Sustainability assessment and the revitalization of contaminated sites: operationalizing sustainable development for local problems

Abstract

The problem of contamination of soil and groundwater has only been discussed widely in industrialized countries since the 1970s. Since the 1980s, when the debate on sustainable development began to be taken up in urban and regional planning, soil was increasingly seen as a scarce and non-renewable resource. Consequently, the goal of brownfield redevelopment became an urgent issue in policy circles. Because revitalization of contaminated brownfield areas is characterized by many uncertainties and complex decision-making processes, there is a growing need for generic decision-support systems. In this paper we discuss the development of a systematic approach aimed at assessing different land-use scenarios for a contaminated site in terms of their sustainability value as part of a computer-based module. The overall management system, of which sustainability indicator development discussed in this paper is but one part, supports users in developing a case-specific set of criteria for sustainable development. In this paper, we present and critically discuss this new sustainability assessment module. We describe the different steps of the indicator development process and discuss areas that need to be improved in order to derive answers that reach beyond the field of contaminated site management.

Re-development of a former military training area—The case of Brdy told from a local actors’ perspective

“…Limasset et al, 2018;Alexandrescu et al, 2017;Bartke et al, 2016 and is thus of relevance for MTA redevelopment. Notwithstanding, a site specific perspective and active involvement of actors is crucial at the regional and local levels (Alexandrescu, 2016a(Alexandrescu, , 2016bBleicher and Groß, 2010;Hartmuth et al, 2008).…”

Targeted selection of brownfields from portfolios for sustainable regeneration: User experiences from five cases testing the Timbre Brownfield Prioritization Tool

“…Then again, this enables a scaling of the general sustainable development paradigm to the local context, which has been requested in several corners of the sustainability literature (e.g. Bleicher and Groß, 2010;Hartmut et al, 2008). A precondition to ensure such contextualized adjustments as sustainable development is the broad participation of stakeholders.…”

Soil Genotoxicity Biomonitoring in Recultivated Factory Area Using the Cytogenetic and Molecular Assays in Two Plant Test-Systems

“…Chromium and arsenic compounds are well-known mutagens that can act as clastogens (White, Claxton, 2004). Environmental pollution at the abandoned areas of industrial establishments, landfill sites is of real danger when left without proper conservation and management (Bleicher, Gross, 2010;Čėsnienė et al, 2010) or recultivated carelessly. Ecological revitalization of such contaminated sites into residential zones is a constant process issued by the need to satisfy an increasing population demand for the housing (Schädler et al, 2011;Bondzinskaitė et al, 2017) also promoted by environmental awareness raised with increasing knowledge about consequences of improper waste disposal (Bleicher, Gross, 2010;Silvia et al, 2011).…”