Quantification of the productive potential and resource efficiency of different urban agricultural methods using Internet of Things data acquisition..

The resilience of the UK's food supply is threatened by environmental (e.g. climate change and soil degradation), political (e.g. BREXIT) and economic (e.g. high fertiliser prices) challenges. Urban agriculture (UA), ranging from own-growing and market gardening to high-tech soil free aquaponics and hydroponic systems, is increasingly recognised by policy-makers as an important contributor to sustainable food security, but key knowledge-gaps remain that may limit potential benefits and uptake: 1. How much of our need might be met from urban growing? 2. Which agricultural methods are most appropriate to urban contexts? 3. How sustainable are the different forms of urban growing?
This PhD will provide a quantified model of urban food production and its potential future contribution to our supply chains. We will use low power networked Internet of Things devices to supplement an existing web-based knowledge co-production system (EP/N030095/1), in combination with high-resolution spatial datasets (mapping green- and built-infrastructure) to show how much agricultural output is possible in our cities. We will combine this information with life cycle analysis data to create a model of the resource efficiency of different forms of UA both in soil within green infrastructure, and soil-free, utilising existing built infrastructure.