Manufacturing decline and population loss have saddled many post-industrial American cities with massive amounts of vacant land. In Philadelphia, once a hub of industrial activity, tens of thousands of abandoned and underused parcels are scattered throughout the city. Maps of this vacant land reveal the extent and spatial patterning of the problem.

Azavea’s Megan Heckert and I participated in a re-imagining of Philadelphia’s vacant land during the Greening the Post-Industrial City conference, held at the Academy of Natural Sciences in late April. The conference, sponsored by Drexel University’s Engineering Cities Initiative, brought together stakeholders from the government, academic, nonprofit, and business worlds to discuss the future of Philadelphia’s landscape.

The topics of conversation ranged from reclaiming brownfields for industrial reuse, to transforming vacant residential lots into community gardens and farms, to rediscovering and redeveloping underused transit hubs throughout the city. A great many attendees were also extremely interested in one of our colleagues’ — Aaron Ogle — research project on mapping walkability in the city.

Left: Palmer Park. Right: Southwark Gardens. Beneath: Vacant Lot. Photos by Dana Bauer

Nearly all the speakers and panelists emphasized the importance of finding sustainable solutions to the problem of vacant land — solutions that are eco-friendly, promote economic growth, and address the concerns and interests of community members. A crucial part of the process, said keynote speaker Mark Alan Hughes, the Mayor’s (former) Director of Sustainability, is developing mechanisms for accountability, including web-based tools that allow citizens to view and track public investment in redevelopment.

Throughout the conference, Megan and I listened to the ideas and goals of the stakeholders and explored ways GIS, mapping technologies, and data visualization could facilitate the re-imaging of idle lands and make Philadelphia a better, greener place.