Floating Ponds – Urban Fish Farming to Transform Global Food Production

How engineering and technical innovation can meet the challenge of feeding a growing global population

There are always plenty more fish in the sea, so the saying goes. Turns out it isn’t necessarily so true anymore.

Over-fishing, poor management of fish stocks and the impact of a changing climate means that we must now look increasingly for new ways of satisfying the global demand for fish as a sustainable source of food. The development of the Floating Ponds urban farm concept – a radical systems based design incorporating innovative engineering and technology – holds the potential to turn the dream of efficient, self-sustaining food production into a reality.

The global population is becoming rapidly urbanised, with the United Nations’ predicting that some two thirds of the global population – around 6 billion people and rising – will be jostling for space in the cities by 2050. Oceans and farmlands are falling short of meeting our food demands. Climate changes are fast rendering farming uneconomic and untenable; and those which still are, are being gobbled up by sprawling metropolitan areas for housing, infrastructure, or commercial needs.

Thus our ability to feed ourselves is and will be challenged by the need to provide for housing, infrastructure, transportation, employment, education and all other basic requirements in competing for the strained limited resources we have.

Sustaining a sustainable healthy food source for these dense urban areas is a vital challenge

Rethinking food production:

Surbana Jurong is rising to this challenge with the Floating Ponds high-intensity urban farming concept. The vertically stacked fish raceways help to multiply the production capacity of any available space, and not just land; whilst its inherent self-sustaining, closed-loop farming eco-system optimises the use of resources – water, nutrients and energy.

The result is an ecologically sustainable farming model which is modular, scalable and replicable.

Currently Singapore imports some 92% of the fish consumed locally. Rising concerns over the sourcing of fish has switched focus towards ways to improve local production and increase the sustainability and reliability of the food supply.

Land based fish farms are not in themselves a new idea. Landlocked regions or high-density urban development without access to conventional fish farming have been developing such food sources. However, these traditional facilities are resource hungry and consume enormous quantities of water, energy, and nutrients to produce quality fish products. The Floating Ponds model sets out to transform this existing model.

Systems Thinking to Close the Loop:

The vision for urban fish farming is founded on a comprehensive systems level integration of the three primary systems engaged by the farm – water, nutrients and energy. The design and architecture of the farm works towards enabling flows and exchanges amongst the three systems. The concept employs a vertical stacking of water raceways for fish farming which helps to relieve  space for the environmental systems needed to create these systems flows and exchanges to ensure a closed loop ecosystem.

Water reuse:

The role of water is paramount to this project. Traditional fish farms consume large volumes of water in a linear flow set-up, rendering significant volume to be discharged into the sewers as waste. Together with it, vital residual nutrients are washed away as well.

In Floating Ponds, it is the planned flow of water which creates the medium for the systemic exchanges to take place.

Expunged waste water from the fish tanks is treated via a specially constructed wetland system to enable natural cleaning as bacteria and aquatic plants feed on the organic waste while the drainage actively captures rainwater. Treated water can be re-used for several non-potable uses or re-circulated back into the fish tanks.  Alternatively, the nutrient-rich water from the fish farm can be fed into a hydroponic system to sustain the production of vast quantities of green leafy vegetables. Bio-swales enhance the water system by treating and capturing surface run-off thus reducing demand for clean potable water in the fish tanks.

Such concerted efforts can reduce the volume of water being discharged out from the site into the sewer system.

Nutrients:

In addition to the primary nutrient being nurtured in the form of fishes, the aquatic plants in the wetlands become an essential ancillary source of nutrients. They help to close the nutrient loop as a certain quantum of them is processed back to become feed for the fish.

Furthermore, micro-algae are cultivated using the nutrient laden waste water as feed for the fish. Algae are also used to condition the sea-water which is also used as a source of topping up.

Hydroponics further adds to the production capacity of green leafy vegetables by directly using the nutrient rich waste water from the fish raceways.

Energy:

The roof structures covering fish farming areas of the Floating Ponds provide a perfect platform for the use of photovoltaic panels capable of generating enough energy to offset significant portion of the consumption demands.  Algae, grown in transparent tubes and pumped with waste water and a lot of CO2, is capable of producing bio-fuel in the presence of sunlight. This is a technology which requires more research and development but clearly holds future potential as demonstrated in projects across the world.

Besides the conscious design decisions to incorporate passive design features, the overall energy balance can be significantly enhanced by efficient and innovative technologies for spaces such as labs, offices, cold storage which inherently  tend to consume more energy. Technologies such as passive displacement ventilation, radiant cooling, the use of heat recovery systems are being considered together with the use of fan assisted ventilation to improve thermal comfort at higher supply air and room temperature.

Creating a modular system that meets the needs of the community:

By rethinking the factory fish farm model, the team has developed an integrated, self-contained farming ecosystem, placing local food sufficiency and resilience for the local community at its heart. To be successful, it is imperative that the farming and food production process is visible and accessible to garner community interest and attract engagement.

As such the central space above and around the constructed wetlands attempts to create a space to anchor that community engagement – both spatially by drawing visitors in but also functionally by providing a useful and attractive recreation area.  While by being modular and scalable, the Floating Ponds typology makes itself flexible and adaptable to any available urban space, ranging from a park space, to un-used roof space and to even community spaces within larger commercial developments.

In doing so, Floating Ponds can not only make a small pocket of urban space significantly productive by producing high-value food fish, but can also enhance the surrounding ecology and generate a vibrant community hub with farming activities.

A design that adds to the urban environment:

With this initiation in Singapore and in the face of the global challenges of urbanization and food production,  high-tech, systems based and resource efficient facilities such as the Floating Ponds will soon start to transform food production around the world.

Fundamentally, the Floating Ponds concept will create a new urban typology; taking high-value food production out of isolated and secluded land-based farms and placing them into the heart of high-density urban cores, as inclusive elements of the social and economic function of the city.

Image caption: Systems Map

Image caption: Planning for a closed-loop vertical fish farm which allows for systemic flows and exchanges

Image caption: Functioning prototype built to test the vertical stacking and the water reticulation system

Image caption: Elevated visitor / community spaces suspended above the integral blue-green spaces

 

Perspectives, developed by SJ Academy, is our platform to explore new ways of tackling some of today’s most complex challenges. We draw on ideas and opinions from our staff associates and experts across different businesses. Click here to read more about Technology & Innovation, Infrastructure & Connectivity, and Design Leadership.

More Than Four Walls and A Roof: Housing as an Anchor in Times of Turbulence

Singapore shows how an effective housing program can promote social and political stability

On every continent, there are pockets of political turmoil, driven in part by economic resentment. At the same time, the world is inexorably urbanizing. More than half the global population already lives in cities, and the figure will be two-thirds by 2050. To cope, and also to strengthen their own legitimacy, governments need to address their citizens’ concerns. Housing is at or near the top of the list in many places.

In this regard, the experience of Singapore is worth considering. Even before it became independent in 1965, Singapore considered housing a high priority. Many people were living in unhygienic slums and squatters’ camps and new immigrants were adding to the strain. On the basis that widespread home ownership would foster social stability, the government took concerted action to improve matters.

By any measure, it has succeeded. More than 90 percent of households own their residences, up from 59 percent in 1980, and they are well maintained, with social, commercial, transit, and recreational facilities readily available. In 2010, Singapore’s Housing and Development Board (HDB) won the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour Award for “providing one of Asia’s and the world’s greenest, cleanest, and most socially conscious housing programs.” A survey of residents of HDB units in 2013 found that 91.6 percent were satisfied with their homes and 92 percent with their neighborhoods. The provision of quality affordable housing has tethered Singaporeans to the dream of a more equitable future; it is a core part of the country’s national pride and identity.

Every country and city is unique, but the basic issue is the same everywhere: to craft policies that enable housing projects to be developed and financed to suit the needs of all levels of society. In addressing that question, Singapore, in effect, turned the problem of housing inside out, recasting it as an opportunity to build both the economy and the society.

As the government saw it, the state would not only be building homes but also a sense of community and national identity. That was important for a new, multiethnic country. Economically, the public-housing program sought to make the home an asset, thus creating and managing a sustainable national housing market. Socially, the housing authorities envisaged building spaces that would encourage different ethnic groups to interact and to allow for multigenerational households.

In the early 1960s, Singapore was a developing country struggling to find its feet. In this context, providing every household with a decent home was a challenging goal. But by demonstrating its commitment to the population, the government hoped also to create a spirit of responsible citizenship and thereby contribute to political stability.

Making it work

For the program to succeed, land had to be acquired, homes had to be built at a reasonable cost, and people needed to be able to own them. To solve the first challenge—particularly acute in a land-scarce city-state like Singapore—in 1967, the Land Acquisition Act empowered the government to acquire private land at market prices.

With respect to building, HDB was set up in 1960 to be the sole independent agency in charge of planning and executing the housing program. Since its early days, HDB has earned a good reputation for creating self-sustaining, high-rise town-planning designs, complete with social and commercial amenities and efficient public transport. It continues to be highly regarded for its innovative planning and design. To give one example, as people’s expectations have risen, planners have worked to design each new township with a distinctive identity. For another, HDB uses the most modern construction techniques, such as precast and prefabricated volumetric construction. HDB has also embraced the concept of sustainable design, integrating highly efficient energy, water, and waste- management systems in its townships. The Treelodge@Punggol HDB project in northeast Singapore, designed by Surbana Jurong and completed in 2010, is an award-winning eco- development. Since 1960, the HDB has built more than a million units; these house more than 80 percent of Singapore’s citizens.

How was all this paid for? The Central Provident Fund (CPF) has been critical. Established in 1955 and revised several times since, this compulsory savings plan for every working Singaporean and permanent resident is funded by individuals and their employers and helps to pay for retirement, healthcare, and housing. Citizens can draw from their CPF at low interest rates and use the money to buy their homes. The CPF therefore actively supports home ownership and ensures that public housing is within reach of the population so that less than a quarter of a first-time buyer’s monthly household income is used to pay for his or her mortgage instalment.

Increasing urbanization and ageing, growing populations will test the ability of many societies to develop the housing and social amenities that future populations will both aspire to and be able to afford. Political and social environments vary considerably. Even so, it is clear that Singapore’s public-housing record is one that city planners and world leaders can learn from. Government policies and programs—specifically the creation of a single independent agency accountable for results, and the steady financial resources derived from the CPF—have been the basis of this success. Singapore has shown that the provision of affordable housing for all can be a force for stability. Given the turbulent times, that may be the most important lesson of all.

Perspectives, developed by SJ Academy, is our platform to explore new ways of tackling some of today’s most complex challenges. We draw on ideas and opinions from our staff associates and experts across different businesses. Click here to read more about Technology & Innovation, Infrastructure & Connectivity, and Design Leadership.