Strategy for identifying and evaluating sites for urban agriculture: A case study of Gainesville, Florida

In Gainesville, urban agriculture is being practiced on a small scale as community gardening. The Community Gardens Program was started in 1998 by the Parks and Recreation Department of the city, as a response to community need. The city does not play an active role in running the community gardens, other than providing the land and basic irrigation facilities. The city administration has not explored the possibility of running the community gardens program as a proactive program. Though the program has its objectives defined, they are not in response to a formal evaluation of the desires of local citizens of Gainesville. Through the present research an attempt has been made to fulfill this need. Residents involved in community gardening in Gainesville were interviewed to identify the benefits they draw from the program. Personal satisfaction, social interaction and organic food production for personal consumption are some important benefits that were identified through this research. Criteria to find suitable sites for community gardens in Gainesville were identified. Based on the criteria identified, a strategy was devised for identifying potential sites for community gardens in the city and their inclusion in city master plan for Gainesville. Fifty four potential suitable sites for community gardens were identified using GIS. These sites were further categorized on the basis of various criteria identified in this research. Recommendations are made to the City of Gainesville about the benefits available to city residents from a proactive urban agriculture program. Similar researches could be conducted to study potential benefits from urban agriculture programs in other cities. This could potentially lead to inclusion of such programs into city master plans in other cities.