Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration - Dealing with Contaminated Sites: From Theory Towards Practical Application - page 1093

contaminated properties. Hot debates revolve around the classification of sites as
Brownfield, so that they can qualify for support under this stimulus cash.
25.8.4 Comparison of Brownfield Definitions
The previous section illustrated some of the differences between Brownfield defini-
tions. In many countries funding is allocated to sites that meet the relevant definition
and therefore the implications of choosing alternative wording is important. Four
sites are used to illustrate these differences (Table 25.2 ).
Former retail and warehouse premises near Nottingham Castle were abandoned
when the furniture retail company that was leasing the buildings went into liquida-
tion at the end of 2008. The site is currently derelict and the buildings unoccupied.
A local church which had been hiring rooms in a secondary school has now bought
the land with a view to either refurbishing the existing buildings or erecting a
purpose-built place of worship.
A former landfill in Los Angeles is being redeveloped for mixed commercial and
residential land use after remaining derelict for many years. The location of the site
and its very good connection to the freeway network meant the costs of remediation
and reclamation could be recovered in a short enough period of time to make the
project viable.
The Avoca mine in the Republic of Ireland has been derelict since mining fin-
ished in the 1980s. It is now being remediated and restored to a mine heritage and
recreational facility.
Spinalonga is a small fortress island off the coast of Crete in the Mediterranean.
Its former uses include the Venetian fortifications and a leper colony. While unoc-
cupied since the departure of its last resident, a Greek Orthodox priest, in 1962 the
island is one of Crete's most popular tourist attractions.
The first three of these sites fall within one or more of the definitions of
Brownfields described above. Spinalonga alone does not merely by dint of its
continued “use” as an ancient monument.
What has become clear in the last decade is that few if any countries are immune
from the need to consider their Brownfield legacy. Most of Europe's Brownfields
have been created as a result of structural or geopolitical change. As large industries
shut down or relocated, they leave behind a legacy of Brownfield sites. However
even the booming economy of China has resulted in Brownfield sites and poli-
cies are beginning to emerge to return these to beneficial use. One advantage that
a growing economy offers of course is economic capital to invest into Brownfield
sites. Some Chinese Brownfields are early generation factories built in the 1950s
and 1960s, around the centre of what were then relatively small settlements. As
economies and populations grew, technological developments have rendered those
factories redundant but surrounded by residential areas. Such Brownfields are now
seen as highly desirable tracts of land onto which to develop residential, office and
retail developments to service an increasingly affluent and urban populace.
Derelict, abandoned and underused land is a growing problem throughout Europe
and beyond. Changes in industrial practice and in the geopolitical make-up of