Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey 2015

7 Derelict and Urban Vacant Land: Location relative to Deprivation

7.1 This section focuses on derelict and urban vacant land and where it is situated relative to the 15% most deprived datazones in Scotland (as identified by the 'Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation' ( SIMD 2012). The SIMD identifies small area concentrations of multiple deprivation across all of Scotland. It contains 38 indicators in seven domains: Current Income, Employment, Health, Education, Skills and Training, Geographic Access to Services, Housing and Crime. SIMD 2012 was published in December 2012.

Table 10: Derelict and Urban Vacant Land located within the 15% most deprived datazones, 2011-2015 ^1,2,3,4,5

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding.
2. 2011-2015 analysis uses the results of SIMD 2012 published in December 2012. These results should not be compared with those published in previous bulletins due to the updated SIMD index.
3. See Annex Table E for details of council participation in different years.
4. Further information on how this data was calculated is available in Annex Section A.8
5. During 2015, historical data for the years 2009-2014 were revised to remove sites that had been taken out of the survey for definitional reasons and to correct any revisions to the data highlighted in the 2015 survey returns. Further information on this process is available in the Annex along with un-amended historical data for the survey years of 1996-2008.

7.2 Table 10 shows the proportion of each local authority's datazones that are within Scotland's 15% most deprived, and the amount of derelict and urban vacant land that is situated within those datazones for the years 2011-2015. In 2011, 1,828 hectares of derelict and urban vacant land were situated within the 15% most deprived datazones. By 2015 this had decreased to 1,745 hectares. This represents 14% of all derelict and urban vacant land recorded in Scotland in 2015.

7.3 Glasgow City has the largest amount of derelict and urban vacant land located within the 15% most deprived datazones for each of the last 5 years. This figure has decreased by 69 hectares between 2011 and 2015 from 748 hectares to 679 hectares. North Lanarkshire has the second highest amount of derelict and urban vacant land located within the 15% most deprived datazones for 2015. This figure has dropped between 2011 and 2015 from 380 hectares to 375 hectares.

7.4 At the other end of the scale Moray, Na h-Eileanan Siar, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands have no datazones within Scotland's 15% most deprived, thus no derelict or urban vacant land could be recorded in Table 10. In addition to this, whilst Angus, East Lothian, Perth & Kinross and Scottish Borders do have datazones within Scotland's 15% most deprived, they did not have any derelict or urban vacant land situated within those areas in 2015.

Chart 3: Percentage of Derelict and Urban Vacant Land located within the 15% most deprived datazones, 2015

7.5 Chart 3 shows the amount of derelict and urban vacant land located within the 15% most deprived datazones in 2015, split by local authority. Glasgow City has the highest proportion, with 39% of all derelict and urban vacant land within the 15% most deprived datazones being located within this council's boundaries. North Lanarkshire is second; containing 21% of all derelict and urban vacant land located within the 15% most deprived datazones. Some distance behind those 2 councils lie North Ayrshire (6%) then Dundee City and South Lanarkshire (each with 5%) and Renfrewshire and Highland (each with 4%). Across Scotland as a whole, three fifths of all derelict and urban vacant land located within the 15% most deprived datazones are in either Glasgow City or North Lanarkshire.

7.6 Chart 4 draws together the analysis on people's proximity to derelict land in 2009, 2012 and 2015 and the information on deprivation levels contained within SIMD. Each deprivation decile is shown on the x-axis, decile 1 represents the 10% most deprived datazones in Scotland, through to decile 10, which represents the 10% least deprived datazones in Scotland. For each decile, the proportion of the total datazone population that lives within 500 metres of a derelict site in 2009, 2012 and 2015 is given.

7.7 A clear relationship can be seen in Chart 4, showing that as datazones get progressively less deprived, the proportion of their population that lives within 500 metres of a derelict site generally becomes smaller. This relationship holds for 2009, 2012 and 2015. The chart also shows that between 2009 and 2015, for the most deprived deciles, there are increases in the percentages of Scotland's population living within 500 metres of derelict land whereas for the least deprived deciles the opposite is true.

Chart 4: Percentage of Scotland's population living within 500 metres of Derelict Land by deprivation decile, 2009, 2012 & 2015 ¹

1. 2009 analysis uses 2008 mid-year population estimates and SIMD 2006 deciles, 2012 analysis uses 2011 mid-year estimates and SIMD 2009 deciles and 2015 analysis used 2014 mid-year population estimates and SIMD 2012 deciles.