system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why, in both providing housing and places of business, is there so much new building instead of restoring all the empty and boarded up ones?

UK based but it may be an international trend, so all answers are interesting :)
gpt
In general it is much easier, faster, and cheaper to knockdown an abandoned building and rebuild it than it is to refurbish it.

When a building is abandoned, there will usually be a cascade of problems, leaks, water damage, mold, structural weakening, etc. Rather than have to individually repair these costly problems, it's usually much more cost effective to bulldoze and rebuild.