VPR Network curates the latest research on the devastating impacts of blighted properties on communities and engages with policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to examine innovative strategies and initiatives that prevent, abate, and reclaim vacant homes, abandoned buildings, and vacant lots. By building this knowledge base, the VPR Network helps redefine the direction of the vacant properties movement and promotes a shared understanding of how communities can reverse property abandonment, address blight, and reinvest in the future of their neighborhoods and residents.
Through our working groups and many collaborative research projects, our case studies, special reports, and translation briefs engage local officials and civic and community leaders in a joint discovery of knowledge of what works and what needs to be improved. The VPR Network’s collaborative approach helps us and participants embrace the complexity and varied viewpoints among researchers, practitioners, and community advocates from differing places and backgrounds.
Our latest efforts examine the wide range of urban greening strategies, define the many dimensions and definitions of blight, offer insight into strategic approaches to code enforcement, and explore the public health dimensions of addressing blight.