The bottom-up projects, in the years after the Great Crisis, have been considered as a popular measure to solve urban issues, overcoming the conditions of austerity faced by public actors. However, these initiatives not only seem confined to solve very specific issues but are often linked to a more comprehensive urban regeneration strategy, thus capable of addressing the economic, social and physical aspects of a wider part of the city. This article presents the first findings of wider research, which analyses the link between bottom-up practices and the concept of urban regeneration. In particular, this article focuses on an element that appears to be fundamental for the development of these bottom-up urban regeneration practices: the presence of vacant buildings available for the reuse. This article suggests the possibility to analyse how vacant buildings are embedded in these practices through three steps, called steps for the regeneration through the reuse of vacant buildings (SteRVs), namely Recognition, Appropriation and Design. The validity of the three phases is demonstrated through a multiple case study analysis, that considers two renowned bottom-up urban regeneration cases developed in Europe mainly after 2000: Farm Cultural Park, in Favara (Italy) and NDSM wharf, in Amsterdam.