Reversing Urban Sprawl : A Reclaimability Index Approach for Reviving Downtown Brownfields

2011PDFTech ReportCTLS 08-03BrownfieldsLand reclamationUrban renewalSmart growthSoil remediationUrban sprawlBrownfields, GIS, Smart growth, Urban sprawlResearch HubConnecticutUnited StatesCenter for Transportation and Livable SystemsChrysochoou, MariaGarrick, NormanSegerson, KathleenBagtzoglou, AmvrossiosDahal, GeetaBrown, KwekuGranda-Carvajal, CatalinaUniversity of Connecticut. Center for Transportation and Livable SystemsUnited States. Dept. of TransportationUS Transportation CollectionA key step to promoting urban revitalization is the reclamation of abandoned or underutilized contaminated sites, also known as brownfields. Effective brownfield redevelopment approaches require environmental, socio-economic and urban planning dimensions to be integrated into policies. The most common approach to incorporate such dimensions is to evaluate specific redevelopment projects for a single site and decision support tools have been developed for that purpose. In this study, we present a decision support tool to prioritize brownfield redevelopment options based on their location characteristics as a basis for developing redevelopment priorities. This tool incorporates and aggregates location-specific variables into three indices: socioeconomic, smart growth and environmental. Its application to the city of New Haven, Connecticut as a case study demonstrates a general prioritization scheme that can be used by urban planners and public agencies to develop strategic plans for brownfield redevelopment, incorporating funding and local considerations