Brownfield sites II: Assessment, rehabilitation & Development

The rehabilitation and development of brownfield sites is one of the new main challenges that many local, regional and national administrations face in forming their territorial policy. In fact, the needs emphasized for preservation of natural resources require that former industrial areas should have priority for remediation and redevelopment. The widespread presence of brownfield sites, all around the world, make this a common problem for decision makers. At the same time, regeneration of polluted territory needs a strong scientific effort in order to obtain an optimal clean-up, with the lower risk as possible for resident population. Brownfields must be considered as complex systems in which the whole is not simply the sum of various different parts. In complex systems each part is connected with every other, and actions are propagated with non-linear effects. With this perspective, a multidisciplinary approach in the study of Brownfield is mandatory from a scientific point of view. Moreover, classical economic schemes are not sufficient to account for ecological advantages in preserving wild territory from industrialization, or other benefits of remediation of land. Ecological Economics, in which natural capital is central in the whole analysis of the processes, presents an alternative valuation, which more correctly indicates management and redevelopment of previously used sites. For Brownfieds 2004, the 2nd International Conference on Assessment, Rehabilitation and Development of Brownfields, we have collected contributions from a broad range of fields. Geochemistry, engineering, economy and legal topics are only few examples of what is covered in this book which should be the reference for all scientists, economists and administrators, involved in this stimulating subject.