Urban farms and agritech: examples of urban agriculture in Luxembourg

Eco-district with a farming bias: the Kuebebierg project

One of the most ambitious endeavours is the new eco-district Kuebebierg on the outskirts of the capital. In this neighbourhood, construction of which began in 2023, the city authorities have decided to integrate agriculture into the urban environment from scratch. On an area of about 30-33 hectares, 3,000 new housing units will be built, with real farms and gardens next to the houses. The harvests from these urban vegetable gardens and mini-farms will primarily provide fresh vegetables, fruit and herbs for the residents.

The peculiarity of the project is that the farms will become part of the neighbourhood infrastructure. Already in 2024, the first urban farmers will start working on the site: breaking up beds, planting gardens and even raising small livestock. The plan is to raise chickens and rabbits in small livestock corrals. This will provide fresh eggs and meat for the residents of the neighbourhood. Full settlement of the neighbourhood is scheduled for 2028, when the housing construction will be completed and the first families will move in.

Jordan González, Unsplash

Why is the farm located here? The Kuebebierg district is located on the Kirchberg hill, surrounded by green areas and forests, close to the business district. The developer (Kirchberg Foundation) wanted to connect the city with nature - to create a "living" agricultural oasis between the office towers and residential buildings. The farm project has received funding of around 5 million euros, and up to 5 hectares of land within the neighbourhood have been allocated for farmland. It is planned that about 2 hectares will be occupied by orchards (apple trees and other fruit trees), another 2 hectares by meadows and forest belts, and about 1 hectare will be allocated for a recreational area with a community vegetable garden and playgrounds.

It is important that the urban farm in Kuebebierg is not just a vegetable garden, but a centre of community life and education. The future operators of the farm (the competition to find them was announced at the beginning of 2023) should not only be agriculturalists, but also a kind of animators for local residents. Their duties will include organising educational programmes for schoolchildren, master classes on gardening, eco-festivals of harvest, etc. The goal is to show the townspeople the way of food "from the bed to the plate", to foster respect for nature, to teach children to take care of plants and animals. It is not without reason that the project has pedagogical functions: the farm will become a platform where residents can take part in planting, learn how to compost waste, and understand the principles of sustainable nutrition.

In the summer of 2025, as part of the national horticultural exhibition LUGA (Luxembourg Urban Garden), a temporary urban farm was set up on the site of the future Kuebebierg neighbourhood. It gave visitors a first glimpse of what the agro-district would look like: greenhouses with vegetables, beds with herbs, fruit trees, mobile chicken coops and even a small flock of sheep. The latter, by the way, have replaced lawnmowers - also a kind of contribution to getting rid of noise pollution. Students from the University of Luxembourg helped monitor plant growth using drones and studied the farm's ecosystem. In this way, Kuebebierg is already demonstrating how "city and countryside" can co-exist, benefiting each other. The experience of this farm is expected to spread to other parts of Luxembourg in the future. This is well in line with the national strategy for urban farming and the goal of making nutrition more localised and sustainable.

Rooftop farm: hydroponics in Bettembourg

Another worthy example of urban agriculture in Luxembourg is a rooftop farm equipped with a modern hydroponic greenhouse. In Bettembourg, south of the capital, a 380 m² urban farm on the roof of one of the administrative buildings (Building Economic Development Board) became operational in 2023. The project was part of the European initiative GROOF (Greenhouses to Reduce CO₂ on Roofs), a programme that explores the potential of greenhouses on roofs to reduce carbon footprints.

The rooftop hydroponic greenhouse is run by Aurel & Axel, a young company founded by urban farming enthusiasts. Using soil-free growing technology (hydroponics), they cultivate herbs, spices and even mushrooms all year round - and they do it without soil, on a nutrient solution, with a closed water cycle. The greenhouse is designed to be energy efficient: double glazing retains heat, rainwater harvesting provides most of the irrigation, and the carbon dioxide emitted by the building can be utilised by the plants for photosynthesis. In this way, an urban building is also turned into a farm and its unused space is put to good use.

The project was quickly recognised for its creativity and originality. In March 2023, the GROOF initiative was honoured with the international Energy Globe Award for its contribution to sustainable development. This confirms that rooftop greenhouses are not just exotic, but a promising way to grow food closer to the consumer, saving land resources and reducing transport. Harvest from the indoor farm is already being delivered to local restaurants and shops, proving the commercial viability of this model. What's more, the experience gained is to be applied to new modular farms: the same Aurel & Axel company is preparing to build a larger farm in the same Kuebebierg neighbourhood mentioned above. They are actually "piloting" the technology on a rooftop to then scale it up on the ground in a new eco-quarter.

Fitotech Vertical Farm

Modern agro-technology in Luxembourg is being developed not only through government initiatives, but also with the support of private business. A prime example is the Fitotech vertical farm launched in 2023. Fitotech is a local startup that specialises in hydroponic cultivation of greens and herbs in a controlled environment. It's essentially an indoor vertical farm: plants are grown not in fields, but on tiered racks with artificial lighting and automatic watering. Thanks to sensor control of temperature, humidity and light, each blade of grass grows in ideal conditions and without chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

At the end of 2023, the Fitotech vertical farm entered into a partnership with Grosbusch, a large Luxembourg-based fresh produce distributor. The microgreens, salads, basil, mint and other herbs grown on the farm are now delivered directly from the farm to the Grosbusch distribution centre, from where they are sent to supermarkets and restaurants in the country. This co-operation benefits everyone: the journey from farm to plate is shortened, transport emissions are reduced and consumers get the freshest herbs possible, which are grown all year round in the Grand Duchy.

Fitotech

A vertical farm is usually housed in a compact, modular space (e.g. a converted shipping container or warehouse). It uses 90 per cent less water than traditional farming and is seasonally independent. Fitotech focuses on sustainability: it uses renewable energy, minimises waste and uses recyclable materials for packaging. The fact that one high-tech unit can provide hundreds of kilos of fresh leafy vegetables year-round impresses retailers. Luxembourg shops can offer local product instead of imported product, and this supports the local economy.

It is worth noting that in such vertical systems, plants grow faster due to the optimal light spectrum and constant nutrition. At the same time, there is virtually no risk of pests or diseases (the closed environment protects the crop). Such farms are a perfect example of agrotech in action, where IT and engineering serve agriculture. As a result, the Fitotech project has received support from investors and has become part of a general trend: in many European countries, vertical farms are appearing near cities, and Luxembourg is not left behind.

Fësch Haff: symbiosis between fish and plants

The next example takes us to a new type of farm that combines aquaculture and hydroponics. Aquaponics is a technology in which fish and plants grow in a single closed ecosystem: the fish release organic matter into the water, bacteria turn this matter into fertiliser that feeds the plants; and the roots of the plants filter and purify the water, returning it back to the fish. In Luxembourg, enthusiasts have created the startup Fësch Haff (translated as "Fish Farm" in Luxembourg) to introduce aquaponics as a sustainable model of urban farming.

The Fësch Haff project started with a pilot plant and attracted government support - receiving a research and development grant from the Ministry of Economic Affairs in 2022-2023. The team of young founders built their first aquaponic farm, Horizon Farms, in Greiveldange, a small village where a high-tech greenhouse complex was installed. Inside the greenhouse are tanks with fish (e.g. trout or tilapia) and tiered plant beds (leafy vegetables, herbs, berries). The system generates almost no waste: the water circulates in a circle, the fish receive clean water and the plants receive natural nutrition from fish waste.

Fësch Haff

Why is aquaponics interesting for urban farming? Because it allows both protein food (fish) and plant products to be grown in a limited area without soil and in a very resource-efficient way. Fësch Haff states that their farm does not use pesticides or antibiotics, produces no nitrate runoff into the environment, and the entire system is energy efficient and can operate even in urban areas. Moreover, the farm is community-oriented: the team holds educational workshops, shows schoolchildren and anyone else interested how this mini-biosphere works, and organises tastings of the greens grown. In fact, it is also a pilot project that aims to demonstrate the viability of aquaponics in the Luxembourg context and pave the way for its scaling up.

By 2024, Fösch Haff is already planning to expand: new sites are being considered (potential farms in Wiltz, Beyren, Roeser, etc. are mentioned). The project is included in accelerator programmes (e.g. at Technoport) and receives expert support from the Ministry of Agriculture. This shows that the government sees a vision for aquaponics as part of the sustainable agriculture of the future. For Luxembourg, where land is scarce but there is a demand for fresh local produce, such closed-loop systems could become one of the important models of agro-production.

Experimental concepts

In addition to projects already in operation, innovative urban agriculture concepts are also emerging in Luxembourg and are in the pilot phase;

One of them is the Urban Famill initiative, which proposes to transform urban spaces into green oases with the help of farms in shipping cargo containers. The idea is that standard containers can be equipped for aeroponics or hydroponics by equipping them with LED lamps, climate control and automatic watering systems. Such compact container farms can easily be placed right in the city - in a car park, in a courtyard, near a shopping centre - and they will grow fresh vegetables all year round, using a minimum of water and not depending on the weather;

The Urban Famill project is conceived as a way to involve citizens in sustainable farming: anyone can watch the crops mature inside the container and perhaps even rent a small module for their own planting. The initiative is still in the development and investment stage, but the first demonstration containers have already been presented to the public, attracting great interest.

Another notable trend is "smart greenhouses" for domestic use. Startups offer city dwellers small automated greenhouses that can be installed at home or on the roof and produce their own harvest of salads and tomatoes almost effortlessly. For example, the technology promoted by MyFood combines solar panels, IoT sensors and aquaponics to create a self-managed mini-farm.

This greenhouse regulates the climate itself, reminds the owner about sowing and harvesting via a mobile app and allows a family of 3-4 people to have some vegetables from their own garden all year round. In Luxembourg, the idea of a "connected greenhouse" was introduced a few years ago and tested in a greenhouse outside a farm shop in Pall Centre. Now, in the 2020s, these solutions are becoming more affordable and interest in urban home gardening is growing - especially after the pandemic, when many people are thinking about food autonomy.

State support for urban farms

The Luxembourg government has been active in supporting urban agriculture. Firstly, strategic initiatives are being implemented: for example, a National Strategy for Urban Farming has been developed, which aims to develop food projects within the city and introduce circular economy principles into nutrition. Under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment, events such as the LUGA 2025 exhibition are organised to promote urban gardening and eco-solutions among the population.

Secondly, in 2025, the government promoted a new law on the agricultural sector, which will facilitate the creation of large greenhouses and increase financial support for vegetable farms. Previously, restrictions were in place (until 10 years ago, greenhouses were limited to just 250m², making them uneconomic). Now the regulations are being revised - it is recognised that a modern greenhouse needs at least 3000 m² to break even and be equipped with climate control, ventilation and irrigation systems. The state plans to subsidise large greenhouse projects - and this opens the door to the development of new urban farms, especially on the outskirts of cities.

Thirdly, funding and grants. Innovative agro-startups can count on support through programmes of the Ministry of Economy and specialised funds. The already mentioned Fësch Haff has received a grant for innovation, while other projects can receive favourable loans or places in business incubators (e.g. Technoport for technology projects). There are also advisory platforms, such as the Urban Farm Incubator, which provides advice on how to set up an urban farm, including legal and technical aspects.

Finally, integration into urban planning is an extremely important form of support. The example of Kuebebierg shows that state structures and city administration are ready to allocate land for farms in new neighbourhoods, to include farming zones in development plans, to invest budget funds in such facilities as part of infrastructure (along with parks, roads and schools). This approach makes the emergence of urban farms much easier, because one of the main problems in densely populated areas is finding available land. When the authorities themselves initiate the creation of a farm on municipal land and seek operators for it, it gives a strong impetus to the development of the industry.