TECHNIQUES, CASES, & ISSUES COMPUTER TOOLS TO FACILITATE BROWNFIELD DEVELOPMENT ADJO AMEKUDZI

Brownfields are both a resource and a liability. Brownfield sites represent an opportunity to build the tax base and to rejuvenate decaying infrastructure and depressed communities. With ever-increasing pressures on existing infrastructure from both development andage, and the opportunitiesformore rational approaches to site remediation, brownfields and their associated infrastructure offer an attrac-tive alternative to greenfield sites. These close links between site development and the provision ofphysical infrastructure emphasize one aspect ofbrownfield devel-opment as public works. This article focuses on the role of computer tools in facilitating the brownfield development process. It draws OIl examples of tools currently under development, existing research, and commercially available soft-ware to illustrate the application ofthe tools, their strengths and limitations, and issues related to data, comparative analysis, and interpretation ofresults. The redevelopment of abandoned industrial lands and the continual renewal of active industrial sites is fundamental to accomplishing the Plan's goals and objectives. This strategy will not only increase employment in older communities, it will also create an impetus for people to live and shop in those towns. Furthermore, this strategy will reduce the pressure to expand public infrastruc-ture into currently undeveloped areas.-Southwestern Pennsylvania Regional Planning Commis-sion (1994, p. 139) For both older and newer cities, brownfield industrial sites, 1 whether vacant or underused, are both a resource and a liability ("Cleanups Generate, " 1994; Pierce, 1993). As a resource, they represent accessible locations with much of the infrastructure, albeit deteriorated, in place, with the associated opportunity for significant tax revenues. They also represent an opportunity to slow down suburban and rural sprawl (Christman, 1995; Kostmayer, 1995). As a liability