İstanbul Discusses 'Rooftop Agriculture'

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The İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality's Directorate of Development has held a workshop on the use of rooftops in the city.

Dr. Mehmet Çakılcıoğlu, the municipality's deputy secretary-general, said that they held the workshop to make roofs "more useful, more aesthetic and more environment-friendly."

"One of the tools that can be used to ensure urban sustainability is the application of 'green roofs'," he said, adding that Germany created 13,5 million square meters or green roofs in 2001.

"Considering its role in efficient energy use and its environmental benefits in ecological terms, it is an element that shows alternative ways despite the damages caused by the [global] warming threat in the world."

Ramazan Gülten, the Development Director of the municipality, said that they want to increase urban. With new regulations, roofs will be utilized for urban agriculture and using solar energy, he added. (HA/VK)