Reclaiming Brownfield Sites: From Toxic Legacies to Sustainable Communities

Abstract

The economic landscape is continually changing under the influence of global competition and technological innovation. While capital moves with relative ease, toxic chemical residues in soils and groundwater may persist long after industrial, commercial, or waste disposal activity has ceased. Thus, brownfield sites — idle, abandoned, or underused parcels of land with real or potential environmental contamination — are one of the most serious challenges facing communities across the industrialized world. If communities are unable to find ways to clean up and reclaim brownfield sites for new uses, these sites will pose risks to human health and the environment and act as a blight and economic drain on the surrounding area. Further, if effective means of reusing brownfield sites are not found, urban development will be pushed ever outward onto undeveloped greenfield sites at the metropolitan fringe. Thinking geographically is critical to addressing the toxic legacy of the past. Geographic research methodologies are standard practice for identifying past land uses or off-site pollution that may contribute to site contamination. Geographers have helped policymakers understand the underlying causes, magnitude, spatial extent, and consequences of brownfield sites. Further, geographers are involved in formulating effective policy solutions by creating site inventories, consulting with local residents, and evaluating alternative plans for reclaiming brownfield sites and creating sustainable communities.