Those crazy japanese, not content with building robots for the moon,
now they’re growing crops underground..

more info via

An underground rice and vegetable field has been planted beneath an office building in Tokyo’s Otemachi business district. This urban farm – in what used to be the vault of a major bank – is maintained using computer-controlled artificial light and temperature management.
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In the absence of sunlight, the plants are sustained by artificial light from light-emitting diodes, metal halide lamps, and high-pressure sodium vapor lamps. The temperature of the room is controlled by computer, and the vegetables are grown by a pesticide-free method in which fertilizer and carbon dioxide are delivered by spraying. Hydroponics, in which plants are grown in water and hardly any soil is used, is one of the methods of cultivation used in the facility
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The “field” has an area of about 1,000 square meters. Tomatoes, lettuces, strawberries, and other fruits and vegetables are grown, as well as flowers and herbs. There is also a terraced paddy field used to grow rice.

There are said to be about 15 fully computer-controlled “plant factories” nationwide. Most are located in suburban areas, though, and this is the first such endeavor to make use of a city-center building. The organizers hope that the first crops will be harvested in the early summer of 2005, and they will initially be used as ingredients in Pasona’s canteen.

..which would go nicely under a sewage/stormwater recycling plant or something..
(especially given cities seem to get more rainfall than the country these days)