The shrinking of open spaces has put the future of cemeteries in jeopardy.
Credit: Jakob Christensen/flickr
Across North America, Asia and parts of Europe, burial real estate is at a premium as many continue to bury their dead in an ever-shrinking number of available grave plots.
Urban planners around the world have been calling out to address the shortage of burial space and urging people to get creative when it comes to accommodating their remains.
‘[Dying] is extremely expensive.’ – Nicole Hanson, cultural planner
“Death is now an equity issue for those in the GTA and Toronto. We are going to be out of space in five to 10 years,” says Nicole Hanson, a cultural planner who specializes in cemetery urbanism.
Hanson says when a city runs out of space to bury the dead, it creates an elite system of who has access to be buried in a cemetery.
“The extremely wealthy will be able to dictate this narrative and say, ‘Well, I can afford to be buried downtown, I can afford to have a house downtown.’”
This is so true. Cemetery space is running out and getting very expensive. My father bought a lot in the Santa Barbara Cemetery 25 years ago for $400. I tried to buy my mother a lot next to his this year, it was offered at $23,000. Needless to say, her ashes got scattered at her house.