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The paper concerns the relation between revitalisation projects and socio-economic polarisation, and discusses the potential of new urban spaces for social inclusion. The phenomenon is considered on the example of recreational facilities that have emerged from brownfields located in the Ruhr region (Germany). It was ascertained that the diversity of implemented projects was important in terms of the significance of revitalisation processes for social polarisation tendencies. It allowed regional authorities to create income-generating facilities and spaces that can be used regardless of income, and to resolve deficits in urban recreational facilities. It was also noted that the Ruhr examples could provide guidance for the recently begun revitalisation processes in the Upper Silesian industrial area (Poland). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One characteristic of the urbanization process in post-war Germany was the development of mono-functional industrial areas. Today these areas suffer from spatial decline and are affected by increasing urban brownfields. The challenge in their revitalization is not only one of urban planning, but also, most importantly, climate protection and low carbon development, with especially the energetic potential being huge. Based upon considerations on institutional theory, this article addresses the renewal of the industrial zones in the context of a societal "transformation towards sustainability", posing the question how sustainability can be institutionalized permanently and as a common task of all stakeholders. The article discusses new forms of organization using examples from Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium(Flanders). As a result, an ideal type of governance pattern becomes recognizable based on three pillars: interfirm cooperation, participation of the local-state actors and an industrial site management (park management). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regeneration of brownfields has recently gained prominence due to greenfield land restrictions as well as their potential to promote the urban renaissance. On the examples of Kings Waterfront in Liverpool and Rheinauhafen in Cologne the paper aims to evaluate how brownfield regeneration practice compares, given that local, national and European bodies have invested significant amounts of time and expenditure to the revitalisation of sites. The literature review provides a background to the issues which need to be overcome for developments such as Liverpool's Kings Waterfront and Cologne's Rheinauhafen to become a success. In order to determine the state of current brownfield practice in Liverpool and Cologne, we explore the public opinion and information from specialists in the field. The study shows that, if exploited correctly, brownfield sites can provide a catalyst for economic growth in the inner city areas where they once have been deprived. Finally, studied cities were found to contain many examples of best practice with regards to brownfield sites situated on rivers. These successful schemes could be used to reignite the regeneration of other world cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Urban shrinkage affects many cities across the world, especially former industrial areas. One of the most dramatic areas of population decline has been in eastern Germany since the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1999, the City of Leipzig started a program to revitalize its declining neighborhoods. Taking over the development of private brownfields and waiving property taxes in return for a promise of regular maintenance in a program called interim use, the city has vastly increased public greenspace in these neighborhoods. Despite regional acclaim and imitation, the strategy has thus far lacked a comprehensive evaluation: How successful has the interim use strategy been? This study approaches that question in the context of the city''s sustainability goals and public use and perception of the sites, thereby providing insights for planners into the efficacy of this planning tool for neighborhood revitalization. Our sustainability assessment of the interim use sites uses a triangular integrated evaluation method combining indicator-integrated surveys and questionnaires with expert interviews. The results show that interim use sites scored higher overall than their closest counterparts, recently demolished brownfields. They also have a much greater usage rate. However, most people using the sites do not recognize the sites as being a result of city intervention, and many complain about the lack of site maintenance and benches. We conclude that public acceptance and support for interim use can be strengthened with more seating, punitive measures for property owners and increased communication about the strategy and its potential as a planning tool. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to briefly present aspects of public brownfield management policies from Brazilian and German points of view. Design/methodology/approach - The data collection method combined literature and documental research. The bibliography included Brazilian and German literature about brownfield management. The documental research includes Brazilian and German legislation and official documents published by CETESB, the Environmental Company of the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Furthermore, publications of German governmental research institutions have been integrated in the paper. Findings - In Brazil, despite the lack of a federal public policy, the State of São Paulo has approved specific rules to deal with contaminated sites. Topics that could be targets of scientific studies have been identified. Experiences in Germany show that it is essential to have political will and cooperation between the different political levels and technical disciplines. Partnerships between German and Brazilian universities would be welcome as there is a wide range of opportunities for academic post-graduation studies and research focusing on human resources capacitation in environmental management. Originality/value - The paper makes an original contribution of exploring an area (brownfield management) that is at the forefront of discussion in academe and industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Containing urban sprawl and limiting greenfield developments has become an important aim of land use planning policy over recent decades. Traditionally planning instruments such as greenbelt designations and restrictive development controls have been used to achieve this aim. Beyond that in recent years the systematic reuse of brownfield land has become an important policy objective, which could in turn ease the pressure to develop on greenfield land. The aim of this paper is to identify factors explaining differences in the success of such strategic brownfield reuse policies in England and Germany. To do this the paper explores the underlying spatial development paradigms in both countries as well as differences in planning policies and institutional settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines the current situation and activities in Germany concerning the management and redevelopment of brownfields in Germany. The topic is closely linked to the strategy of the German Government on sustainable development in the country. Brownfield redevelopment has been identified as one of the major tools for supporting the reduction of land consumption. The avoidance of urban sprawl and the reduction of greenfield consumption had been identified as a key indicator for sustainable development. The government has set the target of reducing land consumption for settlement and traffic purposes to 30 hectares per day until 2020, from 113 hectares per day at present. Based on this target, a number of research activities have emerged, and new land management approaches and strategies developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brownfield sites contribute significantly to urban biodiversity due to their high spatio-temporal dynamics and their transient character. Plant species richness is, among other factors, contingent on vegetation structure. In this study, we examined plant species richness, vegetation height, vegetation density and soil parameters of a chronosequence of urban brownfield sites in Bremen and Berlin, Germany. These parameters were linked to successional age using single and multiple linear regression. Most biotic and abiotic variables differed significantly between sites with and without brick rubble in the soil, indicating a strong effect of site history on vegetation development. Soil parameters of the sites were not clearly linked to site age. Vegetation height and density increased significantly over time. Additionally, height and density increased with soil phosphorus content and water permeability of the soil, whilst plant available water only contributed to the model of vegetation density. Species richness increased with vegetation height but decreased with vegetation density. This indicates that species richness is maximised when a community comprises a mixture of early and mid-successional species. The results suggest that high plant species richness on sandy brownfield sites can be achieved by strong disturbances at an interval of 5 (±2) years. However, limiting soil resources can prolong this interval considerably. Management aiming to maximise plant species richness in urban brownfield sites should therefore take into account the interplay between soil resources and site age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With urban vacant land including brownfield land attracting increasing attention; spatial information on vacant land is crucial for city planners and decision-makers. Yet vacant land mapping faces the challenges of confusing terminology, reliance on inefficient registration systems, and the cost of data collection. Automatic site detection has been attempted using classification of remote sensing images. However, because the morphology of vacant land can cover such diverse aspects as derelict structures, bare soil, and vegetation or a mix thereof, even when commercial high-resolution images are used, it remains difficult to achieve this goal. This study starts by defining an urban vacant land typology suitable for automatic site detection. It covers four categories: transportation-associated land; natural sites with unfavorable conditions such as wetlands, steep slopes, or riverbanks; unattended areas or reserve parcels as "leftover spaces" within the urban fabric; and brownfield sites previously used but now abandoned. The study goes on to describe the rule-based data fusion method applied for site detection. The fusion procedure combines remote sensing images, GIS layers and citizen science data. For each type of vacant land, a separate data processing flow was developed. The method was tested in 63 urban and rural districts in Germany, identifying a large number of vacant sites. The study used an open-source approach. Open-source spatial data was collected for analysis, aerial photos provided by open-data projects were used for quality checks, and free software was used for data processing. This means that, information on vacant land is retrievable by local administrations irrespective of their financial circumstances. Depending on local urban development strategies, the detected sites can be used to support different sustainability goals. • A vacant land typology from a spatial data analysis point of view. • An automated method to detect urban vacant land, applicable to large-scale mapping. • An open-source approach to retrieve spatial information on vacant land at low cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depending on location, size and former use, brownfields in the Ruhr have different potentials. Besides brownfields where viable regeneration projects are possible there are many sites that are not attractive to the market. One type of use for this category is post-industrial nature (e.g. industrial forests). Following the overall concept of sustainable development, these sites offer potentials for creative ‘place-making’ by local residents. The approach of ‘place-making’ is embedded in the discussion of establishing local governance in urban districts of the Ruhr. Introducing one best-practice-case (the Rheinelbe industrial forest in Gelsenkirchen), the paper focuses on the discussion of ‘place-making’ as a strategy for innovative brownfield development and local governance using the example of the former Lohberg colliery in Dinslaken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to making general inferences or predictions from habitat models, their generalizability requires thorough assessment. However, systematic testing of model generality is often claimed, but rarely done. We used existing models for phytophagous insects (grasshoppers and leafhoppers) from a study on urban brownfields. Data for model building had been collected in two major cities of Northern Germany, Berlin and Bremen. We transferred these models to test data from another year (Bremen, 30 model transfers), and to test data from different geographic regions (transfer from Berlin to Bremen and vice versa, 30 model transfers). We evaluated discriminatory ability as well as model calibration for the test data. Most transfers (28 in time, 27 in space) were successful, i.e. occupied sites within the test data were assigned higher occurrence probabilities than unoccupied sites, the threshold independent c-index for the test data exceeded chance. Our results indicated that models built on the larger dataset (147 plots, Bremen) were more general than the ones basing on the smaller dataset (89 plots, Berlin). The overall good transferability had three important drawbacks: (1) models were mostly not well calibrated to the test data, thus predicted occurrence probabilities may not be used as absolute values, but as ordinal ranks. (2) Model fit to the test data often decreased considerably compared to the training data. (3) Dichotomising occurrence probabilities to presence/absence predictions required prior information about species prevalence. Assigning presences to the sites with the highest predicted occurrence probabilities, with the number of presences corresponding to the prevalence, proofed to be a comparatively simple and reliable way of dichotomising predictions. Still, it only allowed predictions exceeding chance for 19 model transfers in time and 23 transfers in space, and required information about species’ prevalences. We qualitatively compared pairs of models for 10 species, with one model basing on the Bremen data, one on the Berlin data. Both models had been built with the same modeling technique. Vegetation structure variables were largely comparable between models. It seemed that they were more directly related to species’ occurrences and thus more general than landscape context variables and soil parameters. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In urban brownfields (derelict sites), we studied the influence of local factors (successional age, vegetation structure, soil) and landscape context (spatial arrangement of brownfields of different successional stages) on the diversity of phytophagous insects, grasshoppers and leafhoppers (Orthoptera and Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha). The study was conducted on a total of 246 plots in the cities of Bremen and Berlin, Germany. We used a habitat modelling approach, enabling us to predict the community from single species models (30 species in Bremen, 28 in Berlin). The results revealed that communities were predominantly determined by vegetation structure, followed by landscape context, soil parameters and site age. For most species, local factors were the most important. Only few species were strongly influenced by landscape context, even though some showed clear negative reactions to low proportions of brownfields in the surroundings. Along a successional gradient of vegetation structure, from scarce and low to dense and high vegetation, the insect community was not static. Even though species numbers remained comparatively constant, species composition changed considerably. Many species showed clear preferences for certain successional stages. Thus, maintaining the regional species pool of a city requires a mosaic of all successional stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brownfields have attracted increasing attentions from both researchers and practitioners. However, few studies have attempted to make a comprehensive and quantitative review on this topic. This study conducted a scientometric review on the brownfield research from 1995 to 2017 using CiteSpace. The knowledge structure, hot topics, research trends, and gaps were analyzed based on the co-author, co-word, co-citation, and clusters analysis. Six hundred thirty articles from the Web of Science core collection database were selected as the research samples. Results revealed that the research focus has changed from soil remediation technologies to sustainable regeneration methods. The most vital development in brownfield research occurred in the USA, England, Canada, Germany, and China. "Brownfield," "heavy metal," "remediation," "redevelopment," and "sustainability" were the most frequently used keywords. Whereas "management" and "biodiversity" received citation bursts in recent years. Existing researches mainly concentrated on subject categories of environmental sciences ecology, environmental sciences, engineering, environmental studies, engineering environmental, and urban studies. Sustainable regeneration, urban brownfields' regeneration, mental distribution, coal-mine brownfield, and ecosystem service were the identified co-citation clusters and represented the hot topics and emerging trends. The research gaps can serve as a motivation to research on the next generation of brownfields to support the sustainable development. This study provides researchers and practitioners an extensive and intensive understanding of the salient research themes and trends of brownfields' research worldwide.

The reuse of underused or abandoned contaminated land, so-called brownfields, is increasingly seen as an important means for reducing the consumption of land and natural resources. Many existing decision support systems are not appropriate because they focus mainly on economic aspects, while neglecting sustainability issues. To fill this gap, we present a framework for spatially explicit, integrated planning and assessment of brownfield redevelopment options. A multi-criteria genetic algorithm allows us to determine optimal land use configurations with respect to assessment criteria and given constraints on the composition of land use classes, according to, e.g., stakeholder preferences. Assessment criteria include sustainability indicators as well as economic aspects, including remediation costs and land value. The framework is applied to a case study of a former military site near Potsdam, Germany. Emphasis is placed on the trade-off between possibly conflicting objectives (e.g., economic goals versus the need for sustainable development in the regional context of the brownfield site), which may represent different perspectives of involved stakeholders. The economic analysis reveals the trade-off between the increase in land value due to reuse and the costs for remediation required to make reuse possible. We identify various reuse options, which perform similarly well although they exhibit different land use patterns. High-cost high-value options dominated by residential land use and low-cost low-value options with less sensitive land use types may perform equally well economically. The results of the integrated analysis show that the quantitative integration of sustainability may change optimal land use patterns considerably., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)