Why Cemeteries Run Out of Space

Cemeteries are finite businesses: once all plots of land are sold and utilized, they can no longer generate revenue from sales and must rely solely on the perpetual care fund for maintenance. This is a growing urban planning issue.

1. Legal and Zoning Constraints

• Expansion: Expanding a cemetery often requires acquiring adjacent land, which in urban areas is prohibitively expensive or simply unavailable due to development and zoning restrictions.
• Land Use: Burial grounds are permanent. Unlike other properties, the land cannot be repurposed or built upon once interments have occurred, locking in the space usage indefinitely.

2. The Traditional Burial Model

Traditional full-casket burial requires significant space—an average of 20 to 30 square feet per person when factoring in walkways and monument area. As populations grow, the demand for this large amount of space quickly outstrips supply.

3. The Shift to Cremation (The Mitigation Factor)

While running out of casket burial space is common, cemeteries are adapting by focusing on cremation.

• Columbaria/Niches: Columbaria allow a cemetery to inter hundreds of urns vertically in the space of a few traditional burial plots, effectively expanding their capacity without acquiring more land.
• Cremation Plots: Dedicated cremation plots are much smaller than casket plots, allowing for a higher density of remains burial.
• Mausoleums: Above-ground entombment (mausoleums) also provides high-density casket burial and cremation storage.

The Future

Urban cemeteries focus heavily on vertical expansion (mausoleums and columbaria) and higher-density cremation options to extend their usable lifespan. Once a cemetery reaches "full capacity" (all interment rights are sold), it transitions solely into a memorial park dedicated to permanent maintenance and visitation.