The study - funded by the BML (Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management) - aims to record the existing knowledge on the typification, survey and reactivation of vacant properties in city and town centres and to make it available to active and future vacancy managers in Austrian municipalities and regions in a comprehensive reference tool. The key to the study is the combination of the research team's expertise with the practical experience of vacancy pioneers and vacancy professionals. Through a sophisticated process design, the knowledge from research and practice has been synthesised, reflected upon and improved in feedback rounds, leading to an application-oriented handbook as the result of the study.