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P R O F I L E
Transforming neglected urban spaces Detroit is one of many cities that could benefit from sustainably repurposing deteriorated and unused spaces with urban redevelopment.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
example, an empty lot in a park-poor neighborhood can be repurposed as green parkland that serves as open space for residents, a playground for children, and a means for abating stormwater runoff. For example, recent research focuses on Detroit, where Newell is collaborating with other faculty on a project that examines how vacant land parcels in urban settings may be repurposed to improve mo- bility, reduce stormwater overflow events, and en- hance local air quality. Another research project involves mapping the crisscrossing urban footpaths created by residents who walk through Detroit’s abandoned, unpaved lots. This mapping project is intended to provide policymakers with critical information about the current uses of the vacant parcels before decisions on land redevelopment are made. “Detroit has a great opportunity to become more sustainable because it has tremendous land re- sources – much of which are underutilized,” New- ell says. “The city is trying to think creatively about how to reinvent itself by repurposing this land for agriculture and green infrastructure. That infra- structure could be used for parks and open space, as well as the abatement of stormwater, which is a source of pollution for rivers and nearby aquatic ecosystems.” “Detroit has a great opportunity to become more sustainable because it has tremendous land resources – much of which are underutilized.”
B ack alleys, vacant lots, and forgotten urban spaces hold great potential for fostering more sustainable cities, if they can be reimagined and transformed into multidimensional green infra- structures that deliver environmental, social, and economic benefits. “We can be more strategic in these redevelopment efforts. There’s much greater potential to achieve simultaneous benefits by repurposing neglected urban spaces with more than just one pillar of sustainability in mind.” THE MANY FACES OF SUSTAINABILITY. “Traditionally, city planning around green urban redevelopment has been driven by one agency with a single agenda, so there’s been little focus on trying to achieve mul- tiple objectives,” says Joshua Newell, assistant pro- fessor at the School of Natural Resources and En- vironment at the University of Michigan. “We can be more strategic in these redevelopment efforts. There’s much greater potential to achieve simul- taneous benefits by repurposing neglected urban spaces with more than just one pillar of sustain- ability in mind.” Much of Newell’s urban sustainability research fo- cuses on developing new models for what he de- scribes as coupling multiple ecosystem servic- es within a single redeveloped urban space. For
Joshua Newell,
Assistant Professor, University of Michigan
See URBAN SPACES, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER February 8, 2016, ISSUE 1138
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