Urban Vacancy Research Paper

Causes of urban vacancy

Pearsall and Lucas (2013) found in their previous research that encompassed over 200 cities that vacant lands were perceived by municipalities, developers, and the community as being barriers to urban revitalization and problematic. They concluded that vacant land offer no productive use and because they epitomize blight and neglect. There is a lot of social and environmental injustice associated with urban vacancy because they are primarily located in poorer neighborhoods and foster illegal activities and lower the quality of life of the nearby residents. Urban vacancy also lowers the property value of property in the neighborhood and disturbs the sense of community. In terms of quality of life, it poses public health

Vacant land develops for a whole host of reasons, many of which are political and economic in nature. In recent years there has been an increase in urban vacancy due to a shift from industrial and manufacturing to a service economy. Németh and Langhorst (2013) argue that the majority of urban land can be tied to a shift in urban conditions that often involved historic and current patterns of uneven development and investment. Morphological causes such as a steep topography, unsuitable soil and flood plains to name a few, physical features of a site can also cause urban vacancy. Functional zoning policies is another cause of urban vacancy that separate uses which originated in the industrial years, produced awkward parcels and called for setbacks and buffers to accommodate for infrastructure such as highways, railways and boulevards. Other zoning policies such as the subdivision system require specific size for the creation of parcels suited for traditional development leaves former urban lands vacant. Vacant lands can also be planned by governing bodies as placeholders for later date and along transportation corridors or areas in transition

The first is the economic cycle and the second is suburban sprawl. Their causes are various but are often times closely related to economic crises and a loss of a viable local economy to sustain the living standards of people. The crises results in people losing their jobs, subsequently makes it nearly impossible to be able to afford decent housing and making hard to sustain the local economy which in turns causes the loss of local business and the decline of property values and abandonment (Goldstein et al., 2001). This shift of population results in a lack of what Jane Jacobs called “eyes in the street” resulting in an invitation for crime to take root in already marginalized neighborhoods which subsequently deters new comers and drives the area further into decline. The result is ill maintained properties, vacant storefronts, and decimated areas that leave holes in the built landscape. Urban vacancy is also closely linked with sprawl, Goldstein et al. (2001) argues that “with every decision to build on greenfield, where there was no need to demolish or rebuild any existing structures, part of the economy of the city exits the urban core”, with every project built there is an economic and environmental impact that is detrimental to the preservation of rural areas but also and just as important the survival of the urban core. Goldstein et al. (2001) argues that preserving