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5 Urban Vacant Land: Levels of Urban Vacant Land

5.1 This sections focuses exclusively on urban vacant land, its levels over the past 5 years and its location within Scotland. As previously stated, urban vacant land is land which is unused for the purposes for which it is held and is viewed as an appropriate site for development. The land must either have had prior development on it or preparatory work has taken place in anticipation of future development. Unlike derelict land, urban vacant land is generally not in need of rehabilitation before new development can commence.

5.2 Table 9 (overleaf) shows the amount of urban vacant land in Scotland, split by local authority for the years 2002-2006. Chart 6 shows the ten councils with the highest amount of urban vacant land in 2006. In 2006, there were 2,905 hectares of urban vacant land recorded in Scotland. Glasgow City has the most urban vacant land with 595 hectares, followed by North Lanarkshire (344 hectares) and then North Ayrshire (200 hectares). In 2006, the largest piece of urban vacant land in Scotland in 2006 was the Bellsdyke Hospital site in Falkirk, (40 hectares) followed by a site at Mugiemoss Road in Aberdeen City (30 hectares) and the Interlink Industrial Estate site in North Lanarkshire (25 hectares).

Chart 6: Urban Vacant land by local authority, 2006

Table 9: Total urban vacant land ¹ by local authority area, 2002-2006 ²

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding
2. See Annex Table E for details of council participation in different years.
3. During 2006, historical data for the years 2002-2005 was revised to remove sites that had been taken out of the survey for definitional reasons and to correct any other previous errors highlighted in the 2006 survey returns. Further information on this process is available in the Annex along with unamended historical data for the survey years of 1996-2001.

5.3 Table 9 shows that in 2002 there were 2,982 hectares of urban vacant land in Scotland. This figure has fallen and risen in the intermediate period to 2,905 hectares by 2006 (an overall net decrease of 77 hectares). A small number of councils did not participate in every survey between 2002-2006. In those cases, the most recent available data have been used to provide an estimate for the appropriate year.

5.4 Changes in the amount of urban vacant land in Scotland shows a greater variation at the council level. The largest actual decreases in the amount of recorded urban vacant land occurred in North Lanarkshire (down 148 hectares) and Highland (down 58 hectares). The largest actual increases in recorded urban vacant land occurred in Argyll & Bute (up 114 hectares) and North Ayrshire (up 52 hectares).

5.5 Looking at the 6 councils with the most urban vacant land in 2002, Chart 7 (overleaf) shows the change since 2002 in total levels of urban vacant land.

5.6 Glasgow City has consistently had the highest amount of urban vacant land in Scotland for the period 2002-2006. This authority had 594 hectares of urban vacant land in 2002, remaining virtually unchanged overall by 2006, with 595 hectares reported. In contrast to Glasgow City, North Lanarkshire has seen a clear decrease in its level of urban vacant land during the past 5 years. 491 hectares of urban vacant land were recorded within

Chart 7: Total Level of Urban Vacant Land in top 6 local authorities, 2002-2006

North Lanarkshire in 2002, decreasing to 344 hectares by 2006. The remaining 4 councils in the above chart have split both ways in the past 5 reporting years. Highland and South Lanarkshire have shown clear decreases in the total amount of urban vacant land within their boundaries. There was a drop of 58 hectares in Highland, from 208 hectares in 2002 to 151 hectares by 2006. South Lanarkshire had a drop of 45 hectares, from 167 hectares in 2002 to 122 hectares by 2006. On the other hand, Dundee City and Renfrewshire have more urban vacant land recorded in 2006 than 2002. In Dundee City's case, the increase is smaller, rising from 187 hectares in 2002 to 195 hectares by 2006. Renfrewshire has gone from 164 hectares in 2002 to 199 hectares by 2006.

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