📷 To reverse processing 🌳 To restore nature

to undevelop

1 8.1

Remove buildings or roads from land to make it more natural

verb
/ˌʌndɪˈvɛlɪp/

: revertir el desarrollo

After the factory closed, the town considered undeveloping the site to create a nature reserve.

Examples

Environmental groups support undeveloping certain areas to protect wildlife habitats.
They plan to undevelop the area to restore its natural habitat.
The city began undeveloping the old industrial waterfront to restore wetlands and public green space.
The city council has decided to undevelop the old industrial site.
The government plans to undevelop the area by removing the old factory and planting trees instead.
Efforts to undevelop the coastline included tearing down buildings to restore the natural habitat.
To combat pollution, the city decided to undevelop several industrial sites along the riverbank.

Synonyms

to reclaim

vsto undevelop

5 4.7

To make land or buildings useful again by fixing them

aims instead to remove development and return land to a natural state

to revegetate

vsto undevelop

Specialized

1 6.8

To make bare land grow plants again

focuses more broadly on removing built structures to return areas to nature

Antonyms

to develop

35 2.8

To make land or an area ready for a new use like shops

Surface Forms

undevelop infinitive

undeveloped past

undeveloped past participle

undeveloping present participle

undevelops third person singular

Morphology

undevelop = develop (semi-transparent) = un + develop

While 'un-' usually means to reverse an action, the meaning of 'undevelop' as returning land to a natural state is not a standard or fully predictable derivation.

Etymology

The word undevelop is built from the prefix un- ('not' or 'reverse') and the common verb develop ('to build or change land'). So to undevelop land is to undo development — to remove buildings or roads and give the area back to a more natural state.