Interim reuse in urban derelicts: uncovering the community's attitudes and preferences through scenario-elicitation

Abstract

Over the last decades, interim reuse has emerged as a possible solution for vacant land and abandoned spaces in cities. It is presented as an alternative to conventional regeneration projects, opening up new possibilities for the occupation of formerly derelict spaces. However, in addition to such opportunities, it also poses a number of risks which need to be mitigated, calling for new mechanisms that foster the consultation and participation of communities within the scope of urban planning. The present research seeks to fill this gap by introducing scenario-elicitation, an innovative participation methodology, which relies on new visualisation and communication techniques in planning. Application of the methodology to an abandoned industrial lot in Barreiro – a shrinking city in the suburban belt of Lisbon, Portugal – yielded the following conclusions: (i) scenario-elicitation constitutes a potential tool for the consultation of communities, as a complement to other visualisation and communication techniques in planning; (ii) interim reuse is embraced by communities as a useful device to respond to vacancy and urban abandonment situations; (iii) citizens' adherence to types of interim reuse is geared, primarily, towards collective space options linked to healthy living practices and the combination of different functional and spatial assets.