Social and Cultural Issues of Brownfield Regeneration and Participation

Dagmar Petríková, Zuzana Ladzianska

„This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the

information contained therein.“

Awareness• What objectives are to be met in the process of

sustainable brownfield redevelopment?• Why is the importance of including social and cultural

objectives in brownfield redevelopment increasing?• Why the model including social and cultural objectives

in brownfield redevelopment is called “People and Places“?

• What relevant social and cultural objectives can be identified?

Goals of the teaching unit

• Social and cultural aspects in brownfield redevelopment as equal to other aspects of sustainable brownfield redevelopment process.

• Key success for the future of sustainable brownfield redevelopment are social and cultural objectives to be considered.

• “People and Places“ - sustainable connections of social and cultural objectives with the new identity of the redeveloped area.

Content

• Sustainability of brownfield redevelopment process• Social and cultural objectives in the conceptualised

model “People and Places“ • 8 key social and cultural objectives to achieve the

connections between people and places they live in• Appropriate instruments for achieving social and

cultural objectives in brownfield redevelopment• Example: Eurovea in Bratislava (SK)

Sustainability of brownfield redevelopment process

• To achieve sustainable brownfield redevelopment, social and cultural, economic and environmental objectives all need to be met.

• In the past, economic objectives have driven brownfield redevelopment.

• After some experience, the strengthening of environmental and socio-cultural outcomes is needed to avoid the blighted areas of the future.

Conceptual model “People and Places“

• The conceptual model of 8 key social and cultural objectives have been developed to be considered when developing brownfield sites.

• The objectives are sub-divided into those that deal mainly with ‘people’ and those that deal mainly with ‘places’ - called “People and Places”.

• This relation is useful, however several of the objectives incorporate elements of both ‘people’ and ‘places’, but the connection is always there.

People-oriented objectives

• These are creating conditions for community life.1) Preserve cultures that are valued by the local

people and exploit opportunities for new forms. 2) Ensure employment opportunities.3) Promote social equity in the brownfield

development.4) Strengthen the place attachment in the minds of

the residents.

1) Preserve cultures that are valued by the local people

• There is a need to preserve elements of existing or past cultures to provide the continuity of the area.

• To balance this requirement with the needs of new development and exploit opportunities for new forms of social and cultural development (e.g. making the best use of industrial buildings and familiar and valued landscapes).

• This can be best done by: – academic research into the cultural and social history,– involving the public to identify the local valuable structures.

2) Ensure employment opportunities• The objective is to create new and innovative job

opportunities wherever possible and/or appropriate.• There are numerous ways of achieving employment

opportunities through brownfield redevelopment.• Where possible, new or reused buildings or

infrastructure in brownfield redevelopments should be used for new enterprises and job creation.

• Alongside this, it is important to ensure access to any new jobs for local people.

3) Promote social equity in the brownfield development

• Balanced social mix among the newcomers and long-term local residents is very important precondition in order to meet social sustainability of the area.

• An important objective is to provide affordable housing and business accommodation. In any given brownfield redevelopment it is important to strive to meet the differing requirements of local residents and potential newcomers.

4) Strengthen the place attachment

• Place attachment is saturating many social and psychological needs: the need for security, the need for self-realisation, the need for belonging to the community and the need for structuring the outer environment.

• To strengthen the place attachment , the place should express some common values and vision for integration of a brownfield site to the city organism.

Place-oriented objectives

• These are creating a better place for living.5) Improve perceptions and image of the brownfield

development6) Contribute to strategic sustainability objectives in

the urban context7) Ensure physical accessibility8) Provide liveable and sustainable environments for

local communities

5) Improve perceptions and image of the brownfield redevelopment site

• Poor image is seen as one of the most destructive elements in brownfield redevelopment schemes.

• Image making is a long-term process of permanent modification.

• Image making and image keeping is a very delicate process, beginning with the screening and diagnostics, continuing with evaluation and assessment and finishing with the strategic interventions.

6) Contribute to strategic sustainability objectives in the urban context

• Maximizing opportunities to create more socially and culturally sustainable urban forms within the town or city as a whole by: – creating more compact cities which are diverse in

terms of ethnicity, age and economic status;– designing developments to support population

densities high enough to make public services viable (such as public transport, hospitals, schools etc.); and

– contributing to reducing urban sprawl with its associated social inequity problems.

7) Ensure physical accessibilityIt means creating brownfield redevelopment sites that

are physically connected to their surrounding areas.• This means creating links and overcoming physical

barriers as well as space-time integrated development for various modes of transport – walking, cycling, public transport.

• Accessibility is also a social objective as it encourages not only the main mobile part of the population but particularly disabled persons to make use of the site.

8) Provide liveable and sustainable environments for local communities

• In the past, too little attention has been paid to the types of environment that people want to live in, work in, and spend their leisure time in.

• The objective of providing liveable, healthy and sustainable environments for local communities is extremely important, whatever the end use of the site. Key elements of these neighbourhoods are:– good access to open and recreational space, – high quality public realm (landscaping, lighting, public

art),– provision for walking, cycling and public transport, and a

sense of place.

Instruments for achieving social and cultural objectives

• Effective public participation and consultation (specific methods e.g. ‘planning for real’)

• Social impact assessment• Cultural heritage rating methods• Survey mapping the internal and external image of

the area• High quality master planning• Good project management and planning, allowing

the interim uses, phasing of development

Example: Eurovea in Bratislava (SK)

• The whole area of “Eurovea” is a former brownfield site.

• The Apollo oil refinery was originally located in this place, founded in 1885 by a German company and bombed in June 1944, during the World War II by the Americans. 80% of the factory was destroyed and continuously caused contamination of soil.

• Attractive site in the city centre has been abandoned for many years.

Example: Eurovea in Bratislava (SK)

Source: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=564897&page=19

Example: Eurovea in Bratislava (SK)• “Eurovea” is a successful project, definitely beneficial

for Bratislava, it is undoubtedly facing a bright future.• “Eurovea” contributes to the expansion of

"pedestrian zone" of the city along the Danube river and brings new social life to the embankment.

• It supplies new employment opportunities as well as new facilities for leisure time.

• From the commercial and urban points of view it has been the most successful brownfield transformation in Bratislava.

Example: Eurovea in Bratislava (SK)

Author: Peter Bláha

Example: Eurovea in Bratislava (SK), Warehouse No. 7

Author: Peter Bláha

Conclusions

• Sustainability of brownfield redevelopment schemes depends also on social and cultural objectives of the redevelopment projects.

• These must be considered in the phase of project preparation and the conceptual model “People and Places” can be used.

• There are many examples of successful brownfield redevelopments in Europe from social and cultural aspects, worth attention (London, Vienna, Dublin).

Thank you for your attention

http://browntrans.vsb.cz

„This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the

information contained therein.“