VLAS: Vacant Land Assessment System for Urban Renewal and Greenspace Planning in Legacy Cities

Abstract

Vacant land in shrinking cities has long been associated with high crime rates and economic decline. While some efforts have been made to repurpose vacant land for tax revenue generation and temporary environmental restoration, a comprehensive framework for city-scale assessment and reprogramming remains lacking. To address this gap, our study introduced the Vacant Land Assessment System (VLAS), a multi-scale spatial analysis and planning tool that assesses the distribution and characteristics of vacant lots using publicly available spatial data. Taking Hartford, Connecticut as a case study, we assessed and categorized the characteristics of vacant lots into four typologies: Row House, Street Corner, Commercial/Industrial, and Main Street. Responding reuse programs for those typologies were generated and one design example of vacant lot greening was also provided based on identified sustainable goals and techniques. The VLAS serves as an effective planning support tool, enabling efficient assessment, classification, and planning for urban vacancy management across city, district, neighborhood, and site scales. This multi-scale planning and design approach to repurpose vacant lots with diverse physical characteristics offers valuable insights for transforming vacant land in other shrinking legacy cities for sustainability and neighborhood revitalization.