Is Florida's Growth Management Act protecting agricultural lands?

Florida has experienced more population growth over the past half century than any other state, which has led to some of the most extensive urban development on valuable agricultural lands. To address this and other impacts of sprawl, Florida passed the Growth Management Act (GMA) in 1985, which among other things required local comprehensive planning and that it be consistent with a state plan of policies and objectives. While the GMA has been the subject of much scrutiny, little empirical research has been conducted specifically in regards to the loss of agricultural lands. Utilizing spatial analytic techniques and historic county comprehensive planning data, I examine the extent to which this growth management policy has been effective at protecting agricultural land. I conclude that the GMA has had a statistically significant and notable impact on the rate and location of urban development on agricultural land. Given wide county differences in effort and rates of conversion, however, it is clear that while the GMA is necessary, it is not sufficient in its current state for the viability of agriculture. A regional strategy with specific goals and objectives for agricultural protection should be defined and eXisting planning mechanisms should be coupled with additional farmland protection tools for the GMA to be more effective in the long-term.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Lloyd, Stephen (Stephen Charles Rhys)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Michael Flaxman.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67755

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/67755