Group items tagged

Thomas, Michael R. "A GIS-based decision support system for brownfield redevelopment." Landscape and Urban Planning 58, 1 (2002): 7-23. "To evaluate land use options with respect to brownfields inventory, characterization, and potential for redevelopment, both government and private decision makers need access to information regarding land capability; development incentives; public goals, interests, and preferences; and environmental concerns such as site contamination and environmental quality. This article discusses a decision support system that provides access to state, regional, and local geospatial databases, several informational and visualization tools, and assumptions useful in providing a better understanding of issues, options, and alternatives in redeveloping brownfields. The resultant decision support system is augmented by a unique geographic information systems-based land use modeling application as an integrated expert system." (from abstract)

Walker, Chris, Sarah Rankin, and Francisca Winston. "New Approaches to Comprehensive Neighborhood Change: Replicating and Adapting LISC's Building Sustainable Communities Program." New York, NY: LISC, 2010. In 2006, LISC issued in-house requests for proposals to select 10 cities to participate in the Building Sustainable Communities program, a national expansion of its comprehensive approach to community development, which it had piloted in Chicago through the New Communities Program (NCP). Adopting the core elements of comprehensive community development in a varied set of cities would further test the ability of the approach to offer transferrable lessons for LISC and the field as a whole. This report by LISC's Research and Assessment team is the first installment of a long-term assessment of how the NCP platform has been replicated in the first 10 demonstration cities of the Sustainable Communities program. The authors conclude that a large majority of the 38 neighborhoods involved in Sustainable Communities are replicating the NCP model, based on examining the following elements: * Target neighborhoods and their challenges * Supportive and effective community leadership * Quality-of-life planning and comprehensive programs * Intermediation and systemic support "Some sites are blessed with ample foundation support for neighborhood development; others less so. In some neighborhoods, leadership is highly concentrated in one of two organizations that work well together; in others, leadership is diffuse and fractious. Nevertheless, the approach has proven adaptable enough to work well across different neighborhoods in Chicago. Can it be adapted to different neighborhood and city contexts simultaneously?" The report's findings are based on the LISC research staff's review of program documents, neighborhood-level statistics, and reports from LISC staff members and technical assistance consultants.

Wiechmann, Thorsten (2008). Errors Expected - Aligning Urban Strategy with Demographic Uncertainty in Shrinking Cities. International Planning Studies, 13(4), 431-446. Abstract: "At the beginning of the 21st century, the majority of Europe's cities experienced a population decrease. Dealing with the results of demographic, economic and physical contraction processes and planning for the future of considerably smaller but nevertheless livable cities presents some of the most challenging tasks for urban Europe in the near future. This article highlights the example of Dresden in Eastern Germany, where the breakdown of the state-directed economy caused economic decline, industrial regression, and high unemployment rates. Due to out migration and decreasing birth rates, the city lost 60,000 of its 500,000 residents within one decade. As a consequence, there were housing and office vacancies as well as infrastructure oversupplies. Yet the administrative system was still directed towards growth objectives throughout the 1990s. Only after 2000 this situation changed dramatically. The new strategic plan for Dresden is no longer growth oriented. Instead, it focuses on a model of the compact 'European city', with an attractive urban centre, reduced land consumption, and a stable population. However, in another unexpected turn of events, within the last seven years the city has experienced an unexpected growth of 25,000 residents. Surprisingly, processes of suburbanization have turned into processes of reurbanization. Today in Dresden, areas of shrinkage and decline are in close proximity to prospering and wealthy communities. The strategic challenge is to deal with this patchwork while accepting that the future remains unpredictable. Hence, strategic flexibility becomes more important than the strategy itself. To a certain extent rational analysis and error prevention is displaced by preparedness, robustness, and resilience as key qualifications of planning in shrinking c

Brophy, Paul and Vey, Jennifer, 2002. "Seizing City Assets: Ten Steps to Urban Land Reform," The Brookings Institution, October 2002. http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/reports/2002/10metropolitanpolicy_brophy/brophyveyvacantsteps.pdf Introduction: "One of a city's greatest assets is its available land for development. Unfortunately, many cities have land and properties that are vacant, abandoned, or under-used, with few policies and regulations in place to convert these assets into valuable, revenue-generating sites. This brief outlines ten action steps that state and local governments can follow to facilitate the development of urban land and buildings. Compiling an inventory of vacant parcels, planning for the assembly and reuse of land, and working to eliminate the many legal and administrative barriers to acquisition and development are just some of the actions the authors recommend for creating a more transparent, efficient, and effective system for private-market land development. The brief will discuss these and other proposed steps, and will highlight examples of successful practices implemented in states and localities throughout the U.S."

Cleveland Community Research Partners and ReBuild Ohio. (2008). "$60 Million and Counting: The Cost of Vacant and Abandoned Properties to Eight Ohio Cities." Executive Summary: "This research documents the magnitude and cost of the vacant and abandoned properties problem in eight Ohio cities Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Ironton, Lima, Springfield, Toledo, Zanesville. The research found: * 25,000 vacant and abandoned properties * Widespread vacancies in both large and small cities * $15 million in annual city service costs * $49 million in cumulative lost property tax revenues to local governments and school districts * Weakened neighborhood housing markets with evidence of property flipping * Limited capacity of cities, on their own, to track and address vacant and abandoned properties