require specialised skills in plant science, engineering and data analysis.⁵¹

Embedding food production in schools, TAFEs and universities further reinforces a local identity centred on sustainability and self‑reliance, and prepares a workforce capable of operating advanced urban farming systems.⁵²

In Canberra, this could mean aligning urban agriculture initiatives with existing strengths in research, higher education and public policy, turning the city into both a living laboratory and a teaching hub for urban food systems.

Global trends and lessons from Singapore

FAO’s overview of urban and peri‑urban agriculture argues that improved urban food production can boost yields, diversify crops and enhance sustainability while making fresh, nutritious food more available to urban households.⁵³

A recent thematic review in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems notes that in high income countries, urban agriculture has evolved into technologically advanced, policy‑integrated systems with vertical farms, aquaponics and rooftop gardens embedded in urban regeneration projects.⁵⁴

The OECD‑FAO Agricultural Outlook projects global food consumption rising by about 1.4 per cent per year over the next decade, driven mainly by population growth, and warns that productivity gains and reduced waste are needed to meet demand while cutting emissions.⁵⁵

Singapore stands out as a city‑state that has responded by leasing public rooftops for urban farms and setting clear local production targets, while supporting hydroponic and building‑integrated farms through planning and incentive schemes.⁵⁶

Analysts describe Singapore’s approach as an “iron triangle” of policy, technology and spatial planning, combining rooftop farms, retrofitted buildings and car park conversions to reduce import dependence and build resilience against external shocks.⁵⁷

Canberra does not share Singapore’s land constraints or import reliance, but its climate risks, emissions goals and rapid population growth mean the underlying logic of integrating urban farming into planning, housing and economic policy is strikingly similar.⁵⁸

Action plan: from pilots to global model

Short‑term actions over the next five years could include embedding explicit urban agriculture targets into the Territory Plan and development codes, such as requiring a proportion of roof or communal open space in major developments to be designed for food production where feasible.⁵⁹

The ACT Government could also establish a dedicated urban farming grants and loans program, building on proposals like the Canberra Region Food Collaborative, to support start‑ups deploying hydroponics, container farms and community‑scale greenhouses in strategic locations.⁶⁰

Medium‑term measures to 2035 could involve integrating urban farming into major urban renewal projects and new precincts, linking them to the Urban Forest Strategy and Living Infrastructure Plan so that food production, tree canopy and permeable surfaces reinforce one another rather than compete.⁶¹

Policy makers could set procurement targets for ACT schools, hospitals and public institutions to source a share of fresh produce from local urban and peri‑urban farms, giving producers secure markets and aligning food policy with health and climate objectives.⁶²

Longer term, by 2045, Canberra could position itself as an international model by combining high‑tech vertical farms, extensive community gardens, integrated waste‑to‑fertiliser systems and research partnerships, underpinned by a robust food security strategy that is regularly reviewed and publicly reported.⁶³

If these steps are taken in concert with national strategies on food security and emissions reduction, the city could demonstrate how a medium‑sized, inland capital can adapt to climate change while improving equity and resilience in its food system.⁶⁴

Conclusion: the next five years

The evidence from Canberra’s own policy documents, Australian research and global urban agriculture initiatives points to a clear conclusion, that urban farming will not feed the city alone but can make it significantly more resilient, equitable and sustainable.

For regional planners and policymakers, the next five years are critical. They must bake food production into planning codes and climate strategies, streamline approvals for urban farms, invest in community and high‑tech projects, and set measurable local procurement and access targets to reduce long‑term risk of food insecurity, climate disruption and social fracture.⁶⁵

References

1. Food for All – ACT Greens policy on local food resilience and urban agriculture (2020)
2. Burton, P. (2013), Urban food security, urban resilience and climate change – NCCARF report
3. Canberra doubles down on alleged supermarket price gouging – Community Directors (2024)
4. Draft Canberra Region Local Food Strategy – YourSay ACT (overview page)
5. Feeding Australia: A National Food Security Strategy – Australian Government (2025)
6. ACT Cost of Living Budget Statement – ACT Treasury
7. Canberra Region Local Food Strategy 2024–2029 – ACT Government
8. Public Health Association of Australia submission on the National Food Security Strategy (2025)
9. ACCC Groceries Inquiry – Coles Group public submission (2024)
10. Developing a new climate change strategy for the ACT – Climate Choices ACT
11. ACT Population Projections: Growth reflected across the City – ACT Government media release (2025)
12. Guide to Community Gardens in the ACT – Policy and Site Selection Criteria
13. Australia’s first fully automated vertical farm completes R&D phase – Green Magazine
14. Nearly 700,000 Canberrans by 2050 – Our Canberra (2025)
15. Turner, B. (2012), A study of the demand for community gardens and their benefits – University of Canberra
16. Innovative Vertical Farming in Australia – CheerBio (2025)
17. Agriculture and Food in the ACT – ACT Government
18. Agriculture and Food in the ACT – community gardens statistics
19. Creating an urban farm‑friendly Australia – UTS case study (2025)
20. ACT population projections show we must build houses, quickly – Canberra Daily
21. Singapore rents public rooftops for urban farming – Agritecture
22. Urban and peri‑urban agriculture – FAO briefing
23. Climate change in the ACT region – AdaptNSW
24. Singapore unveils incentives for urban and rooftop farms – Agritecture
25. Senthamizh, R. (2025), Urban agriculture in a changing world: a thematic review – Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
26. Climate Change – ACT State of the Environment Report
27. OECD‑FAO Agricultural Outlook 2022–2031
28. Rooftop urban farming in Singapore: the iron triangle of food security – FFTC Agricultural Policy Platform

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