Liang Chen and Maria Manta Conroy Publish “Vacant urban land temporary use and neighborhood sustainability”

The PhD candidate and associate professor of city and regional planning published their research in the Journal of Urban Affairs.

Liang Chen and Maria Manta Conroy Publish “Vacant urban land temporary use and neighborhood sustainability”

PhD candidate Liang Chen and Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning Maria Manta Conroy have published “Vacant urban land temporary use and neighborhood sustainability: A comparative study of two Midwestern cities” in the Journal of Urban Affairs. Their study used a statistical approach in order to explore how vacant land and its temporary use are associated with neighborhood sustainability measures. They focused on two large Midwestern cities: Chicago, Illinois and Columbus, Ohio. 

The two primary findings are: First, vacant land ratio reduction and temporary use, while associated with improvement of some neighborhood sustainability measures, may raise concerns with others. This suggests a comprehensive consideration balancing the effects across all three dimensions of neighborhood sustainability in vacant land repurposing practice and further studies. Moreover, this study highlights that high-quality temporary use, especially related to greening activities, if managed appropriately, could significantly contribute to sustainable neighborhood development. The findings expand the understanding of vacant land and temporary use, encouraging further studies and helping build more robust theories guiding vacant land repurposing practice.

Read more at the Journal of Urban Affairs