AdRem: An Integrated Approach for Adaptive Remediation

Valerio Palma,Alessandro Casasso,Matteo Robiglio,Sarah Cutrì,Tiziana Tosco,Federico Accorsi,Carlo Bianco

doi:10.3390/su13010028

Abstract

Abandoned industrial sites are generally characterized by soil and subsoil contamination. The paradigm currently employed for their remediation is “tabula rasa”, i.e., remediation of the entire site before its repurpose. However, this method is not economically, socially, or technologically sustainable: it delays the reuse of large areas, often well-connected to infrastructures, whose reuse may prevent further soil consumption. A possible solution to this problem is the application of adaptive reuse principles. This study, conducted at FULL (Future Urban Legacy Lab) in Politecnico di Torino, presents an interdisciplinary approach to spatialize, visualize, and manage interactions between reclamation and urban design for the transformation of contaminated urban areas. The core is based on a decision support parametric toolkit, named AdRem, developed to compare available remediation techniques and schematic urban design solutions. AdRem uses a 3D modeling interface and VPL scripting. Required input data are a geometric description of the site, data on the contamination status, viable remediation techniques, and associated features, and schematic urban design recommendations. A filtering process selects the techniques compatible with the site use foreseen. The output is an optimized remediation and reuse plan that can support an interdisciplinary discussion on possible site regeneration options.

Highlights

Received: 17 November 2020Accepted: 17 December 2020Published: 22 December 2020Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.license
The implementation of an adaptive remediation approach that explicitly couples the selection of remediation technologies and the expected use of the individual parcels helps in the optimization of the overall process, and in reducing remediation costs
Step 2B obviously and significantly affects the final result: in this illustrative test case, for sub-areas where more than one remediation technology was compatible with the urban constraints, the selection is based on the expected remediation cost

Summary

Introduction

Received: 17 November 2020Accepted: 17 December 2020Published: 22 December 2020Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.license In countries and regions with a strong history of industrialization and deindustrialization, an increasing number of brownfield remediation interventions is taking place in urban contexts, with the related challenges posed by the combination of reclamation processes and building reuse and adaptation [2,3,4]. Compared to the reclamation and recovery of sites located in active industrial areas outside of cities, brownfield regeneration in an urban context poses additional constraints (e.g., restrictions on site morphology variations—even temporary ones—and on area use), and is connected to the landscape characterization and overall perception of the place [2,3]. In addition to environmental restoration and human health protection, recovering contaminated urban brownfields can offer relevant advantages, including exploiting the existing infrastructures, preserving greenfields, producing positive social and economic licenses/by/4.0/). Brownfields patently represent a potential resource, since they are often embedded in the urban fabric, well-connected to the infrastructure system, and equipped with a dense network of sub-services [5,6].

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion