The Adaptive Reuse Handbook

The dynamics of change in the uses and occupancy characteristics of cities has caught urban managers off guard. The abandonment of central city realty in many locations is a fact which cannot be overlooked. Yet within this reality, there are the seeds of hope, not of return to things past, but to a series of new constructive efforts. Bridging the gap between the city and/or neighborhood of yesterday and the potentials of tomorrow requires a firm grasp of all the many required tools - in terms of legal, physical and strategic planning. It is to these necessities that this handbook is dedicated.The Adaptive Reuse Handbook is a basic urban revitalization manual for city managers, zoning administrators, urban planners, architects, lay planning/zoning board members, and interested citizens. The handbook consists of procedures to gain control of, and positively reemploy, abandoned urban real estate. This is the non-architectural side of surplus property conversion - the legal and administrative procedures necessary to garner structures and land and prepare them for reuse.This book is divided into four sections: planning/inventory; property control; property management and disposition; and physical revitalization. Each section presents procedures and field experience to deal with a particular urban revitalization activity: property inventory, abandonment early warning systems, reuse planning, interim/permanent property control, tax sale/foreclosure, property management, property disposition, and physical revitalization. This is a must have reference work for anyone in the field of urban studies.