Perception and preferred reuse of vegetated vacant lots along main streets in a shrinking city

Vacant land in cities is linked to generating insecurity and urban decline. However, vegetated vacant lots offer easy opportunities for reuse and have ecological, economic, and social potential. Four medium-sized vacant lots (0,7–1,5 ha) with spontaneous vegetation located along main streets in Ostrava (Czechia) have been purposefully selected for this study. Structured interviews (n = 383) were collected to assess the perception of passers-by and their reuse preferences for these lots. Structural equation models were then performed to test the effect of sociodemographic variables. This paper aims to evaluate whether vegetated vacant lots in a historic urban fabric are perceived as an asset or liability by visitors and to assess the prospects for a publicly-accepted reuse of such spaces in a shrinking Central European city. Results indicate that the selected lots are perceived ambivalently. Older visitors show a more positive perception of the vacant lots, while no significant gender differences were identified. Educated respondents visited the vegetated vacant lots less often and perceived them more negatively compared to their less educated counterparts. Policy implications are provided in the end.