Health Behavior and Health Equity

An overgrown vacant lot

$1.2M grant to support research on vacant lot reuse and community violence prevention

A new study led by University of Michigan School of Public Health researchers will examine the impact of high vacancy in urban areas on the rate of violence. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention provided a three-year grant of $1.2 million to investigate the short- and long-term effects of vacant lot reuse projects on total violent crime incidents and injury.

A vacant lot

Vacant lot greening can reduce community crime, violence

New research from Michigan Public Health

A three-year study was conducted by researchers at the U-M Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention and the Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center in Youngstown, Ohio, with the support from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These researchers studied the Busy Streets Theory and the greening hypothesis, which involves community engagement in vacant lots to help reduce crime and violence