Baltimore is undergoing a revitalization renaissance in many ways: creative development strategies such as Impact Investment neighborhoods, restarting the Red Line Light Rail project, and installation of new park spaces like Racheal Wilson Memorial Park, to name a few. But even as Baltimore’s citywide redevelopment is strong, the number of vacant lots has not significantly decreased. Some neighborhoods have upwards of 1.5 million square feet of public and private vacant land sitting idly, waiting to be transformed into community amenities and productive uses. But which vacant lots will best serve neighborhoods as active landscapes rather than developed property? 

 Smaller vacant lot groupings provide opportunities for local outdoor gatherings, community gardens, childhood motor and social skill development, and so much more. A variety of programs exist to support community investment in these landscape vacancies, such as BMore Beautiful grants through the Environmental Control Board, the Department of Housing and Community Development’s Adopt-A-Lot program, and urban agriculture tax credits. These programs help empower communities to invest in their neighborhood landscapes.  

Residents and organizations at times struggle with design, maintenance, and long-term needs for their greenspace projects, but the City of Baltimore has solutions available. 

This semester, in partnership with the Baltimore City Department of Planning (BCDOP), graduate students in the University of Maryland-College Park Landscape Architecture program are lending their expertise to devise strategies for creating affordable, iconic elements atop vacant lots. The central premise of this studio is to adapt patterns from the book “A Pattern Language,” which focuses on multi-scale opportunities for human interaction with built or natural environments, by renowned architect Christopher Alexander. These patterns can memorialize historical contexts while enhancing neighborhood identities and encouraging community interaction. The end goal of this collaboration is to compile a kit-of-parts for creating community-driven landscapes that reshape inactive, dull spaces into vibrant, safe community amenities. 

 In late October 2024, BC-DOP community planners Imani Jasper, Tarek Bolden, and Jazmin Kimble guided these three to four student cohorts on journeys around Broadway East, Harlem Park, and Curtis Bay, respectively. Students engaged with leaders from prominent cultural institutions and communities, visited greenspace success stories, and examined the variety of vacant lot typologies through notes, sketches, and photos.

Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture Deni Ruggeri noticed that students were energized by existing experimental projects, such as the Harlem Theatre and Filbert Street Farm during and after the neighborhood visits. Students also recognized the challenges in establishing a system of linked spaces, so they plan to integrate surrounding streets to serve as connections and collectors into their final design packages. 

 From PARK(ing) Day festivals at elementary schools to academic partnerships, civic collaborations like these between students and Baltimore City government are a necessary element in retaining and restoring Baltimore’s long-declining population. Investing in our youth means investing in their ideas. 

 If your school or organization has a group with a proposal to improve their community, please contact Danielle Bilot at Danielle.bilot@baltimorecity.gov for opportunities to bring their vision to reality!