Can 'land banks' help rebuild post-industrial U.S. cities?

Land banks are becoming more and more recognized as an effective tool to use in the fight against vacant and abandoned properties. New York's strong network of land banks continue to serve as a national model of bringing vacant properties back into productive use.

Buffalo Erie Niagra Land Improvement Coporation (BENLIC) "aims to take on the parcels of land it feels will have the biggest impact in a neighbourhood." Jocelyn Gordon, Executive Director of BENLIC, said "if there's a demolition on a lot in a marketable neighborhood, and we can strengthen that block, that's the most fulfilling part."

Visit the Thomson Reuters Foundation website to read more about BENLIC's approach to land banking and for a snapshot of land banks across the country.