Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
There is no common definition of Brownfield across the 27 member states of
the European Union. However two have gained widespread acceptance over the
last decade. The EU funded CLARINET network produced a definition which was
subtly but significantly modified by CABERNET ( 2006 ) to include sites that:
have been affected by former uses of the site or surrounding land;
are derelict or underused;
are mainly in fully or partly developed urban areas;
may have real or perceived contamination problems; and
require intervention to bring them back to beneficial use.
The effect of CABERNET's three letter modifier “may”, in italics above, is
to remove the necessity of contamination related issues for a site to be consid-
ered a Brownfield. For example whole streets of abandoned miners' cottages in
villages in the north of Nottinghamshire or of ornately decorated town houses in
Riga would usually be considered as Brownfields, but are unlikely to be affected by
contamination issues.
As early as 2004, the failure of the EU to achieve the Lisbon targets of 2000 was
reported by the BBC as a medium to long term threat to the sustainability of the
society Europe has built ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3979619.stm ). There
was high level recognition that “Each element of the Lisbon strategy is still needed
for the success of the whole. Improved economic growth and increased employ-
ment provide the means to sustain social cohesion and environmental sustainability.
In their turn, social cohesion and environmental sustainability can contribute to a
higher growth and employment” (Kok 2004 ). However, the Kok report warning
that “Europe, in short, must focus on (economic) growth and employment in order
to achieve the Lisbon ambitions” is flawed, as any student of compound interest
can work out, unless such growth can be decoupled from environmental impact
and from contributing to social inequality in other parts of the world. Kok's report
makes no mention of Brownfields or even of land. Such a spatially-blind analysis
reflects the weakness or inability of the EU to recognise the territorial element in
its socio-economic venture. A more recent, but still pre-credit crunch, analysis was
more optimistic and highlighted the potential role of eco-efficiency in driving the
European economic engine.
Whatever the future holds for Europe, the way it manages its land will be central
to the long term maintenance of peace and stability on a continent that has only
recently begun to put behind it a millennium of land-grab related conflict. Smart
reuse of the sites of former factories, mines and electronic assembly plants is an
essential pre requisite of social equity and wise environmental stewardship.
25.8.2 UK
The UK has had a long history of redeveloping former industrial sites. It now
enjoys not one but two euphemistic meanings of the “Brownfield” term, includ-
ing one policy based definition. England has a policy that 60% of new housing
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