Explore / Lots of Lots

More space means bigger opportunities: long-term, large-scale operations working to fit the needs of entire neighborhoods. Lots of Lots collects examples of—and ideas for—rehabilitating former industrial sites, entire blocks, and other big vacant sites requiring complex planning. Projects like these offer city governments and corporations the chance to support communities through funding, operational support, and policy change.

How much can one acre yield? A city rife with vacant lots is a city ripe with potential.

Farmadelphia

Philadelphia, PA

Using neighborhood ownership of urban farms to support local businesses and food security.

Idea

Neighborhood context map showing built and vacant areas. The parcel of land in question is owned by the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority.

N. 31st St: Reclaiming the Urban Landscape

Philadelphia, PA

An eye-catching art installation-turned-community garden.

Idea

The composted soil is used to construct a new ground.

Horizontal Integration

Philadelphia, PA

A public park and soil farm constructed from Delaware River dredge material.

Idea

Neighboring buildings provide structural support for a tiered performance space.

Insert Use

Philadelphia, PA

An incremental approach to reclaiming vacant lots.

Idea

Research continues into the biofuel potentials of sunflowers and other crops grown at ALMONO.

ALMONO Brownfield

Pittsburgh, PA

A former steel manufacture complex fosters experimental models in brownfield remediation and biofuel production.

Completed

Matthew Langan’s Urban Arboretum envisions a Philadelphia with trees lining every street and nurseries filling every vacant lot and odd corner.

The Urban Arboretum

Philadelphia, PA

Returning Philadelphia to forest.

Idea

Joggers enjoy the many walking paths throughout the Parc.

Parc du Sausset

Paris,

A mixed-use large-scale park influenced by vernacular French landscapes.

Completed

Mill Race Park

Columbus, OH

A landscape of large views and spaces, designed to be flooded.

Completed

Grupo Desiño Urbano’s illustrative master plan identifies three main landscape zones, a mix of geometric shapes and curvilinear forms.

Xochimilco Ecological Park

Mexico City,

A large-scale ecological restoration and productive landscape inspired by Xochimilco's landscape history.

Completed

Rows of trees clearly mark the edges of open spaces while framing views like architectural elements, a sort of park arcade.

Greenwich Millenium Park

London, AL

Transforming a millennium exhibition into a sustainable community and park.

Completed

Logan Airport Wind Turbines

Boston, MA

Boston's major airport employs wind turbines in an urban setting.

Completed

Eco Boulevard

Madrid,

A temporary climate control structure and urban plaza in Madrid.

Completed

Urban Arboriculture is a design proposal for a large vacant site in Southwest Philadelphia, in a neighborhood once residential but now riddled by empty buildings and lots.

Urban Arboriculture Philadelphia

Philadelphia, PA

A proposal for tree farm production in Southwest Philadelphia

Idea

A large parcel of vacant land in Southwest Philadelphia provides both the inspiration and the challenge for the proposed Eastwick Community Park.

Eastwick Community Park

Philadelphia, PA

A patchwork of urban plant cultivation.

Idea

Eastwick Alleywalk

Philadelphia, PA

Creating corridors and connecting parks and the city.

Idea

PSU students proposed a tire-stabilized community garden and tree plantation to bring life back to a vacant block on North Uber Street.

Charrette: 1920 North Uber Street

Philadelphia, PA

Managing urban stormwater with recycled tire swales.

Idea

Enjoying the view from the orchard on a rainy day. [Helen Liggett]

Brooklyn Centre Community Orchard

Cleveland, OH

Establishing an orchard brings fresh produce access to a Cleveland neighborhood.

Completed

Grapevines are supported by wires and thick support stakes. [Greta De Meyer]

The Vineyards of Chateau Hough

Cleveland, OH

Vacant land fosters the full cycle of wine production.

Completed

Chickens help weed and fertilize the fields, while keeping pests under control.

Farmadelphia (Business Plan)

Philadelphia, PA

Using neighborhood ownership of urban farms to support local businesses and food security.

Idea

Urban Farming

Southfield, MI

Grassroots urban agriculture organization in Detroit.

Completed

Added Value

Brooklyn, NY

An organization to promote the sustainable development of Red Hook by nurturing a new generation of young leaders

Completed

Row houses and hoop houses coexist peacefully at Greensgrow’s Kensington location.

Greensgrow Farms

Philadelphia, PA

A nursery, farm market, and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program in Philadelphia, PA

Completed

A combined urban farm and traditional garden incorporating native plant species.

Edible City

Philadelphia, PA

A new garden city.

Idea

Aerial view of green corridors and Urban Catalysts in North Philadelphia.

Ecological Reconfiguration

Philadelphia, PA

New transportation and open-space networks.

Idea

Embracing Fallowdelphia

Philadelphia, PA

Customizable ideas for direct action

Idea

Vacancies as small as a single lot can host a hoop house full of greens.

Greening the Urban Appetite

Philadelphia, PA

Urban agriculture as a tool for economic recovery.

Idea

Vacant lots before composting, and after they have been reforested and farmed.

Compost City

Philadelphia, PA

Re-using biosolids to rehabilitate Philadelphia's urban landscape

Idea

Explore Ideas

By Action

Grow
Use the Grow section to explore innovative methods for planting, growing, farming, harvesting, reforesting, and building productive landscapes. This Category covers subject areas like urban agriculture, community gardening, and urban forestry. Issues addressed include food security, soil science, nutrition, and the socioeconomic importance of safe food production.
Water
In this category, creative solutions for managing stormwater and street runoff appear side by side with irrigation systems, canals, and fountains. Water solutions for cities range from networks of streetside swales to small-footprint greenhouses occupying single vacant lots. Emphasis is placed on reducing impermeable surfaces in cities—these include rooftops, sidewalks, and traditionally paved surfaces like playgrounds and basketball courts.
Power
Alternative energy sources available in urban contexts include solar power, wind power, and biofuels. Efficient green-building solutions and varied methods of bioremediation—preparing polluted urban soil for other uses—also appear in this diverse Category.
Play
Public space, education, recreation, and safety are serious considerations for anyone rehabilitating urban vacant lots. Explore the Play Category to find inspiring designs combining all of these elements in parks, community centers, playgrounds, and alternative transportation systems.

By Scale

Lots
Small solutions can often be the most accessible for individuals and communities, while producing the greatest positive impact. Explore our solutions for Lots to find compact architectural structures, mobile education units, pocket gardens, greenhouses, hydroponic beds, and many other projects for pocket-sized spaces.
Lots of Lots
More space means bigger opportunities: long-term, large-scale operations working to fit the needs of entire neighborhoods. Lots of Lots collects examples of—and ideas for—rehabilitating former industrial sites, entire blocks, and other big vacant sites requiring complex planning. Projects like these offer city governments and corporations the chance to support communities through funding, operational support, and policy change.
Corridors
Building Corridors brings together populations, businesses, and neighborhoods never before in close contact. Explore this Category to learn how urban networks of all kinds—from bicycle lanes to trail systems to small-scale barter economies—can capitalize on vacant properties to effect citywide change.

By City

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