I live in a large city and often walk by cemeteries surrounded by buildings. What happens to those cemeteries when they are at capacity?
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It will depend on the cemetery you are looking at in particular.
In some, when the cemetery is full, then that is that – the existing space will be preserved as it is (often with additional burials in existing plots, where families wish to be buried together), and the cemetery will be extended or a new one opened up elsewhere to continue.
In other places, cemeteries are emptied periodically. In Singapore for example land is at a premium, so burial is temporary – for a period of 15 years. After that time the bodies are exhumed and cremated, and then interred in columbaria niches which are much more space efficient. The graves are then reused for future burials.
Those are just two fairly extreme options, and you will also find various other systems in place depending on the culture and religion of a specific country or cemetery.
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