Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey 2015

6 Derelict Land: People's Proximity to Derelict Land

6.1 This section focuses exclusively on derelict land and people's proximity to such sites throughout Scotland. In 2015 there were 1,965 derelict sites recorded in the SVDLS.

6.2 Table 8 shows the percentage of local authority population that is estimated to live within various distances of derelict land in 2015. This is an estimated measure of people's proximity to derelict land and not their exposure to it.

Table 8: Estimated percentage of local authority population living within various distances of Derelict Land, 2015 ^1,2,3

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding
2. Population figures used for each local authority are the latest mid-year estimates published by NRS (in this case 2014).
3. Further information on how this data was calculated is available in Annex Section A.7.

Map 1: Percentage of population within 500 metres of a Derelict Site, 2015

6.3 The map shows the estimated percentage of each local authority's population that lives with 500 metres of derelict land in 2015, based on the results from Table 8.

6.4 29.7% of Scotland's population is estimated to live within 500 metres of a derelict site. A further 24.9% live between 500 metres to less than 1,000 metres of a derelict site. The remaining 45.3% live at least 1,000 metres from a derelict site.

6.5 People's proximity to derelict land varies significantly at council level. For example, 61.8% of Glasgow's population lives within 500 metres of a derelict site, whereas the figures for Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh are 26.4%, 31.4% and 13.7% respectively. Other councils with an above-average proportion of their population living close to derelict land include North Lanarkshire (73.5%), West Dunbartonshire (64.0%) and North Ayrshire (39.5%). The population of the Orkney Islands is least likely to be living close to derelict land with only 0.6% within 500 metres of a derelict site.

6.6 Table 9 shows the estimated percentage of local authority population that lives within 500 metres of derelict land for the years 2009-2015. It also shows this proximity information for some long term derelict sites.

6.7 In 2009, an estimated 30.1% of Scotland's population lived within 500 metres of a derelict site. This has fallen slightly to 29.7% in 2015.

6.8 Between 2009 and 2013, the percentage of Scotland's population that lived within 500 metres of a site that has been derelict since before 1991 fell from 13.9% to 12.2%. For the years 2013 to 2015 the percentage of Scotland's population that live within 500 metres of a site that has been derelict since before 2001 fell from 16.4% to 15.7%. The only increases in proximity to pre-1991 and 2001 sites are usually caused either by the entry of "new" sites that have been derelict for a long time, or where old sites change type from vacant to derelict. New residential developments will also have a small effect. Those councils with the largest percentage of people within 500 metres of a site derelict before 2001 are West Dunbartonshire (42.3%), Glasgow City (40.6%), North Lanarkshire (34.0%) and Midlothian (29.0%).

6.9 The increase recorded in Orkney in 2010 was due to the appearance in the 2010 survey of numerous previously unrecorded sites, especially around Kirkwall. The decrease in 2014 is due to the removal of eight sites, seven for definitional reasons and one for retail development.

Table 9: Estimated percentage of local authority population living within 500 metres of Derelict Land, 2009-2015 ^1,2

1. Population figures used for each local authority for 2015 are the latest mid-year estimates published by NRS (in this case 2014).
2. Further information on how this data was calculated is available in Annex Section A.7.