Vacant lots are a big and costly problem for many cities. Not only do these urban eyesores attract illegal dumping, but they also drive nearby property values down. The Van Alen Institute, however, believes that with the right creative minds, vacant lots can be reinvented into valuable city resources. To that end, they have launched Future Ground, a design competition that challenges multidisciplinary teams to create flexible design and policy strategies for reusing vacant land in New Orleans. The three winning teams will be awarded $15,000 each to participate in a six-month research and design process. The final design solutions should be implementable and replicable to various sites across New Orleans and will be used to catalyze change in cities worldwide.