If you’ve ever worked in distressed communities, you’ve
faced the dilemma that there simply is no private market for what you want to
see built. You can chip away at the
problem of vacant land with thoughtful affordable housing developments or, if
you’re lucky, a new recreation center but by and large, large amounts of
vacancy remain and impact the psyche of those that live nearby. So working closely with residents, and really
listening, has sparked a whole new sub-discipline in our world of urban
planning and design - temporary use.
The shrinking cities movement shined a light on the potential of ad-hoc reuse and programming some time ago but so too has groups like the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
