From empty to extraordinary buildings. Transforming under-used buildings and spaces into vibrant, sustainable communities, with sufficiency and circularity at heart.
Revitalizing forgotten spaces
EUfunded project SpaceUp takes off to turn vacant buildings and areas into beautiful, sustainable, inclusive communities. In the coming three years (2026-2029), SpaceUp with the involvement of 8 partners and under coordination of Fraunhofer ISI (Germany) will unveil circular solutions for Europe’s urban, peri-urban and rural space crisis, piloting sufficiency-driven urban regeneration across Europe for maximal societal impact and policy relevance.
A specific focus will be put on three pilot regions: Lille in France, Barcelona in Spain and North West Croatia – SpaceUp will improve the mapping of under-used spaces to understand what Transformation opportunities exist in each area.
Vacant and under-utilised spaces represent a major potential in Europe’s built environment, despite housing shortages in cities and depopulation in rural areas, over 30% of EU buildings are estimated to be under-occupied (1).
The Horizon-funded project SpaceUp responds to growing pressures on land use, where competing needs — from environmental protection, climate adaptation, and water management to housing, business, and social activities — must be met within limited spatial resources.
The project will answer sufficiency-related goals outlined in the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and the Circular Economy Action Plan by developing innovative methodologies to map and quantify under-utilised spaces, testing and validating sufficiency measures in diverse neighbourhoods, and overcoming non-technical barriers.
Current approaches have largely focused on technological and procedural optimisation, achieving incremental improvements but leaving the underlying systemic challenges unresolved.
SpaceUp will address the critical gap by transferring this knowledge into practical, real-world applications that enable local administrations and planning agencies to implement sufficiency measures effectively.
So what can be expected exactly?
On the ground research with Lille Métropole, North West Croatia and the Barcelona Metropolitan Area where regional partners will co-design neighbourhood pilot activities within diverse governance models, spatial typologies and socio-political contexts by targeting and transforming outdated industrial zones, underused urban areas, and vacant rural and peri-urban spaces areas into beautiful, sustainable, and inclusive neighbourhoods that integrate spaces for living, working, caring, and playing. The pilots show various symptoms found in many European areas: urban sprawl, car-dependent areas, ageing population, abandoned buildings and former industrial areas and a deep need for housing spaces and revitalization, to attract workers (and organisations) and families.
SpaceUp is prioritising sufficiency at various levels; at the research level with sufficiency principles and the circular economy in the built environment by delivering new conceptual frameworks, comprehensive datasets and innovative methodologies; on a planning level by developing and validating multi-layered mapping tools and sufficiency-scoring systems that allow municipalities and planners to identify, assess and optimise under-utilised spaces; as well as on a social level, by focusing on inclusive, beautiful neighbourhoods that will raise public familiarity with and acceptance of sufficiency concepts, embedding well-being at the heart of regeneration efforts. It is essential to ensure that sufficiency measures promote equity and do not exacerbate existing social disadvantages.
“For SpaceUp, sufficiency is not simply about using less space; it is understood as a social innovation that changes how we organise spaces, think about it and act together. By connecting research with practical implementation, we aim to enable communities and public authorities to make better use of what is already there — in ways that are inclusive, sustainable and responsive to local needs.” — Dr Elisabeth Dütschke, SpaceUp project coordinator.
Note (1) ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/interactive-publications/housing-2025
