Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration Research Articles

Assessment of abandoned properties in geopolitical conflict zones

PurposeIn geopolitical conflict zones, the phenomenon of abandonment often correlates with challenges of legal definitions and ownership status. The abandoned properties in conflict zones share similar characteristics with what is commonly known as a brownfield site. However, due to the nature of geopolitical conflict zones, which is mixed with people and sentiments other than technical challenges, the usual solutions to the brownfield question, cannot provide enough tools to deal with the land management of areas engulfed in conflicts. This paper, therefore, aims to discuss and propose a land-use typology that describes abandoned properties in a geopolitical context.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed land-use typology serves as the main conceptual framework that integrates the sustainable brownfield regeneration approach with social theories of space and place. As an inductive research approach, this conceptual framework brought the fundamental and comparative literature on brownfield regeneration to support the main argument related to the similarities and challenges of the regeneration of abandoned properties in conflict zones. The approach used in this paper addresses the broader consideration of land management in geopolitical contexts and urban conflict zones that considers the relationship of exercise of extreme power over space.FindingsThe findings highlight an insufficient understanding of the origin of the property problems in geopolitical conflict zones, especially after a power struggle, producing significant land management issues. In a geopolitical context, urban planners and economists' perspective on definitions of space and place defined by maps, GIS data sets, Excel and other similar tools may not bring any practical or long-term solution to the land management challenges. The study suggests that dealing with abandoned properties and regeneration plans in conflict zones requires identifying and evaluating geo-political, geo-social, geo-economic characteristics of the area before any further action.Practical implicationsThis paper's findings are of particular interest to decision-makers and conflict stakeholders in geopolitical conflict zones, such as local governments, policymakers and peacekeeping agencies. The findings of this research can clarify and help them have an alternative understanding of the space engulfed in the conflict, other than a technocratic, mapping, GIS, statistical way of understanding and approaches to the complex aspect of a space.Originality/valueThis paper's conceptual framework provides a value-added contribution to the literature on land management in conflict zones by taking the reader's attention to the origin of the problems and their associated real estate issues in geopolitical contexts. For the first time, this inductive research proposes a land-use typology that considers the complexity of the interrelationship between land policies, land-use theory, social theories of space and place and the exercise of extreme power over space. This paper produced a concept that is not easily measurable by quantitative nor qualitative approaches.

Positive Planning and Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration: The Role and Potential of Government Land Development Agencies

State governments in Australia increasingly outsource the co-ordination and delivery of ‘difficult’ regeneration projects to state-owned land development agencies (LDAs). These LDAs were originally established in the 1970s with a strong redistributionist agenda, operating mainly to deliver low-cost residential land on greenfield sites. In the last 25 years, however, their roles have been redirected towards brownfield regeneration and they have been required to operate profitably. This paper uses the recent rise and fall of a powerful Queensland LDA to examine the potential of ‘positive planning’ in political contexts where governments wish to both limit their involvement in planning and achieve sustainable brownfield regeneration.

Securing land for urban transformation through sustainable brownfield regeneration - the case of Eskişehir, Turkey

This paper explores how urban regeneration strategies, focused on increasing the social, economic and spatial values of old industrialized areas, are being experienced in Turkey. It examines the brownfield regeneration process in five old industrial sites in one of Turkey’s earliest industrialized cities, Eskişehir. The examples described are evaluated based on the sustainability objectives of brownfield development. The aim is to investigate the potential of these cases of brownfield regeneration to secure land for sustainable urban development. The conclusions suggest that local experience in the re-use of old industrial buildings and sites provides valuable input to the development of urban development policies. Greater attention to sustainable outcomes could add a new and vital dimension to brownfield regeneration. The leading role of local government in providing integrated approaches to land management policies and sustainable urban development must be noted.

Managing Multidisciplinarity: Lessons from SUBR:IM

The complex nature of societal problems has fuelled arguments that such issues can only be addressed by holistic responses which are informed by high-quality policy, practice and techno-scientific research. As a result, research councils are encouraging the development of interdisciplinary research consortia through which the strengths of various scientific and social scientific disciplines can be harnessed to produce coherent, well-informed and cross-disciplinary outputs. Yet the task of managing such projects is problematic. The paper draws on the authors' experiences of managing one such consortium, SUBR:IM (Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration: Integrated Management). We reflect upon the processes and politics of building a broadly-based consortium and argue that, while the benefits of such endeavours can be significant, research councils need to give greater recognition to the barriers that exist to achieving genuine collaboration, such as disciplinary incommensurabilities, centrally imposed constraints and internal resistance. The paper explores these barriers before identifying possible ways forward, including better processes of consortia building, more effective internal structures, focusing on a single case study and recruiting the right mix of academics.

Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration: Liveable Places from Problem Spaces

Notes on the Contributors . Acknowledgements . PART 1 INTRODUCTION . 1 Introduction . Tim Dixon and Mike Raco . 1.1 Background. 1.2 Aims and objectives. 1.3 Structure of the book. 2 Researching Sustainability: The Possibilities and Limitations of Cross-cutting Research in the Urban . Environment . Mike Raco and Tim Dixon . 2.1 Introduction. 2.2 Intellectual disciplines, interdisciplinarity and the construction of knowledge. 2.3 The rise and rise of the sustainability agenda. 2.4 The EPSRC's Sustainable Urban Environments programme and the emergence of the SUBR:IM. consortium. 2.5 Conclusions: SUBR:IM and new ways of working. PART 2 REGENERATION . 3 Democracy, Trust and Risk Related to Contaminated . Sites in the UK . Philip Catney, Dick Eiser, John Henneberry and . Tom Stafford . 3.1 Introduction. 3.2 Contaminated land in the UK: context and policy. 3.3 Democracy, trust and risk in environmental governance. 3.4 Case studies. 3.5 Conclusion. 4 Actor Networks: The Brownfield Merry-Go-Round . Joe Doak and Nikos Karadimitriou . 4.1 Introduction. 4.2 Actors and their roles. 4.3 Networks and their construction. 4.4 Network processes in brownfield regeneration. 4.5 Conclusion. 5 Heroes or Villains? The Role of the UK Property Development Industry in Sustainable Urban Brownfield Regeneration . Tim Dixon . 5.1 Introduction. 5.2 The nature and challenge of brownfield development. 5.3 The role of the UK property development industry in brownfield regeneration. 5.4 Survey and interview findings. 5.5 Learning from practice: Thames Gateway and Greater Manchester. 5.6 Towards best practice?. 5.7 A checklist for developers. 5.8 Conclusions. Acknowledgements. 5A.1 Appendix 1 National developer interviewees and questionnaire sample. 5A.2 Appendix 2 Details of case study interviews. 6 Delivering Brownfield Regeneration: Sustainable Community-Building in London and Manchester . Mike Raco, Steven Henderson and Sophie Bowlby . 6.1 Introduction. 6.2 Building for the future: visions, practices and the delivery of sustainable urban regeneration sustainability and the politics of space-time. 6.3 Flagship urban brownfield regeneration in the UK: the redevelopment of Salford Quays and. Paddington Basin. 6.4 Conclusions: lessons for urban development policy. PART 3 REMEDIATION . 7 Greening Brownfield Land . Andy Moffat and Tony Hutchings . 7.1 Introduction. 7.2 Background and context. 7.3 A sustainable process for greenspace. 7.4 Contamination. 7.5 Sustainable greenspace. 7.6 The future of greenspace on brownfield land. 7.7 Conclusions. 8 Novel Special-purpose Composts for Sustainable Remediation . Sabeha Ouki, Rene van Herwijnen, Michael Harbottle, . Tony Hutchings, Abir Al-Tabbaa, Mike Johns and . Andy Moffat . 8.1 Introduction. 8.2 Materials characterisation. 8.3 Experimental design. 8.4 Heavy metals containment in soils. 8.5 Biomass. 8.6 Enhanced compost. 8.7 Magnetic resonance imaging. 8.8 Conclusions. 9 Robust Sustainable Technical Solutions . Abir Al-Tabbaa, Michael Harbottle and Chris Evans . 9.1 Introduction. 9.2 Sustainability assessment of currently available remediation technologies in the UK. 9.3 Sustainability improvements to remediation techniques. 9.4 Concluding remarks. 10 'The Creature Lurks Within?' Restoring Acid Tar Lagoons . Simon Talbot, Nigel Lawson and Colin Smith . 10.1 Introduction. 10.2 Acid tar lagoons: a technical introduction. 10.3 Regulating risk on an acid tar lagoon. 10.4 Lesson-drawing from Germany: an appraisal of the state of the art in remediation. 10.5 Conclusions. PART 4 JOINED-UP SOLUTIONS . 11 Climate Change, Pollutant Linkage and Brownfield Regeneration . Abir Al-Tabbaa, Sinead Smith, Cecile De Munck, . Tim Dixon, Joe Doak, Stephen Garvin and Mike Raco . 11.1 Introduction. 11.2 Evidence of impacts of climate change on contaminated land systems. 11.3 Modelling potential impacts of climate change and the creation of green space on contaminated land. 11.4 Climate change mitigation and adaptation. 11.5 Technical adaptation and risk management strategies. 11.6 Stakeholder adaptation key issues and findings. 11.7 Concluding remarks. Acknowledgements. 12 Evaluating the Sustainability of Brownfield Redevelopment Projects . Kalliope Pediaditi, Walter Wehrmeyer and Kate Burningham . 12.1 Introduction. 12.2 Sustainability evaluation in brownfield projects. 12.3 The Redevelopment Assessment Framework. 12.4 Conclusion. 12A.1 Appendix. 13 Is Brown the New Green? . Philip Catney, David N. Lerner, Tim Dixon and Mike Raco . 13.1 Introduction. 13.2 Sustainable brownfield regeneration. 13.3 Sustainability in action. 13.4 Constructing cross-disciplinary research: lessons from the SUBR:IM experience. 13.5 Summary. Index

Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration: Liveable Places from Problem Spaces

Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration: Liveable Places from Problem Spaces

The development of a brownfield-specific sustainability and indicator framework for regenerating sites: proposing a new definition of ‘sustainable brownfield regeneration’

The development of a brownfield-specific sustainability and indicator framework for regenerating sites: proposing a new definition of ‘sustainable brownfield regeneration’

The challenge of sustainability: incentives for brownfield regeneration in Europe

Brownfields are often not economically competitive for regeneration compared with greenfield sites without public intervention. The economic, environmental and social barriers present at the site frequently hinder returning brownfields to beneficial use. The European Union and its member states provide different public incentives to make brownfield regeneration more attractive but rarely consider their sustainability. Deciding how to regenerate brownfields should involve more than redeveloping the site to meet regulations or to meet a predetermined site use. Member states, policy makers, land owners and developers need to understand all aspects of brownfield regeneration and how sustainability issues need to be paramount in choosing alternative site uses. This paper presents the existing incentives on a European Union level, in Germany, the UK, and France; it discusses the effects and gaps; and makes suggestions for more effective instruments for the promotion of sustainable brownfield regeneration.

Integrating Sustainability into Brownfield Regeneration: Rhetoric or Reality? – An Analysis of the UK Development Industry

In the UK and elsewhere the use of the term ‘sustainable brownfield regeneration’ has resulted from the interweaving of two key policy themes, comprising ‘sustainable development’ and ‘brownfield regeneration’. This paper provides a critical overview of brownfield policy within the context of the emerging sustainable development agenda in the UK, and examines the development industry's role and attitudes towards key aspects of sustainable development and brownfield regeneration. The paper analyses results from a survey of commercial and residential developers carried out in mid‐2004, underpinned by structured interviews with eleven developers in 2004–2005, which form part of a two‐and‐half‐year EPSRC‐funded project. The results suggest that despite the increasing focus on sustainability in government policy, the development industry seems ill at ease with precisely how sustainable development can be implemented in brownfield schemes. These and other findings, relating to sustainability issues (including the impact of climate change on future brownfield development), have important ramifications for brownfield regeneration policy in the UK. In particular, the research highlights the need for better metrics and benchmarks to be developed to measure ‘sustainable brownfield regeneration’. There also needs to be greater awareness and understanding of alternative clean‐up technologies to ‘dig and dump’.

Are Incentives for Brownfield Regeneration Sustainable? A Comparative Survey

AbstractReusing brownfields for new purposes is frequently not enabled by the economic, environmental and social barriers present at the site. Therefore, the European Commission and its Member States try to intervene by using different financial and legal incentives. This contribution presents the existing incentives on European Union level, in Germany, the UK, and Belgium, discusses the effects and gaps, and makes suggestions for more effective instruments for the promotion of sustainable brownfield regeneration. The European incentives are compared to the existing financial and legal incentives in the US.