1 Introduction
Brownfield development is the process of redevelopment on previously developed lands that are abandoned, closed or underused (Adams, De Sousa & Tiesdell, 2010). While some brownfield can be too contaminated, most brownfields are re-useable to create great value once cleaned up. And in this world of scarce resources, brownfield development becomes crucial as we focus more on sustainability and resource optimizing. While factors of rising awareness of urban sustainability issues, presence of derelict/disused urban space and society’s rising demand for ‘urban lifestyle’ promotes brownfield development, the process to transfer from greenfield development to brownfield development can be very complicated. In this paper, I will be focusing on the impacts of government regulation, land ownership and developer behaviour on urban brownfield residential development process.
In section 2, we look at how regulations impacts positively or negatively on urban brownfield residential development. In section 3, we look at types of ownership constraints and how major ownership constraints can impact or completely deny developers access to brownfield sites. We will also slightly link back to government regulations and talk about how government intervention can lessen the impact of ownership constraints. In section 4, we look at how developer behaviour changes with time and the impacts on urban brownfield residential development. We then finally summarise the overall impacts of regulations, land ownership and developer behaviour in section 5 as conclusion.
2 Regulations
Government regulations can be the quickest way to increase urban brownfield residential development because regulations shapes the market and constrain developers t...
... middle of paper ...
...wnfield development. Environment and Planning A, 36, 601-621.
Adams, D., & Payne, S. (2011). ‘Business as Usual?’-Exploring the Design Response of UK Speculative Housebuilders to the Brownfield Development Challenges. In S. Tiesdell & D. Adams (Eds.), Urban Design in the Real Estate Development Process (pp, 199-218). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.
Adams, D., Disberry, A., Hutchinson, N., and Munjoma, T. (2001). Ownership constraints to brownfield redevelopment. Environmental and Planning A, 33, 453-477.
Adams, D., De Sousa, C., & Tiesdell, S. (2010). Brownfield Development: A Comparison of North America and British Approaches. Urban Studies, 47(1), 75-104.
Dixon, T. (2007). The property development industry and sustainable urban brownfield regeneration in England: An analysis of case studies in Thames Gateway and Greater Manchester. Urban Studies, 44(12), 2379-2400.
The following case study critiques Upton’s vision to establish a sustainable community through implementing comprehensive sustainable strategy. The urban periphery development is thought to demonstrate superior execution of sustainable principles in development (Jackson 2007). As a parallel, the report focuses on the development of Upton’s design code and demonstrates how large -scale mix-use developments can incorporate sustainable practice and principles of urban growth.
Years ago, there was once a small town called Chaves Ravine within Los Angeles, California and this town was a poor rural community that was always full of life. Two hundred families, mostly Chicano families, were living here quite peacefully until the Housing Act of 1949 was passed. The Federal Housing Act of 1949 granted money to cities from the federal government to build public housing projects for the low income. Los Angeles was one of the first cities to receive the funds for project. Unfortunately, Chavez Ravine was one of the sites chosen for the housing project, so, to prepare for the construction work of the low-income apartments, the Housing Authority of Los Angeles had to convince the people of the ravine to leave, or forcibly oust them from their property. Since Chavez Ravine was to be used for public use, the Housing Authority of Los Angeles was able seize and buy Chavez Ravine from the property owners and evict whoever stayed behind with the help of Eminent Domain. The LA Housing Authority had told the inhabitants that low-income housing was to be built on the land, but, because of a sequence of events, the public housing project was never built there and instead Dodgers Stadium was built on Chavez Ravine. Although Chavez Ravine public housing project was the result of the goodwill and intent of the government, rather than helping the people Chavez Ravine with their promise of low-income housing, the project ended up destroying many of their lives because of those in opposition of the public housing project and government mismanagement.
Within Canada, brownfield redevelopment is a vital component in creating sustainable communities because it supports present-day land realities through the utilization of current infrastructure, inclusion of new green technologies and greenfield conservation. Brownfields are known as a former industrial or commercial site where future use is affected by real or perceived environmental contamination. They include decommission refineries, former railway yards, crumbling warehouses, abandoned gas stations, and other commercial properties where toxic substances may have been used or stored (National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, 1). In Canada today there are about 30’000 brownfield sites waiting to be redeveloped (Nat’l Rnd Tbl on the Env. and the Econ., 2). Through remediation, developers “seek to capitalize” on the current poor conditions (Hardisty, 242). This intensive process involves a great deal of research, technology and laborious methods to stop and reverse the sites environmental damage (Hardisty, 242). Nevertheless, once completed, brownfield redevelopment sites have numerous benefits that support sustainability. However, since it is unfeasible for a human economy to have no impacts on the environment, we will consider the model presented by the Worldwatch Institute (Worldwatch Institute, 6). Within their book, State of the World: Our Urban Future, sustainability can be seen as “improving public health and well-being, lowering its environmental impacts, increasingly recycling materials, and using energy with growing efficiency” (Worldwatch Institute, 6). Thus, sustainable cities are not fully sustainable, but having in mind the goal of sustainability. Brownfield redevelopment can help nurture this goal th...
An aging population, a younger generation who prefer walkable places, economic shifts, and the environmental impacts of suburban development are all contributing factors” (Beatz 141). Reshaping Metropolitan America gives an argument, as well as a blueprint, on how we can transform our infrastructure and housing demands by 2030.
One of the main issues that the book, “Ecology of Fear,” discussed about were the inherent dangers and problems that suburbanization imposed upon the landscape of Southern California. Although suburbanization in theory and in reality did create abundant benefits to a great mass of people, especially to those who wanted to avoid the daily nuisances of urban city life, its negative consequences were quite grave indeed. Suburbanization led to a complete eradication to the natural landscape of many areas in California. The book’s vivid accounts of how the lush, green landscape was bulldozed just to build tracts of homes were a painful reminder of the beauty that was lost due to suburbanization. “In 1958 sociologist William Whyte – author of The Organization Man – had a disturbing vision as he was leaving Southern California. ‘Flying from Los Angeles to San Bernardino – an unnerving lesson in man’s infinite capacity to mess up his environment – the traveler can see a legion of bulldozers gnawing into the last remaining tract of green between the two cities’.” (Davis, p. 77)...
A new phenomenon happening in our city is the rebirth of many of our older and rundown areas. One of the best examples of this is the "Soulard" area of town, which now has an established nightlife as well as exquisite historical antique homes. Lafayette Square has also enjoyed the same type of success as Soulard. It is still in the middle of a high crime area, but is populated by upper-class people with beautiful homes with elaborate wrought iron fences and intricate security systems. This trend of fixing up old flats is spreading out from the areas of Soulard and Lafayette Square to neighboring communities at a rapid pace. The Compton Heights area is coming back with rebuilt old Victorian styled houses and private gated streets that contrast the French styled flats of Soulard. The Shaw and Tower Grove area are also following the lead of revitalization similar to these charming old neighborhoods.
Kotkin, Joel. “Suburban Development.” Wall Street Journal. 23 Nov. 2007. N.p. Web. 3 May. 2010.
Location, location, location -- it’s the old realtor 's mantra for what the most important feature is when looking at a potential house. If the house is in a bad neighborhood, it may not be suitable for the buyers. In searching for a house, many people will look at how safe the surrounding area is. If it’s not safe, they will tend stray away. Jane Jacobs understood the importance of this and knew how cities could maintain this safety, but warned of what would become of them if they did not diverge from the current city styles. More modern planners, such as Joel Kotkin argue that Jacobs’s lesson is no longer applicable to modern cities because they have different functions than those of the past. This argument is valid in the sense that city
Kennedy A. (2014) Castle Vale Housing Action Trust: Lessons in Regenerating Communities Lecture, University of Birmingham.
Issue: Implications for sustainability, social justice and equality associated with the urban consolidation in Pyrmont (i.e. How economically and environmentally sustainable are the impacts of the issue and who are the winners and losers)
Comprehensive urban planning needs to be sustainable, economic and consider the prevalence of historical buildings within the scope of the design plans. When community leaders and planners convene to discuss and review designs for refurbishing a neighborhood all aspects of potential new construction and how it will fit into existing buildings. Ghasemzadeh states “A good urban planner and/or designer will know the principles to adhere to and steps to take to maintain or improve the conditions of an urban area through effective planning and desi...
According Bissett (2008, P.10) regeneration involves building and rebuilding to ‘dissolve and recreate different areas as sites of activity and reuse’. There have been a lot of changes in the history of Ireland’s economy and society as a whole. Bissett, J (2008, p.12) stated that ‘Urban regeneration in Ireland has therefore taken place within the changed context of the developing ‘tiger’ economy, and the modernisation of Irish society’. A large percentage of the Irish population lives in Dublin as it is a capital city. Urban regeneration strategies went through a different ‘reorientation’ in Dublin in the mid1980s by the city trying to transpose itself (Bissett, J 2008, p.11). The inner city had been left suburbanisation and the city had been at a crucial stage for many years. Important policies influenced the development and regeneration of Dublin City Centre. The ‘Myles Wright’ development policy that was adopted in 1960s seems to notice some new towns built on the margin of some area in Dublin, (Bissett, J 2008, p.12). Urban project undertook a thoughtful reorientation, and the Urban Renewal and Finance Act 1986 provided a legislative outline the new ideal of urban regeneration would happen, developers were further organised through the provision of important tax incentives for development. Department of Environment and Department of Finance coordinated ...
Another aspect that holds influence over the real estate mark is government involvement, which can restrict or help the markets behavior; and public requirements such as nuisance standards, environmental concerns and land-use controls; all of which can influence how property is used valued and distributed. It is important to realize that each individual market also has aspects that influence and drive that market as well. The housing market, is mostly influenced by supply and demand, however the commercial and industrial market is heavily influenced by forces in community economics, comparative advantage and community attitudes (McKenzie & Betts,
Purtill, Maureen. 2009. A Call for Critical Race Studies in Urban Planning. Critical Planning. 16: 218-222
Having set the aims, objectives and research questions in the first chapter, this chapter zooms in to review literature available on the subject of land tenure regularization and its effect on housing investment from different parts of the world with specific reference to cities. The emphasis of this chapter is to analyse the link between land tenure regularization and housing investment in informal settlements. Also, the focus is on securing land rights in informal settlements, since it is widely believed that regularization of informal settlement rights leads to (increased) access to formal finance which subsequently encourages housing investment (Chome and McCall, 2005). The chapter starts with contextual definition of key terms, and then followed by global documentation on the impact of tenure regularization in informal settlement, focusing on the experiences of some selected countries. Since the aim of the research is to investigate the effect of land tenure regularization on informal housing investment and that both the Zambian Local Authorities and the government have intention to regularize informal settlements, lessons learnt from the case study countries will be noted, after which the chapter will be concluded in section 2.6 by way of a summary.