The public value of vacant urban land

In contemporary cities there is a range of spaces leftover from development, undeveloped or spaces abandoned post-development, derelict. These lie dormant between other functional spaces of the city, voids in-between the built urban environment that surrounds them. Often these are also temporary spaces: in-between what was there before and what will soon come. This temporary character may, however, be seen as permanent, for instance in the eyes of a generation of children growing up playing in leftover spaces over the period of a decade. This paper will investigate whether there is value in such spaces for everyday life and public space in the city. It will examine and determine their function in terms of three factors: ecological value, social value and open space value. It will highlight implications for planning policy, as well as funding, ownership and management issues.