Assessment tool for brownfield regeneration
Considering that natural resources are exhaustible and the vast amount of unused land in the EU, the future of urban development in industrial areas relies on making brownfield sites sustainable. The RESCUE project has assessed current state-of-the-art, distils best practice approaches at reduced costs. Furthermore, results have been integrated into a holistic system approach for brownfield regeneration. Support will be provided for the implementation of European and regional policy and programmes. Criteria for supporting future funding decisions will be rendered. Additionally specific Internet based training facilities will raise standards and awareness in brownfield regeneration. Under these auspices, a Sustainability Assessment Tool (SAT) was designed for use as instrument to assess the sustainability of brownfield regeneration. It is recommended that public funding for brownfield regeneration projects should be proclaimed upon the presumption that sustainability objectives will be adhered to. Therefore, three steps constitute the assessment of the sustainability of a brownfield redevelopment project. These include actor collaboration to set priorities on aspects of sustainability, funding application by the project developer and quantified assessment model for decision making. The SAT is an important innovation and may significantly lead to more efficient use of public money in addition to improved quality of brownfield regeneration projects.
