Urban prairie
Urban prairie is a term coined to characterize large numbers of vacant lots in a formerly urban or suburban environment, arising as a result of widespread building demolition.
Urban prairies can result from several factors. The value of the properties may fall too low to provide financial incentives for their owners to maintain aging buildings. It may have resulted from deurbanization or crime. Vacant properties are seized by local government as response to unpaid property taxes and could be used for criminal activity, which tends to prompt demolition. Sometimes areas are cleared of buildings as part of an urban renewal scheme with the intention of redeveloping the land.
In flood-prone areas, government agencies may purchase developed lots and then demolish the structures to improve drainage during floods. Some neighborhoods near major industrial or environmental clean-up sites are acquired and leveled to create a buffer zone and minimize the risks associated with pollution or industrial accidents. Such areas may become nothing more than fields of overgrown vegetation, which then provide habitat for wildlife.
Urban prairie is sometimes planned by the government or non-profit groups for community gardens and conservation, to restore or reintroduce a wildlife habitat, help the environment, and educate people about the prairie.[1][2]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- "Detroit: In The Green Zone" Detailed historic overview of a Detroit "Urban Prairie", the "green zone" near the intersection of Joseph Campau and Gratiot Avenues.
