Vacant Lots-What is the Role of the Landscape Architect?

Vacant lots are a huge urban problem. In Philadelphia alone, there are some 31,000 vacant lots.

The urban studies program at the University of Pennsylvania (www.sas.upenn.edu/urban) and the City Parks Association of Philadelphia (www.cityparksphila.org) have been holding ?EUR??,,????'??public conversations?EUR??,,????'?? to explore ways to revitalize vacant land in Philadelphia. Citizens, planners, and civic groups are supplying useful ideas, including developing community gardens.

Vacant lots are an urban problem of surprising scope. According to the Daily Pennsylvanian the city has more than 31,000 vacant lots, but that number has ?EUR??,,????'??decreased by about half since the beginning of the partnership?EUR??,,????'?? between the City Parks Association and the University of Pennsylvania, the local horticultural society and the water department.

The City Parks Association is planning an international design competition funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts to generate new ideas for the reuse of vacant lots.