Evaluating the effectiveness of community gardens by a quantitative systematic framework: A study of Saint Louis, Missouri in the United States. (April 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Jiesi; Zhang, Guanting; Zhao, Xukai; Sun, Leilei; Wu, Yongfa
• Is Part Of: Sustainable cities and society. Volume 79(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-04
• Subjects: Community gardens -- Urban agriculture -- Spatial optimization, Urban sustainability, Multimetric framework, Decision support systems; Sustainable urban development -- Periodicals; Sustainable buildings -- Periodicals; Urban ecology (Sociology) -- Periodicals; 307.76
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2022.103676
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2210-6707

Abstract

Highlights: Evaluate the effectiveness of community gardens by a new multi-metric framework. The framework includes three metrics: attractiveness, cover rate, and serviceability. The temporal changes in community gardens in St. Louis, MO are evaluated. The framework represents a valuable decision support system to improve urban sustainability. Abstract: Community gardens play a significant role in urban agriculture and provide a valuable resource for urban regeneration. Few studies quantitatively evaluate their impacts, which are valuable for policymakers to improve urban sustainability by site optimization. In this study, we set up a multimetric framework to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of community gardens at census tract resolution. Attractiveness is the external determinant of their effectiveness and reflects residents' motivation to participate in garden activities, while the cover rate and serviceability represent two internal determinants. This framework is then applied to analyze the changes in community gardens in St. Louis, Missouri in the US from 2010 to 2019. The results reveal that tract attractiveness is positively correlated with the poverty rate in 2010 but negatively correlated in 2019, suggesting a significant temporal change in garden impacts. Collectively, our findings provide a multimetric framework for the spatial and temporal analysis of community gardens and represent a valuable decision support system to improve urban sustainability.