Urban prairie

Urban prairie is a term coined to characterize large swaths of vacant city lots, typically with grass planted on them. Urban prairie results from widespread building demolition, common in areas subject to extensive urban decay. These areas are not the same as a true, natural prairie.

The extensive demolition that creates urban prairie can result from several factors. The value of the properties may become too low to provide financial incentive for their owners to maintain their buildings. Frequently this is due to high crime rates in the area. Some properties eventually may become abandoned. Some may be owned by the local government as response to unpaid property taxes. Abandoned buildings may be used for criminal activity, which tends to prompt property demolition. [Detroit News, [http://detnews.com/specialreports/2001/elmhurst/thulead/thulead.htm] ] In areas that are prone to flooding, government agencies may purchase or "buy-out" developed lots and then demolish structures so that they do not interfere with drainage during a flood event. Sometime communitites that are near major industrial or polluted areas are abandoned or bought-out 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 can then provide habitat for wildlife, whose populations start to increase.

Urban prairie is sometimes planned by the government or non-profit groups for conservation, to restore or reintroduce a wildlife habitat, help the environment, and educate people about the prairie. [City of Des Moines, [http://www.dmgov.org/departments/PR/Urban_prairie.htm] ] [Missouri Conservation News, [http://www.mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2001/08/40.htm] ]

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External links

* [http://detnews.com/specialreports/2001/elmhurst/thulead/thulead.htm Detroit News] article on urban prairie
* [http://www.detnews.com/specialreports/2000/vacant/ Detroit News] Series on vacant properties in Detroit

References