London, Ontario’s Solar-Powered 15-Minute City Could Grow All its Own Veggies...Some Day Soon

A recent Concordia University study modelling food self-sufficiency in London, Ontario’s West 5 neighbourhood suggests residents could, in theory, grow all their vegetables on less than 15% of rooftop, façade, and unused lot space, while cutting food transport emissions by 98% through a renewables-powered distribution system.

While the model fits West 5’s design as London’s first solar-powered, sustainable, 15-minute neighbourhood, resident Lila Huron-Albinger and city councillor Anna Hopkins say there are significant challenges to making that model a reality.

“It’s a bit ‘pie-in-the-sky’,” Huron-Albinger told The Energy Mix, noting that several practical factors don’t appear to have been part of the study: from how its proposed solar panel-integrated sidewalks would be maintained in the winter and whether they would affect pedestrian safety, to the fact that “urban agriculture requires you to know a lot about farming”.

“We’re not there yet,” Hopkins echoed, while noting the model “could give us direction about where we need to go.” 

“When it comes to access to fresh food and sustainability, we as a city have learned after the COVID-19 pandemic that we need to do more to support this.”

Pushing the envelope was the very intention of the study, co-author Caroline Hachem-Vermette told CBC Radio’s London Morning. West 5 already leads in solar-powered design, but the researchers wanted to add local food production to the concept to explore what “the next generation of sustainable communities” could look like.

West 5’s design and size—2,000 households when completed—make it unique in Canada and internationally. It is considered a “living lab” for Concordia’s Volt-Age electrification research program, said Hachem-Vermette, an associate professor at the university’s civil and environmental engineering department.

Huron-Albinger said she and her husband are among the neighbourhood’s first residents, moving there as soon as they heard about its concept and goals. Most of the services she needs are within walking distance, and she appreciates that the design incorporates places for people to interact and hold community events—something she didn’t have in a traditional suburban neighbourhood where people “stayed in their backyards.” Huron-Albinger tends a plot in a shared garden and is part of a community supported agriculture (CSA) group, but still needs to drive to grocery stores about three kilometres away because public transit is limited.

A local grocery store would be a viable option as the community develops further, she said, noting that one has been planned for the community.

“It would change how I shop, with likely more frequent walks up to the store to get what I need rather than trying to plan for a week and then use up what I bought.”

Hopkins said lowering emissions and improving food security are city priorities, but development on West 5 has slowed as builders face an uncertain economic environment plus trade and tariff disputes. Municipal and provincial policies are often reactive and slow to change, which adds to the challenges.

For example, provincial approval for net metering, allowing surplus power generated through solar installations to be shared among buildings, was only granted on a trial basis after two years of negotiation. And while the city council approved an urban agriculture strategy, it does not allow residents to sell the produce from their own gardens.

But that doesn’t mean change can’t happen, she said. “I came on council when our policies said we couldn’t do any of this, but the developer came up with the policies and we adapted specifically for that development.”

She added: “For me it’s a question of how can we make the transition move a little more quickly, how can we make it happen now—as opposed to ‘we’ll get there eventually’.”

“If we get it right and we support it, this is going to be a normal development for the next generation,” Hopkins added. But “as a society, I don’t think we’re quite ready for it.”

Hachem-Vermette said broad coordination across neighbourhoods is key to providing enough variety to meet local food needs, as different growing areas are suited to different vegetables.

“I do really hope to see a future where many of us live this way,” she said, adding that self-sufficiency is key to community resilience. “The technologies are there,” so “how can we put our efforts together to arrive there?”