Figure 1
Data preparation methodology flowchart.
Table 1
Metadata of municipal datasets: year range, size, source and attributes.
| CITY | PERIOD OF DEMOLITION DATA COLLECTION | DATASETS MERGED | NUMBER OF BUILDINGS BEFORE THE SECOND MERGE | NUMBER OF BUILDINGS IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS | SOURCE | ATTRIBUTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boulder, CO | 1997–2024 | ‘Ownership Parcels’; ‘Construction Permits’ | 300 | 122 | City of Boulder Open Data Hub (City of Boulder Open Data n.d.) | Core attributes, use |
| Cambridge, MA | 2000–16 | ‘Cambridge Property Database’; ‘Demolition Permits’ | 111 | 84 | City of Cambridge Open Data Portal (n.d.) | Condition, Core attributes Geographical coordinates Land and property value Material type Number of floors Roof type Zoning, style, use |
| Los Angeles, CA | 2013–23 | ‘Assessor Parcel Data’; ‘Demolition Permits’ | 2,029 | 818 | County of Los Angeles Open Data (n.d.) | Core attributes Geographical coordinates Land and property value Number of floors Zoning, use |
| Lynchburg, VA | 2000–24 | ‘Parcels’ | 139 | 103 | City of Lynchburg GIS Portal (City of Lynchburg Open Data n.d.) | Core attributes Geographical coordinates Land and property value, use |
| Minneapolis, MN | 2016–24 | ‘Assessing Parcel Data’; ‘Construction Code Permits’ | 174 | 171 | Open Data Minneapolis (OpenDataMPLS n.d.) | Core attributes Geographical coordinates Land and property value Material type Number of floors Roof type Zoning, use |
| New York City, NY | 2000–24 | ‘Property Valuation and Assessment Data Tax Classes 1 2 3 4’; ‘DOB Job Application Filings’ | 4,103 | 2,356 | NYC Open Data (City of New York Data n.d.) | Building height Core attributes Geographical coordinates Land and property value Number of floors Zoning, use |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 2019–24 | ‘PLI Permits’; ‘Assessor’ | 73 | 49 | Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center (Dataset—CKAN n.d.) | Condition Core attributes Number of floors Roof type, style, use |
| Raleigh, NC | 2018–24 | ‘Parcels’; ‘Building Permits’ | 208 | 132 | Raleigh Open Data (Open Data Raleigh n.d.) | Core attributes Geographical coordinates Land and property value Material type Number of floors, style, use |
| Seattle, WA | 2005–24 | ‘Parcels 1’; ‘Building Permits’ | 1,501 | 1,470 | Seattle Open Data Portal (Seattle GeoData n.d.) | Core attributes Geographical coordinates Zoning, use |
| Amsterdam | 2010–24 | ‘BAG’ (not able to share) | 3,378 | 2,776 | Data Amsterdam (Data en informatie n.d.) | Core attributes Number of floors, use |
| Copenhagen | 2017–24 | ‘BBRBygning’ | 1,383 | 696 | Datafordeleren (Datafordeler.dk n.d.) | Core attributes Geographical coordinates Roof type, exterior wall type, use |
| Zurich | 2008–24 | ‘Gebäude- und Wohnungsregister der Stadt Zürich (GWZ)’ | 5,326 | 4,057 | Open Data Stadt Zürich —City of Zurich (n.d.) | Core attributes Geographical coordinates Number of floors, use |
| Helsinki | 1974–2024 | Specialised dataset (not able to share) | 2,753 | 2,045 | City Survey Services (City Survey Services Helsinkin.d.) | Core attributes Geographical coordinates, use |
Figure 2
Count of demolished buildings in each construction and demolition period for (a) US and (b) European data.
Figure 3
Parameterised lifetime distribution functions for (a) US and (b) European cities.
Figure 4
Normal distribution of building lifetimes by cities in the US and Europe, 1974–2024.
Figure 5
Distribution of building lifetimes by use type in (a) the US and (b) Europe.
Figure 6
Age upon demolition across several design variables in various cities including: (a) structural material, (b) roof type and (c) exterior wall construction material.
Figure 7
Obsolescence curve of demolished buildings via a survivorship analysis of demolished buildings in the US and Europe broken down by (a) region, (b) use type in the US and (c) use type in Europe.