Using suitability analysis to prioritize demolitions in a legacy city

摘要

Abandoned properties are a significant problem facing legacy cities. Given historic and ongoing population losses, many legacy cities turn to demolitions as one solution to their surplus property problems. Unfortunately, cities lack the resources needed to demolish all of the buildings that should arguably come down. Determining which properties should receive highest priority is a difficult task. Therefore, this paper presents an empirical method, based on basic suitability analysis, for prioritizing demolitions citywide. Using Youngstown, Ohio as an example, every vacant property in the city was assigned a demolition score based on four factors: property characteristics, vacancy, neighborhood potential, and crime. Properties with higher scores were deemed stronger candidates for timely demolition. In addition to prioritizing demolitions, the proposed method can facilitate the creation of hotspot maps of proposed demolitions, and a per se strategic demolition plan.