Search Results (11)

Brownfields are abundant, widely dispersed, and subject to complex contamination, resulting in waste land, ecological degradation, and barriers to economic growth. The accurate identification of brownfield sites is key to formulating effective remediation and reuse strategies. However, the heterogeneity of surface features poses significant challenges for identifying various types of brownfields across entire urban areas. To address these challenges, this study proposes a “Target–Classification–Modification” (TCM) method for brownfield identification, which was applied to Tangshan City, China. This method consists of a three-stage process: target area localization, visual interpretation and classification, and site-level modification. It leverages integrated multi-source open-access data and clear rules for subtype classification and the determination of spatial boundaries and abandonment status. The results for Tangshan show that (1) the overall accuracy of the TCM method reached 84.9%; (2) a total of 1706 brownfield sites were identified, including 422 raw-material mining sites, 576 raw-material manufacturing sites, and 708 non-raw-material manufacturing sites; (3) subtype analysis revealed distinct spatial distribution and morphological patterns, driven by resource endowments, transportation networks, and industrial space organization. The TCM method improved the identification efficiency by 34.7% through precise target-area localization. It offers well-defined criteria to distinguish different brownfield subtypes. In addition, it employs a multi-approach strategy to determine the abandonment status, further enhancing accuracy. This method is scalable and widely applicable, providing support for urban-scale brownfield research and practice. Full article

At the end of the 20th century, most industrial cities faced a massive phase of de-industrialisation, resulting in abandoned areas. However, these areas, rich in history and heritage, can represent significant resources for the regeneration of entire territories. Adaptive Reuse (AR) is one of the most appropriate strategies for the sustainable regeneration of brownfield sites: it gives new life to a ‘dead’ land, extending its use value so that it can continue to be enjoyed both by present and future generations. Decision-making processes concerning Industrial Heritage Adaptive Reuse (IHAR) cannot ignore the role that ‘intrinsic value’ plays in orienting development choices in such areas. Adopting participatory decision-making processes enables the inclusion of different values and interests of the stakeholders and, at the same time, increasing their awareness about the decision-making problem, thus reducing conflicts. This contribution intends to propose an evaluation framework to assess the multidimensional impacts of IHAR, considering the different values characterising them, and to support decision-making processes for the identification of the ‘preferable’ transformation scenario. This evaluation framework is applied, through the use of the TOPSIS multi-criteria evaluation method, in the case study of the ex-Italsider area in Bagnoli district (Naples, Italy), an industrial steel plant decommissioned in the early 1990s. Full article

In the post-industrial era, many cities have experienced the decline of heavy industry and traditional manufacturing, leading to the widespread emergence of brownfields. These often cluster geographically, forming “brownfield clusters” characterized by shared spatial and functional traits. Our research examined these phenomena within 10 resource-exhausted cities in China, employing kernel density analysis to explore the spatial dynamics within and among these clusters and their urban contexts. We identified three distinct spatial relationships between brownfield clusters and their host cities (coupling, juxtaposition, and encircling), with a detailed case study in Huangshi City further classifying the clusters into five categories based on their dominant factors, spatial morphologies, types of brownfields, and internal dynamics. The study reveals that the spatial configurations of brownfield clusters are significantly influenced by geographic features, transportation infrastructure, and policy frameworks. Based on these findings, we propose targeted regeneration strategies for each cluster type. This research not only enhances our understanding of brownfield challenges and opportunities in China’s resource-exhausted cities but also serves as a valuable reference for other cities and regions worldwide facing similar challenges. Full article

Oilfields must increase their production due to the current price of oil barrels. The sale of these oilfields by big companies enabled new companies to enter the exploration and production segment of brownfields to increase oil and gas production through subsea intervention projects. However, these projects require specific product development that involves technical requirements that the engineering department must analyze. This research aims to apply the SWARA-MOORA-3NAG multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) method in analyzing the technical proposals of subsea intervention equipment for ordering suppliers according to the engineering requirements defined at the initial stage of the projects of an oil and gas company. The research methodology was divided into five stages: (1) identification of the problem through observation of the current process and interviews with engineers; (2) data collection through bibliographic research in the Scopus database; (3) problem modeling; (4) proposition of the solution with the application of the SWARA-MOORA-3NAG method; and (5) analysis of the results found. The application of the SWARA-MOORA-3NAG method brought a new ordering of suppliers to the analyzed case, enabling comparison between the method previously used by the engineering department and the method proposed by this research, emphasizing that the MCDA methods can be inserted into the analysis processes of technical proposals in the engineering department of the company analyzed. Full article

The need to achieve the sustainability goals and to reduce the continuous exploitation of the limited urban areas increases requests for the regeneration of brownfields. The current study aims to review the state of brownfields in the Northern Czech Region and neighboring German (Saxony) and Polish (Silesian) Regions which share a common geological background and environmental problems. The peculiarities of the brownfield’s properties related to the term, classification, legislative framework, access to available data, degree of contamination, and remediation methods were the focus of this review. It was established that the state with brownfield identification and transformation is better in the Czech Republic, followed by Germany, with lower awareness in Poland. The relevant examples of successful brownfield revitalization and the importance of educational components were introduced. A prospective application of the phytotechnology with the second-generation crops for the remediation of brownfields was discussed. The utilization of Miscanthus spp. for marginal lands with low contamination can provide an economic return by having biomass converted into energy or bioproducts and the utilization of the accompanied waste as carbon-rich biochar which can indeed support phytoremediation, enhance plants’ growth and serve as a medium for carbon sequestration. The next steps in the research have to concentrate on comparison of the rehabilitation methods introduced for the targeted regions with the global approach in brownfield redevelopment along with the practical ensuring the phytotechnology potential at the selected brownfields. Full article

Rapid industrialization and urbanization in China have led to a rapid increase in the number of brownfields, however there is a lack of identification of the spatial extent of brownfields in cities and accurate assessment of brownfield redevelopment. Based on the relationship between brownfields and urban complex ecosystems, this paper defines brownfields in China and constructs a comprehensive evaluation index system including socio-economic and ecological subsystems. Using Wuhu City as empirical evidence, 19 brownfields were identified using remote sensing data and field surveys. Based on the detection of soil contaminants in brownfields, a fuzzy integrated evaluation method was used to suggest their redevelopment direction. It is found that the government’s planned land use types and the brownfield redevelopment evaluation results match to a large extent, but social, economic and ecological environmental factors should be more fully considered. At the same time, the identification and redevelopment of brownfield sites in the city as a whole need to be carried out by the government’s professional forces in order to obtain more effective and scientific conclusions. Full article

The paper investigates a particular phenomenon of the industrialization of Southern Italy, starting from the second post-war period, and, in particular, the unsolved relationship between some large industrial areas and the territories of the medium and small cities on which such productive “plates” have been installed. The town planning policies and instruments with which the industrialization of Southern Italy was planned, on the contrary, foresaw a strong integration between urban fabric and industrial agglomerations. Through the case study of the province of Caserta, the research illustrated by the paper investigates, first of all, the policies that supported this process of industrialization and what the territorial effects of this phenomenon were. Next, the paper illustrates the method of knowledge and mapping of the territory of the case study of the industrial development area of Caserta. The data will be collected in a GIS platform that will return the following condition that is nowadays not available: analytical maps of the brownfield areas and the identification of the areas still intact, agricultural or green areas, urban areas and infrastructures, which trace a cognitive framework addressed to the project in which it will possible to experiment some possible eco-innovative and nature-based solutions. Full article

The 3D modelling of indoor environments and the generation of process simulations play an important role in factory and assembly planning. In brownfield planning cases, existing data are often outdated and incomplete especially for older plants, which were mostly planned in 2D. Thus, current environment models cannot be generated directly on the basis of existing data and a holistic approach on how to build such a factory model in a highly automated fashion is mostly non-existent. Major steps in generating an environment model of a production plant include data collection, data pre-processing and object identification as well as pose estimation. In this work, we elaborate on a methodical modelling approach, which starts with the digitalization of large-scale indoor environments and ends with the generation of a static environment or simulation model. The object identification step is realized using a Bayesian neural network capable of point cloud segmentation. We elaborate on the impact of the uncertainty information estimated by a Bayesian segmentation framework on the accuracy of the generated environment model. The steps of data collection and point cloud segmentation as well as the resulting model accuracy are evaluated on a real-world data set collected at the assembly line of a large-scale automotive production plant. The Bayesian segmentation network clearly surpasses the performance of the frequentist baseline and allows us to considerably increase the accuracy of the model placement in a simulation scene. Full article

Private science parks (PSPs) are infrastructure elements of national high technology industrial development zones. Increasing private capital is being invested in this field to transform abandoned factories into science parks through brownfield regeneration, which not only effectively utilizes urban space, but also greatly strengthens the power of scientific and technological innovation. The evolution of these PSPs, however, is not satisfactory, and some operation and innovation-related problems often lead to their failures. Therefore, identifying key success factors is crucial for the sustainable growth of PSPs. This study employs Fuzzy Analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) and Fuzzy-DEMATEL (Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) methods to construct an identification model for key success factors of PSPs established from brownfield regeneration. Associated influencing factors were collected through literature analysis, on-site interviews, and questionnaire, based on which key success factors were identified. The results of the study showed that five factors—resources sharing capacity of the park, park scale, financing and financial services, legal policy services and administrative capability, and construction level of facilities in the park—are the key success factors for such PSPs. The results also provide a theoretical basis for the development of PSPs established from brownfield regeneration, and support the formulation of PSP-related policies. Full article

The issue of brownfield regeneration is closely connected to balanced and sustainable development of regions, towns, and cities as it endeavors to reuse buildings and sites that have already lost their original use, but at the same time offers a possibility to generate new beneficial activities for the whole society that exceed just material or physical changes of the brownfield sites. The regeneration of every brownfield is usually a highly site-specific issue and individual and unique impacts of regeneration on the particular locality are obvious. Yet, several patterns in sets of non-regenerated brownfields can be identified. By finding and defining such patterns, a framework of indicators to facilitate brownfield regeneration can be created and the importance and strength of a particular indicator can be defined. By means of the analyses, we are able to recommend various relevant and most suitable approaches with regards to brownfield regeneration in individual regions. We have employed Factor Analysis (FA) for the identification of key factors of brownfield regeneration. In particular, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to conduct analyses of 1304 non-regenerated brownfields located in seven regions of the Czech Republic (NUTS 3 level). Data were obtained from publicly available brownfield databases of individual regional administrations. By means of Factor Analysis, it was ascertained that the most frequent factor that is typical for the surveyed non-regenerated brownfields is the ownership. The second most frequent factor is the size of the brownfields. As the third factor according to importance, the distance between the location of the individual brownfield and the municipality of extended powers (the so-called small district) was identified. By taking into account the results of the conducted analyses, brownfield regeneration policies of individual regions might be adapted to be more suitably targeted. Full article

Although the problem of brownfields in urban territories is successfully limited, it is a negative phenomenon of a sustainable city. Moreover, the number of recently created brownfield territories has become higher than that of the regenerated ones. Such territories reduce the quality of the social and economic setting of a city as well as visually and physically affect the life quality of city residents. Unfortunately, methods for the revitalization of brownfield land have been applied to deal with the consequences of the problem rather than to limit the problem itself. The authors of the article have investigated the aspects to be avoided to not create brownfields. The indicators that enable predicting the probability of a territory becoming a brownfield have been analyzed in this paper. Countries develop and exist under different social and economic conditions. Therefore, there is no uniform and universally accepted system of indicators for brownfield prevention that can be applied in any country or city. The authors have attempted to implement a recently developed idea of indicators for prevention under Lithuanian conditions and have selected those facilitating the identification of brownfields with an aim of identifying the most significant ones warning about the potential harm from the creation of brownfields in Lithuania. The selected indicators have been grouped, taking into account social, economic, natural, building and infrastructure settings of the city and ranked by a group of experts in urban planning. The established hierarchy of indicators in the groups of urban setting has allowed the authors to select the most significant preventive indicators for brownfields. The created system of indicators could be applied in practice as a basis for monitoring pertinent data and tracking their change. Full article