Reclaiming Brownfields: A Primer for Municipalities

This resource provides information about brownfields redevelopment targeted to municipal planners and decision-makers. The primer defines brownfields, identifies benefits and barriers involved in brownfield redevelopment, discusses related issues such as green building and equitable development, and describes Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and federal brownfields funding and technical assistance resources. The primer is organized within a folder. The folder also contains case studies of brownfield redevelopment projects from the region, as well as two previously-published DVRPC resources on brownfields: the Brownfields Resource Guide: Funding and Technical Assistance for Remediation and Reuse (publication number 07052) and Municipal Implementation Tool #10: Reclaiming Brownfields

Through a Lens Darkly--Superfund Spectacles on Public Participation at Brownfield Sites

The authors discuss the recent trend in brownfield site development against a backdrop of Superfund experience and explore current barriers to public participation

Transit-Oriented Brownfield Redevelopment

Best Poster Award, Department of Economics, Fall 2019Brownfield properties are properties wherein future use is inhibited either by the presence or perceived presence of harmful pollutants. As a consequence, these properties are difficult to develop and prospective developers require sufficient positive incentives in order to be attracted to these projects. To investigate the extent to which public transit can act as an amenity for these properties, this study examines the relationship between commuter rail transit stations and brownfield property redevelopment rates in Mecklenburg County, NC using both a linear probability model and a propensity score matching approach. The analysis results indicate that there is indeed a relationship between light rail and brownfield redevelopment, but the direction of the relationship depends on the analysis technique used.No embargoAcademic Major: Economic

Trade-offs and synergies in the ecosystem service demand of urban brownfield stakeholders

Brownfield site redevelopment presents an opportunity to create urban green spaces that provide a wide range of ecosystem services. It is important, therefore, to understand which ecosystem services are demanded by stakeholders and whether there are trade-offs or synergies in this demand. We performed a quantitative survey of ecosystem service demand from brownfield sites that included all major stakeholder groups. Results showed that there was a strong trade-off between demand for services related to property development (e.g. ground strength and low flood risk) and all other services, which were linked to vegetated sites. There was a secondary, but weak, trade-off between demand for services of more ‘natural’ vegetated sites (e.g. with a biodiversity protection role) and those linked to aesthetics and recreation. Stakeholders with a strong preference for biodiversity protection formed a distinct group in their ecosystem service demands. While a ‘development’ vs ‘green space’ trade-off may be unavoidable, the general lack of strong trade-offs in demand for other services indicated that the creation of multifunctional greenspaces from former brownfield sites would be desirable to most stakeholders, as long as these are biophysically possible

Silent Blight: New York\u27s Brownfields & Environmental Justice

A complete prediction of the success of brownfield legislation cannot be made through statutory analysis alone. There are many factors besides the legislature\u27s scope of influence and authority that must work in tandem to ensure broad success in brownfield redevelopment. This comment analyzes the economic, social and political dynamics surrounding brownfields in minority neighborhoods via discussions regarding how legislators and the governor must leverage all tools at their disposal to achieve brownfield initiatives that will simultaneously serve to address environmental justice goals

Compulsory Liability Insurance for Commercial Motor Vehicles

With its core in adaptability and change responsiveness, the Agile methodology has become a popular application of the project process within the often volatile environment of today’s software development projects. The Agile methodology emphasizes interaction between project roles over documentation and formal processes. This higher interaction increases the need for functioning information dissemination throughout the entire project process. The study was carried out at a small sized Swedish IT consultancy firm. The company wished to acquire a project management and planning software tool to support the entire project process and all involved project roles. However, awareness of areas in the project process in need of support was not entirely clear. Therefore, the objective of the study was to investigate the company’s application of the Agile project process and identify potential challenges. Furthermore, the objective was to investigate how a project management and planning software tool can support the Agile project process within software development. The thesis was carried out as an abductive case study, where qualitative data collection methods and literature studies were combined. As a result from the study, two main conclusions have been drawn. Firstly: requirements engineering, the customer role, communication, and knowledge transfer were concluded as prominent challenges in the project process in need of increased support. Secondly, a project management and planning software tool can support the project process by: increasing the communication and collaboration abilities, providing holistic and historical project overview, providing a single storage location, and providing structure. Furthermore, the study has also shown that the project management and planning software tool needs to interact with the Agile project process in order to provide successful support. As final contribution, the Interaction model was created. The model visualizes the main areas in which a project management and planning software tool must interact with the Agile process, in order to support the entire project process successfully.Genom dess anpassningsförmåga och förändringsmottaglighet har den Agila metodiken blivit en populär tillämpning för projektprocessen inom mjukvaruutveckling, en miljö där snabba förändringar tillhör vardagen. Den Agila metodiken framhäver interaktion mellan projektroller  framför  dokumentation  och  formella  processer,  vilket  ökar  behovet  av fungerande informationsspridning genom hela projektprocessen. Studien  har  utförts  hos  ett  mindre  svenskt  IT-konsultföretag,  vilket  önskade  att införskaffa en programvara för ett projektlednings- och planeringsverktyg som kan stötta hela  projektprocessen  och  alla  involverade  projektroller.  Medvetenheten  kring  de områden i projektprocessen som är i behov av stöd var däremot inte helt tydlig. Målet med   studien   var   därför   att   undersöka   företagets   tillämpning   av   den   Agila projektprocessen  och  identifiera  eventuella  utmaningar.  Vidare  var  målet  också  att undersöka hur en programvara för ett projektlednings- och planeringsverktyg kan stödja den Agila projektprocessen inom mjukvaruutveckling. Examensarbetet utfördes som en abduktiv fallstudie där flera kvalitativa datainsamlingsmetoder användes tillsammans med litteraturstudier. Som resultat av studien har två huvudslutsatser dragits. För det första; kravhantering, kundrollen, kommunikation  och  kunskapsöverföring  identifierades som framträdande utmaningar i projektprocessen i behov av ökat stöd. För det andra, att en programvara för ett projektlednings- och planeringsverktyg kan stödja projektprocessen genom att; förbättra  kommunikations-  och  samarbetsmöjligheterna,  ge  en  övergripande  och historisk projektöverblick, fungera som en gemensam lagringsplats och tillhandahålla struktur.  Vidare  har  studien  visat  att  en  programvara  för  ett  projektlednings-  och planeringsverktyg  måste  interagera  med  den  Agila  projektprocessen  för  att  ge  ett effektivt  stöd.  Som  ett  slutligt  bidrag  skapades  "the  Interaction  model",  vilken visualiserar huvudområdena inom vilka en programvara för ett  projektlednings- och planeringsverktyg måste interagera med projektprocessen för att ge ett fullt stöd till processen

Passive CO₂ removal in urban soils:evidence from brownfield sites

Management of urban brownfield land can contribute to significant removal of atmospheric CO2 through the development of soil carbonate minerals. However, the potential magnitude and stability of this carbon sink is poorly quantified as previous studies address a limited range of conditions and short durations. Furthermore, the suitability of carbonate-sequestering soils for construction has not been investigated. To address these issues we measured total inorganic carbon, permeability and ground strength in the top 20 cm of soil at 20 brownfield sites in northern England, between 2015 and 2017. Across all sites accumulation occurred at a rate of 1–16 t C ha−1 yr−1, as calcite (CaCO3), corresponding to removal of approximately 4–59 t CO2 ha−1 yr−1, with the highest rate in the first 15 years after demolition. C and O stable isotope analysis of calcite confirms the atmospheric origin of the measured inorganic carbon. Statistical modelling found that pH and the content of fine materials (combined silt and clay content) were the best predictors of the total inorganic carbon content of the samples. Measurement of permeability shows that sites with carbonated soils possess a similar risk of run-off or flooding to sandy soils. Soil strength, measured as in-situ bearing capacity, increased with carbonation. These results demonstrate that the management of urban brownfield land to retain fine material derived from concrete crushing on site following demolition will promote calcite precipitation in soils, and so offers an additional CO2 removal mechanism, with no detrimental effect on drainage and possible improvements in strength. Given the large area of brownfield land that is available for development, the contribution of this process to CO2 removal by urban soils needs to be recognised in CO2 mitigation policies