An international competition called Future Ground has kicked off through the Van Alen Institute and the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, as they search for groups with A+ ideas on how to reuse the abundance of vacant lots and abandoned structures around town. No stranger to promoting the reuse of empty lots, NORA's executive director Jeff Hebert said, "We have activated over a thousand properties for urban agriculture, gardens, expansion of resident's lots, and stormwater management—but with thousands of vacant lots remaining citywide, a significant opportunity still remains. This initiative will help us scale these efforts and create precedents for other cities to creatively and sustainably reuse vacant land." In October, three winning teams will get $15,000 to start off the six-month long research and design process. They'll collab with local stakeholders and national experts and hash out the big ideas and challenges. The final presentations will wrap up next spring with the release of the final report happening in June 2015. As always, stay tuned.
· Future Ground—Van Alen Institute [official site]
· New Orleans Redevelopment Authority [official site]
· NORA coverage [Curbed NOLA]
Filed under: