More than half of humanity now lives in cities, according to the United Nations Population Fund. This rapid and ongoing change presents a raft of new challenges, many of which create opportunities for resourceful entrepreneurs. Here are five concepts that target consumers' increasing interest in growing their own food in the city:

1. REEL GARDENING — Simplifying the process of starting a domestic garden, South Africa's Reel Gardening provides a strip of biodegradable paper carrying correctly spaced, pre-fertilised seeds. The strips are colour coded (e.g. red for tomatoes, purple for beetroot) and carry instructions for how deep they should be planted in your soil. Just add water!

2. THE WIKI GARDEN — Urban gardeners who haven't even got a bed of soil may be interested in the Wiki Garden from Hawaii. It's a metre-long "growing medium" (i.e. sack) containing compost, worm castings, bat guano and more, plus a built-in irrigation system with a hose attachment. The bags can be connected, allowing for an easily scalable system.

3. CLICK AND GROW — Another alternative is to do without soil at all. Estonia's Click and Grow is a hi-tech growing system deploying aeroponics: the plant's lower stem and roots are contained in an air or mist environment, regulated by sensors and electronics to ensure the plant is fed and watered correctly. The pots even feature a USB port to upload new growing instructions.

4. WINDOWFARMS — Rather than selling a particular product, the Window Farms project in New York promotes the production of hydroponic food gardens in homes and offices, using recycled or locally-sourced materials. The founders aim to build a community to share ideas and engender a DIY approach to solving environmental problems.

An interesting article from one of Imagine Durban's sister cities.

Tanzania is becoming an increasingly popular destination for tourists, establishing itself as an East-African destination with nearly one million international visitors annually. 

The country offers visitors outstanding natural and human-made landscapes: From world-renowned wildlife adventures, to immaculate beaches, to historic architecture and a uniquely African culture. 

Dar es Salaam, however, only attracts a small portion of the tourism market. Many tourists use the city as a hub en route to other destinations, including Zanzibar, the Serengeti, and Mount Kilimanjaro. Because of this, the city is missing out on potential tourist dollars, opportunities for job creation, and a chance to re-brand itself as a desirable destination.

This article was published as a special report  in “ThisDay”, a Dar es Salaam newspaper. For the original article, click here. 

Written by Ryan Whitney, a Sustainable Cities : PLUS Network CIDA IYIP intern based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

eThekwini Municipality will announce the Buffelsdraai Community Reforestation Project as part of a global celebration of International Biodiversity Day, 22 May 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity, as declared by the United Nations.

To preserve biodiversity in our city and play a role in the global movement to conserve the earthâs precious web of life, eThekwini Municipality has embarked on this 2010 Legacy Project, a long-term biodiversity management project aimed at conserving ecosystems, and the invaluable services they provide.