Greenfield Development Research Articles

Assessing the suitability of settlement delineations for monitoring infilling: A web- and GIS-based expert evaluation approach

21st century urbanisation features not only the growth of city populations but also the emergence of densification (infilling) as significant trends in urban development. While urban sprawl has long been acknowledged for its adverse effects, understanding densification remains challenging due to inadequate empirical and statistical frameworks. This study investigates the suitability of different geospatial datasets and methods for delineating settlement areas and assessing infill housing, an aspect crucial for urban planning and development. Quantitative and qualitative analyses reveal notable variations in the classification of settlement areas and infilling across datasets. Quantitatively, the study shows distinct differences in the delineation of settlement areas, with the share of infilling varying significantly. Qualitatively, expert assessments highlight the strengths and weaknesses of datasets regarding their accuracy and consistency, revealing that the method to delineate settlement areas significantly impacts the balance between infilling and greenfield development. The study underscores the need for a nuanced approach to conceptualising densification measurement, particularly in defining urban boundaries.

Middle‐out evolution of greenfield eco‐industrial parks: The journey of GreenLab, Denmark

AbstractTransforming into eco‐industrial parks (EIPs) by applying collaborative measures and stakeholder engagement is a practical and political response to the decline of current industrial parks, and a solution for fostering sustainable industrial development. While the brownfield approach (EIP development through retrofits and new strategies of existing establishments) is common, greenfield development—where sustainability is inherent in planning, design, and construction—is gaining interest. The present study uses the case of GreenLab in Denmark to explore the emergence and development of greenfield EIPs, showcasing the potential of a middle‐out approach and emphasizing the role of curation in contrast to top‐down and bottom‐up processes. The study draws on a process‐model analytical framework, encompassing the evolutionary phases, the actors involved, and the co‐creation of the journey. The development of GreenLab is found to have passed through three phases of evolution: pre‐emergence, emergence, and probation, increasing the “networkness” in the business park. We point to several critical factors that drove these phases, among which shared vision, road mapping, and engagement and political support from local, regional, and national actors are critical. Furthermore, strategic planning, continuous funding, and strong collaboration with research institutions have been essential. The replication potential of GreenLab is substantial, and the experiences accumulated over the years can guide other greenfield EIPs and new research avenues considering greenfield EIPs.

Optimal design of greenfield energy hubs in the context of carbon neutral energy supply

This paper proposes a sequential co-optimization (SCO) framework for the design of greenfield energy hubs, aiming to achieve net zero emissions. The SCO framework offers an evolutionary approach to long-term planning and operation, taking into account various evolving factors such as carbon emission policies, technological and economic advancements in energy supply components, changes in land-use, and developments at different stages of the design horizon. The framework ensures that the design of greenfield developments aligns with their evolving characteristics, determining the optimal dispatch flow for firming renewable energy through co-generation and demand flexibility options like smart loads, electric vehicles, and hydrogen-based systems. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to study the impact of emissions, evolving characteristics of greenfield developments, and techno-economic aspects of supply units on the energy hub design. Case studies demonstrate that the proposed design enables large-scale distributed energy systems to meet local energy demand and participate in the electricity market. The SCO framework provides a robust and flexible platform for the correlated optimization of planning and operation of greenfield energy hubs, for advancing towards net zero emissions.

Exploring the implications of ‘no net land take’ policy for spatial planning: the case of the Netherlands

The European Union’s ‘no net land take’ (NNLT) target, which seeks to halt greenfield development by 2050, is very pertinent for planners. The present article investigates its potential impact with special attention for the Netherlands. Given that no single definition or methodology had been established at the EU level, land take was calculated over the 2000–2018 period for alternative definitions. A result is that qualitative approaches oriented to soil quality provide more scope for flexibility than quantitative approaches oriented towards land use. In addition, successful implementation of NNLT will depend on engaging with planners and planning practice.

Valuing nature as urban health infrastructure: a pathway to a nature positive city

Abstract ‘Nature-positive’ is the term used to describe a city where nature—species and ecosystems—are being restored and regenerated rather than declining. Despite the provision of nature being elevated as a priority across Sydney (especially open space, trees and canopy cover), and despite new national Nature Positive legal reforms, there is not adequate investment in living infrastructure—trees, plants, parks and waterbodies—nor the measurement strategies to focus that investment where it is most needed. This lack of investment means we miss out on five key benefits of having more nature in urban areas: reduced heat and improved air quality; better climate resilience through mitigation of flooding, storms and sea level rise; increased mental health and happiness; enhanced biodiversity and reinforcing connected city systems as waterways and green spaces deliver carbon capture, water filtration and stormwater capture benefits. The solutions are in our hands—individually and collectively. There are many place-based opportunities for growing Sydney’s living infrastructure, from our own backyards and balconies, to parklands and pocket parks; from our streets, laneways and leftover spaces to infrastructure corridors, railways, rivers and waterways; from schools and hospitals, to the rooftops and facades of existing and new buildings across the city and the opportunity to protect and restore nature in greenfield development areas. To change how we value natural infrastructure across our city we need to: (i) enable community education and Indigenous knowledge by stepping up education and awareness programmes for communities, including establishing a Centre for Urban and Indigenous Ecology; (ii) set metropolitan and local targets for living infrastructure—not just trees—and monitor and evaluate progress towards those targets; (iii) manage living infrastructure as an asset, at all levels of government, and embed living infrastructure outcomes in public sector procurement systems; and (iv) drive structural investment in living infrastructure by introducing a green factor tool to incentivize new development; establishing a living infrastructure fund; and adopting a framework for valuing living infrastructure in major projects.

GTMicro—microservice identification approach based on deep NLP transformer model for greenfield developments

GTMicro—microservice identification approach based on deep NLP transformer model for greenfield developments

Multi-objective optimization for visual, thermal, and cooling energy performance of building envelope design in the composite climate of Jaipur (India)

Climate-responsive passive envelope features such as windows, louvers, and shading have significant impact on a building's energy and economic performance. This paper presents a multi-objective optimization (MOO) approach to enhance energy, visual and thermal performances of a building by considering a wide range of numerous design possibilities. A residential apartment building located in a semi-arid composite climate (Köppen climate classification: Bsh) of Jaipur, India is considered for the analysis. The multi-objective optimization approach involves three steps: firstly, developing a base simulation model using Rhinoceros software, and then performing multi-objective optimization by Octopus plugin, and finally applying multi-criteria decision-making to select the optimal values of thermal conductivity, window-to-wall ratio of south and west façades, solar heat gain coefficient, visual light transmittance, window sill height, louvers depth, distance between slits, slits angle, external shade depth, and shade (slits) count. The optimized results reported a six-fold Useful Daylight Illuminance (UDI) improvement, 72% cooling energy demand reduction, and 34% thermal comfort enhancement from the worst-case scenario. The presented approach can aid designers in selecting optimal envelope features during building design, refurbishment, and renovation or for green field development.

Deep structural controls on the distribution of carbonate reservoirs and overburden heterogeneity in Central Luconia province, offshore Borneo revealed by 3D anisotropic inversion of regional controlled-source electromagnetic and magnetotelluric profile data

Understanding the deep structural controls on reservoir distribution and overburden heterogeneity is important for near-field exploration and green-field development of the Miocene to Holocene carbonate buildups in Central Luconia province in offshore northwest Borneo, Malaysia. Data from 59 stations along an approximately 180 km long controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) and magnetotelluric (MT) survey line with three segments recorded using different CSEM transmitter-towing directions were available. We applied three-dimensional (3D) anisotropic resistivity inversion with cross-gradient constraint and verified the resulting models using resistivity logs from nearby wells and the acoustic basement interpreted from seismic data. Our anisotropic resistivity models reveal a fragmented carbonate-rich zone atop a segmented basement comprising electrically resistive horsts coinciding with the northerly Mega-platform, Central and Southern Field Highs, separated by steep conductive zones coinciding with the West, East, and Southeast Troughs previously interpreted from seismic data. The structural highs correlate with the spatial distribution of the known carbonate buildups implying a genetic link. The carbonate bodies are overlain and underlain by persistent layers (C2 and C3) of low resistivity and high anisotropy, which we interpret as indicating compressional deformation or detachment zones. Overburden layer C2 (whose base coincides with the top of a key sedimentary package, Cycle V in seismic data) is thinnest over the East Trough and is discontinuous at the eastern margin of the West Trough, which are locations where drilled wells did not find hydrocarbons implying that the seal rocks are inefficient or breached at those localities. We used these observations to refine the existing seismic-based interpretation of carbonate play-types along our transect indicating how 3D joint CSEM-MT imaging can potentially contribute to derisking or optimizing future exploration and/or development work in this province.

Cultural mapping in smart sustainable cities: the Kashiwanoha Monogatari Project

ABSTRACT In response to criticism, greenfield smart and sustainable city developers have paid increasing attention to their social impact by prioritizing placemaking and citizen involvement in their planning and development. However, citizens’ participation remains limited, and little is known about their everyday experiences, perceptions, and communities. While cultural mapping is an established process to build communities and articulate their identity, it has rarely been used in greenfield developments. This paper presents the Kashiwanoha Monogatari Project to demonstrate that cultural mapping can strengthen community ties and encourage citizen participation in new smart urban development. The paper details the cultural mapping project and its outputs, including lessons learned about citizen perception of their smart city. The findings suggest that cultural mapping provides citizens and planners with tools to visualize their emerging place-based narratives and communities by providing an alternative approach to co-creation with citizens.

Residential density and 20-minute neighbourhoods: A multi-neighbourhood destination location optimisation approach.

The concept of 20-min neighbourhoods, a planning intervention to promote local living and active travel, has recently become a key urban planning priority in Melbourne, Australia. The Victorian Government defines this concept as being able to reach daily local living destinations within a 20-min round-trip walk from home, which is approximately 800m of walking for each trip leg. Similar concepts, such as 10- or 15-min cities, have been explored in other cities worldwide. However, research to date has largely focused on measuring accessibility to destinations in developed areas, with few studies examining what is needed to build a city of 20-min neighbourhoods, i.e., investigating multiple neighbourhoods, shared destinations, and the role of residential density. In this study, we used optimisation models to examine the relationship between residential density and the targets of 20-min neighbourhoods in a hypothetical greenfield development scenario. We defined different targets for various destinations in terms of the percentage of the population aimed to have access to that destination within 800 m, ranging from 95% for the smallest destinations to 70% for the largest. Our results demonstrate that at least 25 dwellings per hectare (assuming 2.6 persons per dwelling) are needed to provide access to the destinations within 1.2 km and 35 dwellings per hectare to provide access within 1 km. Furthermore, we show that the cost of building destinations and the land required for them when delivering 20-min neighbourhoods at 30 dwellings per hectare is almost half of what is required when building at 15 dwellings per hectare.

Religions on the fringe: places of worship in Melbourne’s greenfield developments

ABSTRACT Melbourne, like many cities of the global north, is growing rapidly through migration. Many migrants find home on the urban fringe in Master Planned Estates. This settlement is encouraged by urban policy, but there is a need to understand and respond to the needs of the multitude of religious communities. This paper traces the development of places of worship on the fringe of western Melbourne and the possibilities for expression of faith on the periphery of established settlement. It illustrates, in particular, how places of worship are often either spatially disconnected from the communities which they seek to serve, or not fit for purpose in failing to meet the requirements of religious and cultural activity. The transformation of land into commercialisable units of housing, or commerce invites an improvisational response on behalf of religious communities. Overall the study finds that the rudimentary consideration of places of worship in greenfield development is a touchstone of the difficulties that the Australian planning system faces in encompassing the diversity of the community. The ‘superdiverse’ migrant body with its transnational economic, cultural, and religious connections represents a dynamic shift and complication of the suburbs that are all too often dismissed for a supposed homogeneity.

Infrastructure Planning for TOD Zone of Chikkabanawara of Sub-urban Station, Bengaluru

Abstract: One of Karnataka, India's cities with the fastest population growth is Bengaluru. Inadequate walking and cycling infrastructure made people choose personal vehicles over sustainable transport options more often while the city focused on infrastructure to reduce traffic. By 2035, the Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) Bengaluru (2020) seeks to expand public transportation's mode share from 42% to 70%. In order to reach this goal, it is crucial to guarantee that more people have easy access to public transport options in addition to increasing the mass transit infrastructure, as increased access to PT tends to encourage more people to utilise it rather than their own motorised vehicles. To this end, the city of Bengaluru has developed a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) policy. Walkability, Cyclability, Quality of Public Transport Infrastructure, Safety Infrastructure at Junctions, Quality of Intermediate Public Transport, and Public Amenities that Support the Uptake of Sustainable Mobility Modes are the parameters taken up as part of. The study region of Chikkabanawara is situated on the outskirts of the city of Bangalore and has the distinctive feature of greenfield development with prominence of educational institutions, commercial businesses, residential areas, and high-rise flats in the 500-meter buffer zone.

Fallowscapes: A transition-driven tool to market ecological urbanism

Urban areas generate high demand for urban areas to accommodate a broader range of functions associated with growth, given the rising rate of urbanization with more than two-thirds of the human population in 2050 projected to be city-dwellers. As a result, urban areas have been undergoing vigorous spatial, social, and ecological transitions. This generates a direct impact on nature, multiplicity, and the use of space. With the onset of drives focused on limiting the urbanization of space like “net zero land-take by 2050” by the European Union [11], it is evident that global authorities have realized the need to aid these spatial transitions. Such urban ecological transitions are primarily focused on territorial borders where sprawling infrastructure reservoirs and vital natural ecosystem services conflict. ‘Fallowscape’ has been seen as a tool to assist transition at peri-urban borders and form a link between brownfield and greenfield development. However, to justify the practice as a sustainable approach, there are various economic and social aspects to be accounted for, which influence the feasibility of fallow lands. Recent urban development projects (by the public as well as private sector) have seen a rise in the desirability of sustainable and ecologically sensitive approaches. Developers are keen on building dynamic environments that incorporate environmental transitions. However, with the perspective of profitability in mind, such projects often face challenges in authorization and execution. The research intends to introduce Fallowscapes as innovative practice for urban development projects, evaluating its position as a profit-driving tool by preparing an inventory of actors and ecologically sensitive parameters for urban development projects. The paper undertakes literature review of Fallowing as an ecologically sustainable practice, conducting empirical research by comparing case studies that implement Fallowscapes as an approach to market ecologically sensitive project visions.

A model for evaluating water distribution system capacity as a function of the total pipeline length

Abstract Planners are often faced with the challenge to provide crude estimates of water distribution system (WDS) infrastructure capacity and associated costs in the early phases of greenfield developments. This study investigated the relationship between the physical and hydraulic characteristics of a WDS and the corresponding serviced area. Five physical parameters (a) and two hydraulic parameters (b) describing the serviced area were identified for analysis, namely (a) total pipeline length, land area, area shape factor, terrain index, reservoir distance from area centroid and (b) peak flow rate and average static system pressure. Multiple linear regression was performed on the data. A model was compiled linking the total pipeline length of a WDS to the peak flow rate. The model is applicable to predominantly residential service zones larger than 80 hectares with a peak hour flow rate of <450 L/s. The model enables the prediction of the potable water distribution pipe infrastructure required for future development areas in the absence of basic planning information, such as cadastral layouts. Alternatively, the model can estimate the potential maximum peak flow rate that can be supplied, if the total pipeline length is known.

How changes in urban morphology translate into urban metabolisms of building stocks: A framework for spatiotemporal material flow analysis and a case study

Anthropogenic stocks are increasingly seen as potential reserves for secondary resources, which has led to a rapid development in research of urban metabolic systems. With regard to buildings and their associated material stocks and flows, one of the most critical shortcomings in the state-of-the-art is the knowledge gap for drivers, dynamics, patterns and linkages that affect the urban metabolism. This paper is premised on the idea that urban planning stirs up these material flows, so it should also adopt their sustainable management on its agenda. It presents an approach that highlights the intertwined nature of changing urban morphology and building material stocks and flows in space and time. An analytical framework, based on the principles of material flow analysis, is provided for an integrated, spatiotemporal study of urban morphology and urban metabolism of buildings, using building and plot data as the input and identifying internal processes of the urban metabolism as the output. The identified processes include greenfield development, infill construction, building replacement and shrinkage, each of which can be expected to have tangible yet very different material and environmental consequences in the form of embodied materials and CO2. The use of the framework is demonstrated with a case study in the Finnish city of Vantaa in 2000–2018. The case study shows patterns pertaining to a growing city unrestricted by geographic or historic factors, manifested as vast greenfield developments and replacement of a notably young building stock. As sustainability may soon call into question both these strategies, uncovering the material consequences of a city’s past urban (re)development strategies lay the foundation for using the presented approach proactively in planning support, in pursuit of more circular economy-based and low carbon cities.

WHY ARE PEOPLE STILL NOT WALKING? THE NEED FOR A MICRO-SCALED MULTI-CRITERIA SPATIO-TEMPORAL DESIGN APPROACH TO IMPROVE WALK-QUALITY

Abstract. Walking is essential for the health and well-being of communities as well as meeting environmental challenges of the 21st Century. There have been significant research contributions in recent decades to understanding factors that can influence the likelihood of citizens choosing active travel modes, with great advances in understanding the built environment, particularly macro-scaled urban factors such as land-use mix, population density, and street patterns. So why are people still not walking? And is there anything we can do to try to change this? To answer these questions, this paper explores walking environment assessment approaches using a trans-disciplinary narrative approach, touching on multiple critical disciplinary knowledge areas. We find that while much of the research into the built environment’s influence on walking has made positive contributions in helping identify areas of cities that discourage active travel, the capacity to improve these areas has been limited. While macro-scaled factors commonly considered in ‘walkability’ analysis are highly influential to mode choice, unless working on green-field development, these factors may require re-zoning private land, substantial demolition and renewal, and may be financially or politically infeasible and thus extremely difficult to change. There is a need to augment macro-scaled analysis with micro-scaled tools, and to establish multi-criterion spatio-temporal design decision support approaches drawing from emerging technologies to make informed, integrated and effective urban design changes. These methods applied at precinct and streetscape levels have the potential to make feasible improvements to the ‘walk-quality’ of the built environment and contribute to facilitating active travel.

Technical and economic viability of greenfield large scale photovoltaic plants in Romania

In 2021 a favorable environment reemerged in Romania for the development of greenfield large scale photovoltaic plants, after all the developments for large scale projects were halted at the end of 2016 when the former subsidy scheme ended. The conclusion of long-term power purchase agreements, a regulatory framework for contracts for difference, grants opportunities, the decreasing cost of technology, rising energy prices and sustainability commitments are all creating a promising context for greenfield development of solar photovoltaics in Romania. This paper covers an existing gap in the scientific literature by assessing technically and economically the viability of large scale photovoltaics in Romania. The paper shows the yield and performance gap between the major regions in Romania and how this gap affects the financial return and the levelized costs of electricity. The assessment shows that using 1-axis tracking is improving the specific yield with 10–13% in comparison with a fixed tilt technology and bifacial modules add an additional 3% to the yield. It was identified that 1-axis tracking improves the captured price in comparison with fixed tilt with up to 4.5 EUR/MWh in the long-term. The same methodology can be applied for updating the assessment when cost or revenue assumptions are changing. The modelling and analysis framework can be used in the technical and economic benchmarking of real projects in Romania and gives a flavor of what can be expected in terms of pricing for long term power purchase agreements, auctions for contracts for difference, but also for the expected returns if the projects remain merchantly exposed.

A two-level off-grid electric distribution problem on the continuous space

We introduce a two-level distribution network design problem to serve a set of demand points. At the higher level, primary facilities with source capabilities feed secondary facilities over tree networks. At the lower level, both the primary and secondary facilities serve customers within a coverage distance over star networks. The problem has wide applications especially in the spatial planning of energy distribution networks, where the coverage distance constraints may be associated with the loss of electric power over distance. The facilities can be located anywhere on the continuous space in our greenfield development problem. We formulate an optimization problem that determines the number, types, and locations of the facilities as well as the lower and higher-level networks to minimize a distribution cost. We also propose a heuristic solution method that solves a discrete counterpart and then improves its solution by moving facilities around on the continuous space. When the number of demand points is large, the discrete counterpart is also hard to solve. Therefore, we propose a decomposition method for its solution: We first solve a decentralized single-level problem with secondary facilities and then form the higher-level network. We perform numerical experiments to demonstrate the benefits of our discrete problem decomposition and facility location adjustments on the continuous space.

New (sub)urbanism? - How German cities try to create “urban” neighborhoods in their outskirts as a contribution to solving their recent housing crises

The paper explains the current state of greenfield development for housing in major German cities. The respective projects are a result of the ways metro regions are structured both administratively and physically, the resulting governance arena that is dominated by the core cities but characterized by a number of constraints that make large greenfield developments increasingly difficult, and the complex socioeconomic and cultural realities in relatively “mature” post-industrial urban environments. The paper demonstrates that the resulting development model builds on an attempt to realize “urban” features and qualities in the periphery. It seeks to meet the changing demand for housing and to respond to multiple sustainability requirements. In this respect, it differs significantly from “modernist” suburban development in the 20th century both in terms of physical structures and the roles of the participating stakeholders.For this purpose, the paper analyzes the governance arenas surrounding important greenfield projects that are currently developed. It shows how contested decision making is in a complex environment of contradicting claims to urban planning and housing policies, and that the new neighborhoods can neither be seen as mere appendices of existing peripheral settlements, nor will they ever be able to act as autonomous “new towns”. The planning and implementation efforts depend on the ability of the core cities of metro areas to coordinate fragmented governance arenas, to mobilize supporters and to overcome tenacious resistance from a loose coalition of opponents to peripheral development.

Restoring geomorphic integrity in urban streams via mechanistically-based storm water management: minimizing excess sediment transport capacity

Stream channel erosion, enlargement, and habitat degradation are ubiquitous in urban watersheds with conventional stormwater management that increase channel-eroding flows relative to undeveloped watersheds. Hydrologic-based restoration aims to discharge a more natural flow regime via stormwater management interventions. Whether such interventions facilitate geomorphic recovery depends, in part, on the degree to which they restrict discharges that would otherwise contribute to channel erosion. Erosion potential (E), the ratio of post-developed to predeveloped sediment transport capacity, provides a simplified, mechanistic framework to quantify the relative influence of stormwater interventions on the geomorphic effectiveness of the flow regime. This paper compiles ca. five years of data following stormwater-based interventions in three distinct settings in the United States and Australia to demonstrate how the E framework can elucidate the role of hydrologic restoration interventions in facilitating trajectories of geomorphic recovery (or lack thereof). In a previously developed watershed with unstable streams, substantial reductions in E in one stream coincided with a trajectory of geomorphic recovery, whereas the control stream without E-reducing interventions exhibited continued instability. Furthermore, a stream downstream of a greenfield development that optimized their stormwater control measures to match the sediment transport capacity of the predeveloped regime (E = 1) was able to maintain a recovery trajectory in a legacy-impacted setting that is otherwise highly susceptible to hydromodification. Streambed material size, channel evolution stage, and the hydrogeomorphic setting also likely affect the level of E reduction necessary to promote geomorphic recovery, with coarser-grained and over-widened streams potentially needing less reduction than finer-grained and more entrenched channels. Although available space and funding will limit the ability to fully reduce E in previously developed watersheds, these case studies underscore the value of using stormwater control measures to maximize reductions in E if geomorphic stability is a goal of stormwater interventions.