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

Abstract

Prioritizing brownfields for redevelopment in real estate portfolios can contribute to more sustainable regeneration and land management. Owners of large real estate and brownfield portfolios are challenged to allocate their limited resources to the development of the most critical or promising sites, in terms of time and cost efficiency. Authorities worried about the negative impacts of brownfields - in particular in the case of potential contamination - on the environment and society also need to prioritize their resources to those brownfields that most urgently deserve attention and intervention. Yet, numerous factors have to be considered for prioritizing actions, in particular when adhering to sustainability principles. Several multiple-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approaches and tools have been suggested in order to support these actors in managing their brownfield portfolios. Based on lessons learned from the literature on success factors, sustainability assessment and MCDA approaches, researchers from a recent EU project have developed the web-based Timbre Brownfield Prioritization Tool (TBPT). It facilitates assessment and prioritization of a portfolio of sites on the basis of the probability of successful and sustainable regeneration or according to individually specified objectives. This paper introduces the challenges of brownfield portfolio management in general and reports about the application of the TBPT in five cases: practical test-uses by two large institutional land owners from Germany, a local and a regional administrative body from the Czech Republic, and an expert from a national environmental authority from Romania. Based on literature requirements for sustainability assessment tools and on the end-users' feedbacks from the practical tests, we discuss the TBPT's strengths and weaknesses in order to inform and give recommendations for future development of prioritization tools.

Land Use as a Motivation for Railway Trespassing: Experience from the Czech Republic

“…Recent changes are influenced particularly by the restructuring of industry in the Czech Republic after 1989 that was followed by the emergence of brownfield and revitalization efforts [30,35]. Revitalization of brownfield sites in the urban environment and its impact on functional land use in proximity to railways are also the subject of studies in other European countries [28,29]. A specific issue concerns mining areas, where the reduction, conservation, or expansion of mining activity is crucial for functional urban division.…”

“…The correlation between the development of settlement structures at railways and the emergence of trespassing is not commonly studied. More often, attention is given to issues of brownfield revitalization, where the relationships and links between the functional use of land and railway infrastructure are quite obvious, namely in towns [28][29][30].…”

Categorization of Impact of the Selected Variables for Potential Brownfield Regeneration in the Czech Republic by Means of Correspondence Analysis

“…Similar logic has been utilized also by other authors who argue that in regions where a higher potential of local development is measured, a higher probability exists that local brownfields will be more successfully regenerated. Bartke et al, 2016 andLimasset et al, 2018). The specifics of brownfield regeneration in the post-communist space are widely discussed by Osman et al (2015).…”

Uncovering Patterns of Location of Brownfields to Facilitate Their Regeneration: Some Remarks from the Czech Republic

“…Navratil et al [5] in their study documented that heritage preservation of sites is one of the factors of key importance when planning a regeneration project. A set of studies has also been devoted to the problem of prioritization of brownfields for regeneration [6][7][8]. Authors of these studies follow the logic that the areas with higher local development potential possess a higher probability that local brownfields will be regenerated.…”