Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration - Dealing with Contaminated Sites: From Theory Towards Practical Application - page 1100

25.12 Applying a Systems Analysis Approach to Brownfield
Redevelopment
A system is a group of natural or artificial things that connect to form a whole
(Oxford English Dictionary 1989 ). Cities, towns, villages have been considered
to be complex systems with interactions within and among their environmental,
social and economic spheres (Nathanail 2005 ). Any form of management pre-
sumes understanding: a systems analysis approach is a useful way to gain such
understanding (Alfeld and Meadows 1974 ; Nathanail 2005 ) (Leney AD (2008) A
systems approach to assess the redevelopment options for urban Brownfield sites.
PhD Thesis, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, “unpublished”). Brownfield
redevelopment constitutes a system perturbation: the urban system will interact with
and be altered by the redeveloped site. By considering the impact of different rede-
velopment options it is possible to assess how successfully each option meets the
project objectives, and therefore which of the considered options is most appropriate
for a site.
Nathanail ( 2005 ) and Leney (Leney AD (2008) A systems approach to assess
the redevelopment options for urban Brownfield sites. PhD Thesis, University
of Nottingham, Nottingham, “unpublished”) have demonstrated that the REMIT/
RESPONSE methodology developed by Hudson ( 1992 ) and applied by Nathanail
et al. ( 1992 ) to open cast coal mining can objectively analyse and help evaluate how
perturbations such as new developments affect an urban system.
25.13 Opportunities for Synergy (e.g. Carbon, Energy and Waste
Management)
Reclamation and remediation offer opportunities for energy efficient forms of con-
struction to be incorporated in to the redevelopment. For example pump and treat
systems can be used as heat exchangers. Excavations for ex situ treatment or off site
disposal can be exploited to install ground source heat pump infrastructure or create
extra space in the form of basements. Electric powered remediation can reduce the
lifetime costs of installing renewable energy generation such as wind turbines or
photovoltaic cells.
The Brownfield process manager should be adept at identifying and seek-
ing out such synergy in order to maximise the benefit and minimise the cost of
redevelopment.
25.14 Future Perspectives
This chapter is being finalised in the midst of the deep financial recession and in
the face of rapidly rising oil prices. At present, structural change is happening faster
in Western Europe and North America than for a very long time. Financial markets