The seed of industry ideas has been replanted; a part of your future is now reinvented elsewhere!
— Jim Carroll
Original 2021 statement: Urban farming within the 35 megacities of the future 20+ million people will change our entire concept of agriculture
What Jim has written about this
From “Daily Inspiration: “The seed of industry ideas has been replanted, a part of your future is now reinvented elsewhere!”” (January 2019)
Megatrends drive mega change, and no where is this seen than with the growth of urban cities. That’s trend #5 for today.
Simply put, megacities are the future. This results in new careers, new infrastructure, new innovation, new trends! Cities own the future, and the impact will be everywhere. One example? The acceleration of vertical farming concepts!
Worldwide, there is a massive migration of urban populations to cities; the majority of the world’s population will live in less than 30 mega-cities by 2025. With that trend comes fascinating challenges with water, waste treatment, energy and other infrastructure. We can expect accelerating R&D in each of these fields as global society steps up to the challenge presented by ‘hyper-urbanization,’ and the birth of entire new lines of business involving “mega-city’ infrastructure support services.” Why is this trend important? Because a lot of money will go into redefining these megacities for the future. Those trends will leak everywhere else… and so a farmer in Iowa will find that his or her future is, to a degree, being determined by the fact that a farmer in Ghana, Africa, will increasing be in a city, and will define one of the biggest trends in the world of farming.
From “Decoding Tomorrow: 30 Megatrends - #25 Urban Reimagination : “Beyond smart, we are building living cities: integrated ecosystems designed for a resilient, equitable, and profoundly human future.”” (July 2025)
Cities are not just growing, they are evolving into integrated systems for food, energy, transportation, and living that function very different from urban environments. This represents a massive infrastructure opportunity, particularly as 67 megacities (cities with over 10 million inhabitants) will exist, with a combined population of approximately 670 million. It’s called the ” integrated city” , and it’s a pretty significant transformation of what we think of as urban areas.
What’s it all about? Cities worldwide are undergoing their most profound transformation since the Industrial Revolution. This is not merely about making cities “smarter ” with technology, but about a fundamental rethinking of the entire concept and layout of a city. It’s not just about a bunch of smart technology, but a complete rethinking of systems for food, energy, transportation, and living. By 2035, this shift will redefine urban life, particularly as the world accommodates 67 megacities housing a combined 670 million people.
Or how about urban food production via vertical farms? To enhance food security, cities are embracing high-tech urban agriculture. The vertical farming market is projected to reach $35.76 billion by 2032, with systems that can produce 10 times more crops using 90% less water!
From “Article: Agriculture: The Future Belongs to Those Who Are Fast!” (July 2016)
In some of your presentations you talk about the rise of urban farming and jobs for vertical farm infrastructure managers. Most farmers that I know see urban farming as a quaint idea rather than something that will feed a significant number of people. What’s your take on it?
Those trends are already leading to the rapid growth of urban farming. I dug out research that shows that there already there are 800 million ‘city-farmers’ according to UN statistics — some 25% of population of Burkina Faso, 35% in Cameroon, 63% in Kenya, 68% in Tanzania. Consider this: 90% of the fresh vegetables in Accra, Ghana come from farming within the city! That’s why we are seeing a lot of agricultural research and innovation around the idea of vertical farming … and hence, a new profession of farmers involved in this field.
Those young people are coming into the world of agriculture today — they’re taking over the family farm, or working within large industrial or agriculture cooperatives. They’re open to new ideas, new ways of working, and paritcuularly, new technologies.
Read the full pieces on jimcarroll.com:
Daily Inspiration: “The seed of industry ideas has been replanted, a part of your future is now reinvented elsewhere!”
Decoding Tomorrow: 30 Megatrends - #25 Urban Reimagination : “Beyond smart, we are building living cities: integrated ecosystems designed for a resilient, equitable, and profoundly human future.”
Article: Agriculture: The Future Belongs to Those Who Are Fast!