Assessing London, Ontario's brownfield redevelopment effort to promote urban intensification

Abstract

Intensification of existing urban areas is currently a major item on the policy agenda of the Ontario and Canadian governments. As part of the urban intensification drive, brownfield sites have become major candidates for redevelopment. Governments at all levels have initiated policies and programmes to encourage their remediation and redevelopment. This paper reports the findings of a qualitative exploration of brownfield redevelopment in London, Canada. Through in-depth interviews (n = 17) with key stakeholders involved in brownfield redevelopment, the study explores the level of participation in brownfield redevelopment, barriers to brownfield redevelopment in the city, and perceptions about financial incentives in the city's Brownfield Community Improvement Plan. The study found that despite the availability of financial incentives, the overall private sector participation in brownfield redevelopment is low due to barriers such as competition from greenfield, risk, cost, negative public perception of brownfields, and complex remediation processes. The paper provides policy suggestions that may contribute to a more active participation in brownfield redevelopment in the city.

Keywords:

• brownfields
• redevelopment
• brownfield policy
• London

Acknowledgements

The first author would like to thank the interviewees for their time and valuable information they provided for this study. The second author also appreciates the support of the Academic Development Fund (ADF) provided by the University of Western Ontario (UWO).