Promoting community involvement at brownfields sites in socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods

Abstract

Brownfields programmes provide environmental justice to distressed communities by applying private sector remediation and real estate expertise to abandoned and contaminated properties. This study examines how brownfields developers and community support organisations operating in socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods work to increase awareness of projects in the community, build trust between stakeholders and create mechanisms for community members to participate in brownfields decision making. Analysis of case study data from brownfields sites in four US cities shows that developers and non-governmental organisations can play important roles in fashioning redevelopment outcomes which benefit both developers and communities. When standard required outreach efforts are combined with non-traditional community involvement mechanisms, the result is often long-term support for redevelopment projects.

Keywords:

• brownfields
• public participation
• environmental justice
• stakeholders
• VCP

Notes

1. The Saltillo project is not technically a brownfield. The site owner, Capital Metro, has not embarked on a formal process to have it declared as such. For the purposes of this study the site is labelled a brownfield because it exhibits the relevant characteristics described above.