Urban Garden Experience in Detroit

Over Thanksgiving, I had the incredible opportunity to visit an Urban Garden in Detroit. In a city with a metropolitan area stretching over 100 square miles its fairly easy to see the problems that the Detroit Metro Area makes a rather large heat island in the United States. A great way to reduce that heat island is by the process of creating Urban Gardens. I was fortunate enough over the Thanksgiving break to visit such a garden in Southfield, Michigan. Over a cup of tea, I was invited to the house of my grandmother's friend for her to show me their own small Urban Garden.

The garden was on top of a roof of a very modern home, included with its own irrigation system and little ecosystem. The garden itself was no greater than 12 meters x 15 meters however it was still quite an impressive piece of architecture for such a home. On the opposite end of the house, they also include solar panels and their own garden where they grow vegetables.

Overall, this experience was fascinating as it allowed me to see a unique way Urban Heat islands can still find ways to contribute to fighting global warming. The only downside to such a project is its expense however, I do believe more Metrolpitian areas should focus on such projects on larger buildings in more densely populated areas. Although the Garden I visited was small and in the suburbs of Detroit, I feel as though this a fascinating way to fight global warming on a more local and direct way possible.