Redeveloping former military sites: Competitiveness, urban sustainability and public participation

Abstract

Redevelopment activities on former bases include new housing developments, industrial, training, educational and recreational facilities alongside retail and commercial quarters. This paper elaborates on the American roots and the rationale of military base redevelopment as one example of brownfield regeneration by adopting a comparative analysis using examples from the United Kingdom, Germany and Jordan to highlight experiences, lessons learnt and potential further study. In the UK, the policy to redevelop military land is driven by need to reduce government spending, income generation and promoting government targets for brownfield housing development. In the Jordanian case, the examination of available sources indicates that although development on military sites has been promoted by a political commitment to ‘sustainable’ urban regeneration, economic self-interest appears to triumph over environmental and community concerns in the conversion process. This has generally been developer driven. In sharp contrast to this, the case of Vauban in Germany clearly demonstrates how community activism can play a central role in redeveloping a military site. The paper goes on to argue that the challenge in military base redevelopment, like other brownfield sites, will be to guarantee competitive advantages through revenue-generating activities that can transform these sites into reliable economic opportunities while looking after the interests of all the parties involved.