Project Statement

This project investigated the potential for design interventions on vacant lots to support the provision of ecosystem services to nearby residents. Many urban neighborhoods struggle with excessive vacant land in historically disinvested areas with declining populations. However, vacant lots can be an opportunity to promote social and ecological goals while waiting for development. The project estimated the provision of ecosystem services by vacant lots using aerial imagery and free online tools. It found that the proposed design interventions improved the provision of ecosystem services across a system of fifty lots as a case and demonstrated a method to assess the landscape performance benefits of a project before its implementation.

Project Narrative

Overgrown vacant lots have become an issue in disinvested neighborhoods with declining populations across the US. However, spontaneous vegetation on vacant lots has the potential to support biodiversity and provide ecosystem services in urban environments. While a city’s goal is often redevelopment of vacant sites into economically productive uses, vacant land should be managed to promote social equity and ecological goals while waiting for development.

Focusing on high-vacancy neighborhoods of Kansas City, Missouri, as a case, this study addressed two questions: 1) To what extent can greening projects on urban vacant land increase the ecosystem services provided to nearby residents? 2) How can aerial imagery be used to quantify ecosystem services and landscape performance benefits?

This project considered vacant lots an opportunity to re-integrate natural spaces into the city and improve urban ecosystem functioning. It envisioned a system of temporary design interventions for these parcels to provide environmental benefits and contribute to an improved quality of life for nearby residents, acknowledging that most will not be redeveloped in the immediate timeframe and that some should be remediated and preserved as greenspace for the long term. This study involved three phases: 1) using ArcGIS to categorize vacant lots based on their redevelopment potential, 2) estimating the current provision of ecosystem services using aerial imagery, and 3) proposing five sustainable design interventions for the vacant lots and calculating ecosystem services provided by implementing the interventions across three alternative scenarios. The three scenarios included a) full greening intervention, b) full single-family redevelopment, and c) middle-level greening intervention considering socioeconomic factors.

The findings suggested that the proposed design interventions could improve the provision of four selected ecosystem services—carbon sequestration, stormwater management, food production, and microclimate regulation—across a system of fifty vacant lots. However, typical single-family development was estimated to reduce the ecosystem services provided significantly. Based on the findings of this study, a recommendation for cities with highly vacant residential neighborhoods is to focus redevelopment on vacant lots with the least existing tree canopy to preserve the current benefits provided by those trees, including carbon sequestration, stormwater runoff reduction, and a cooler microclimate. The suggested design interventions can be implemented temporarily to support those benefits until future redevelopment occurs. If community members see these lots as valuable, the city could consider reserving these lots as dedicated greenspaces for the long term.

This project contributed to research on landscape performance by demonstrating a method for using aerial imagery and freely accessible online tools to estimate potential environmental benefits before project implementation. Professionals can use programs their office has access to (e.g., AutoCAD, ArcGIS, Google Earth, Excel) and free online tools (e.g., EPA National Stormwater Calculator, i-Tree Suite) to apply the methods offered in this study. The project can serve as a guide for practitioners and decision-makers to assess proposed projects, compare alternative scenarios, and generate metrics on potential project performance for vacant lot greening projects and other landscape designs.