Land vacancy is a persistent issue in most urban places in the United States, yet few case studies show how vacant lots are used in practice and the functions they serve in local communities. The purpose of this study is to optimize revitalization planning through an analysis of vacant land redevelopment alternatives and provide a design guideline for the Durant-Tuuri-Mott (DTM) Target Area in the shrinking city of Flint, MI. This study develops design modules in three development scenarios based on their implementation level: 100%, 75%, and 50% development scenarios, which fit different budgets and considers the local context to adopt different design modules. To generate a comprehensive master plan with a balanced distribution of modules, the study also analyzes the surrounding cultural, natural, and built environments and conducts community participant process by collecting residents and stakeholders' opinions. By utilizing landscape performance metrics to quantify the environmental, social, and economic benefits, this study identifies an ideal optimized development scenario with a comprehensive master plan for the reuse and redevelopment of vacant lots across DTM neighborhoods and analyzes the benefits of each redevelopment scenario. Furthermore, this study provides a flexible design method for balancing objectives in vacant land redevelopment, which can be applied in other shrinking cities as well.
Read
