Controlled environment agriculture as urban infrastructure: advancing a public agenda for spatial equity.

Abstract

Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) has emerged as a high-tech solution to urban food security. However, its development has largely been driven by venture capital and profit-maximizing imperatives, resulting in limited CEA scalability, narrow crop diversity, and minimal engagement with issues of spatial equity-defined here as the fair distribution of food infrastructure across urban geographies. This Perspective calls for a paradigm shift: positioning CEA not as a standalone technological fix, but as a component of urban infrastructure that integrates into urban systems to deliver co-benefits for food justice, public health, and environmental resilience. We argue that the public value of CEA should be a central aim of CEA deployment, guiding both research and planning agendas. To advance this vision, we highlight the potential of Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI) and High-Performance Computing (HPC) as underexplored tools to enable adaptive crop management, site-specific decision support, and identify underserved communities for targeted interventions. When combined with urban informatics approaches, these technologies can help embed CEA within inclusive, data-informed, and climate-resilient city systems. We conclude by outlining priorities for a public-interest CEA agenda that aligns with sustainable urban development and spatial justice.