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How might we restore vibrancy in cities and regions facing economic decline? Read the challenge brief

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Mapping, Mobile, Urban Planning, Urban interactions, mobile applications

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Mapping Abandoned Urban Spaces

A project in response to a GOOD Magazine challenge, Green Spot Initiative maps abandoned urban spaces — empty lots, brownfields, dead zones — and examines the adverse affects they have on the communities in which they are located.
The reason I was inspired by this project is that it helps a community become aware of the opportunities that live within 'dead' or what Reto Westermann terms as "Waiting Lands" by making them visible again. Most waiting land becomes invisible due to it's nature of being 'inactive'. By activating the land in some way, either by mapping it or making a physical move on the land it reframes its purpose and possible role within the community.

Project Description

Team Spot examined the issue of abandoned urban spaces — empty lots, brownfields, dead zones — and the adverse affects they have on the communities in which they are located. In a city with property values as high as San Francisco’s, it is shocking how much wasted space can be found. What to do with it all? Who better to ask than those who live there? The Green Spot initiative endeavors to reclaim these abandoned public spaces by first engaging residents in the urban planning process and then facilitating the means by which their aspirations — parks, gardens, dog runs, businesses — can actually be implemented through an ongoing process of community engagement, development and sponsorship.

Read more here: http://www.livingprinciples.org/transforming-the-urban-fabric/
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Meena Kadri

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December 05, 2011, 01:17AM
Interesting stuff! Tip: to activate links in your post, hit the Update Entry button up there on the right, then follow the instructions here: http://bit.ly/oi_link
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Kate Mytty

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December 02, 2011, 02:55AM
There is power in knowing where abandoned spaces are. It's funny how easy it is for abandoned places to subtly contribute to the experience of a neighborhood or city. I remember the Operation Orange group in Detroit a few years back (covered by GOOD) that painted all of the abandoned houses bright orange with the theory that an eyesore would prompt faster removal of the houses - and thus, the broken window theory could be counteracted.

I was curious to learn more about the types of technologies or ways you employ the gathering of what that community wants out of an abandoned building. Is it all smartphone apps? Or is it more in the vein of Candy Chang style installations?
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A visual representation of the connections between this and other concepts.

Building on this

District Initiatives Map. We fix it together. Thumbnail : District Iniciatives Map Infographics to Inspire Change Thumbnail : Screenshot of Smart Cities Infographic The Ministry of Make and Do Thumbnail : Elements of 'Ministry of Make and Do' JOB-HEALTH-LAND-LOVE JOB-HEALTH-LAND-LOVE's thumbnail Reclaimed in Detroit Reclaimed in Detroit's thumbnail Community Resource Mapping and web interface Thumbnail : Detroit Density - image from http://mapdetroit.blogspot.com/2010/10/density-of-vacant-lots-and-city-owned.html

Related Themes

Re-purpose Spaces Create Connections

Inspirations this built upon

Enriching poor neighborhoods Thumbnail : Give Space
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