The RurALL project addresses the challenge of rural depopulation in the Danube region by helping rural municipalities identify vacant buildings, engage local stakeholders and communities, and develop realistic renovation concepts supported by governance and financing solutions, aligned with the principles of the New European Bauhaus.
With the help of Periféria Research & Policy Center, we analysed vacant buildings mapped across 11 pilot areas in Central and Southeastern Europe. Periféria’s analysis includes revitalisation potential, 10-year depopulation projections, and local, national and EU policy recommendations. More on the methodology and findings below:
Territorial partners mapped about 40 buildings per area using a standardised methodology developed for the project. They captured key characteristics like condition, ownership, and infrastructure access. Buildings received revitalisation scores (1–7) across five dimensions: immediate usability, economic viability, social impact, environmental impact, and overall priority. These buildings formed the foundation for the analysis.
Using a common template, the partners gathered local socio-demographic data to understand population trends, employment patterns, and age structure. National-level data complemented these insights when needed, while linear models were applied to track population changes and housing vacancies over time, allowing a 10-year projection of developments in each locality.
Applying the same method to all 11 pilot areas allowed a comparative analysis of regions, identification of patterns, and highlighting buildings with the highest revitalisation potential. What this ensured is that every mapped building was evaluated systematically, transparently, and comparably, giving policymakers, local communities, and stakeholders a reliable basis for strategic planning and revitalisation efforts.
You can read the analysis, complemented by policy recommendations, here.
What follows is designing business model development tools that will allow municipalities in the region to act on these findings and reverse depopulation trends.