- Contributions of Brownfield Development to urban internal Expansion and urban Renewal in Practice    click here to open paper content489 kb
by    Smith, Garry | gsmith@hla-enviro.com.au   click here to send an email to the auther(s) of this paper
Short Outline
Brownfields development allows sustainable global urban renewal through recycling of land. This paper describes innovative concepts and policies in brownfields planning and implementation using Australian examples of best practice.
Abstract
‘Brownfields’ are idle, unused, or abandoned sites formerly used for industrial or commercial purposes with a legacy of issues including contamination of soil, groundwater, surface water, or streams. Brownfield sites development has contributed to urban renewal for several decades in a number of countries, in particular the United States, Europe, and Australia. Governments, including municipal governments, have recognized the productive value of brownfields to minimising sprawl while directly contributing to economic progress, job generation, and a source of revenue to the private sector and the municipality.

The use of brownfields development to improve urban fabric is a common feature of Australian urban planning. In addition to extensive urban centre redevelopment, small infill regional releases utilise brownfields sites for expansion of urban fringe lands contributing to housing supply.
Risk assessment is an important tool for evaluation of contamination in remediation worker and public health protection, estimating hypothetical health risks for present and potential future land use, and for protecting the ecology. Risk communication is proving important in engagement of government and local communities for complex land remediation projects in Australia and internationally.
Two Australian case studies will be used to demonstrate the value of brownfields development and the application of planning and risk assessment tools:

1. Olympics 2000 site, Homebush Bay, Sydney and
2. Rhodes foreshore residential sites, Homebush Bay, Sydney

These projects, both visually impressive, illustrate the historic development of brownfields activities in Australia, initially driven by public enterprise and the Olympic Games, and more recently transferred to the private sector, resulting in further practice improvement.
Keywords
Brownfields, urban renewal, compact city
Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2008: Urban Growth without Sprawl
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