Best Practices of Brownfield Depollution and Urban Regeneration

Amongst the strategies that aim at developing sustainable territories, conversion of urban brownfields occupies a prominent place. The national technical conference organized by the Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) in Paris allowed more than 600 participants to review the best practices of brownfield depollution and urban regeneration.

Amongst the experts invited on this occasion, Prof. Emmanuel Rey of the Laboratory of Architecture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST) presented the research project SIPRIUS and shared some operational experiences of an emblematic experience : the creation of the sustainable neighborhood Ecoparc on a former railway disused area in Neuchâtel (Switzerland).

In the context of land scarcity, awareness of the urban sprawl effects and rise of environmental concerns, the sustainable conversion of brownfields is a real challenge for the future of cities. Indeed, the recovery of the land, often located in the heart of cities, connected to major infrastructure, close to services and public facilities, offers real economic, social and environmental opportunities with rediscovered attractiveness for neighborhoods left dormant.

Innovative approaches can help meet housing and employment demand, generate a new dynamic in the city center with local economic benefits, provide an environmental response by the treatment of pollution, while keeping the memory of the site, creating new socio-cultural opportunities or integrating biodiversity spaces and renewable energies.

The event organized by ADEME provided an opportunity to review the approaches, methods and tools available and to share experience feedback and best practices from field operators.

Author: Loïc Fumeaux
Source: ENAC

Source: http://actu.epfl.ch/