Putting vacant space to use
A use for idle, vacant and interim land in an era of population decline
Urban farms turn the vacant lots multiplying under population decline — and land idle before redevelopment — into valuable places at low cost. They suit easy-to-remove movable setups and work well as an interim use that bridges a site to its next phase.
196 related cases
Cases where this shows up
Minna no Uen Kitakagaya
JPOsaka, Japan
A flagship case of turning a vacant lot in Suminoe, Osaka into a community farm as interim pre-development use (opened 2012), linking a landowner's idle property to creative placemaking.
greenz.jp+1
Minna no Uen Kitakagaya Farm 2
JPOsaka, Japan
The second Kitakagaya Minna no Uen site (2013), turning a former bathhouse and cultural housing of about 500 sqm into a larger community farm with ~33 plots and a kitchen studio.
minnanouen.jp+1
Osanpo Batake rental gardens by Akisuke Nagata, Hyogo and Nagata Wards, Kobe
JPKobe (兵庫区・長田区), Japan
A come-empty-handed rental garden run at two sites in Kobe — Kanda-cho in Hyogo Ward and Komagabayashi-cho in Nagata Ward — by Akisuke Nagata, a group that turns vacant houses and lots into neighbourhood assets. Its distinguishing feature is that vegetable waste and prunings are recycled into compost with a local type-B employment support workshop rather than incinerated, with the goal of getting people to use fully matured "craft compost", made entirely from local plant material and inputs, as a matter of course.
compost.smartkobe-portal.com+1
Common Roots Urban Farm (Halifax)
CAHalifax, Canada
A community garden and productive green space that began in 2012 as interim use of downtown Halifax hospital land. With around 240 plots, it is a place where residents grow food and connect.
commonrootsurbanfarm.ca+1
Indonesia Berkebun (National Community Gardening Movement)
IDJakarta, Indonesia
Originated as 'Jakarta Berkebun' from an October 2010 Twitter call by architect Ridwan Kamil and collaborators. The first planting on 20 February 2011 drew about 150 people, and the movement spread to 14 cities within six months, becoming a national urban-farming community network.
id.wikipedia.org+1
Minna no Uen Neyagawa
JPNeyagawa, Osaka, Japan
A roughly 300 sqm community farm on a former residence in Neyagawa, Osaka, with 30 individual 6 sqm plots and a kitchen salon in a renovated old house.
minnanouen.jp+1
Supporting research
Meanwhile Use for London
A GLA report institutionalising 'meanwhile use' of vacant land/units awaiting development, presenting support via competitions, guidance, land provision and time-limited change-of-use permissions for interim community uses including gardens.
Greater London Authority, Arup · 2022 · Greater London Authority (GLA)
The meanwhile lease: enabling temporary community use of vacant property
The 'meanwhile lease' lets landlords grant short-term use to voluntary groups while keeping ownership and the right to recover the site; an intermediary provides standard contracts and insurance to make interim use legal and smooth.
Meanwhile Foundation · 2013 · Meanwhile Foundation (UK)
Vacancy as Precarious Property in Dublin's Temporary Urbanism Moment
Critical account of Dublin's 2008–2017 temporary-urbanism moment showing how the post-crash possibilities for community/garden uses of vacant land were foreclosed by governmental interventions that re-secured property relations, withdrawing interim uses once the market recovered.
Cian O'Callaghan · 2024 · Antipode
空き地を活用したコミュニティガーデンの価値とその創出要因の解明
A paper clarifying the value of community gardens created on vacant land and the factors that generate that value; focusing on intergenerational exchange and collaborative activity, it analyzes the effects of reusing vacant spaces in complexes and neighborhoods on local community.
· 2025 · 日本建築学会計画系論文集 90巻832号 pp.1219-1230