BROWNFIEDS
AND WAYS OF THEIR
REGENERATION IN
SELECTED EU COUNTRIES
STRUCTURE
1. Negative Brownfields Influence on Municipalities
and Regions Development
2.European Union and Brownfields
3. Why to Regenerate Brownfields?
4. Elected Representatives Resposibilities in Regeneration
Activities
5. Concrete Examples of Brownfields Regeneration
in Selected European States
6. Conclusion
1. NEGATIVE BROWNIELDS INFLUENCE
ON MUNICIPALITIES AND REGIONS
DEVELOPMENT
Brownfields in the European Union Member
States are considered to be a relatively large
localities (sometimes with buildings of different
quality) that are now outdated.Their existence
complicates the municipalities and regions
development.
Brownfields are also represented by spaces
which were utilized for various agricultural
and construction activities in the past.
One of brownfields features is the fact
that many of them are contaminated nowadays
predominantly by different chemical substances.
The majority of brownfields are:
- former mining areas;
- former metallurgical and other factories;
- former military bases and other spaces
used by the army that are now often
devastated.
Vast majority of brownfields could be, therefore,
characterized as territories degradated especially
due to the restructuralization of selected industrial
activities (in the Czech Republic predominantly in
the Moravian - Silesian region as well as the Ústí nad
Labem region) as well as the restructure of agricultural
production.
2. EUROPEAN UNION
AND
BROWNFIELDS
What concerns their contemporary EU
specification, brownfields are characterized
either as“derelict and vacant lands“(typically
for Scotland) or“formally technically equipped
lands“ (in England). Some of brownfields are
also represented by the dumps of waste.
The European Communities started to
support the relatively expensive brownfields
regeneration since approximately the half
of the 1970s.
3. WHY TO REGENERATE
BROWNFIELDS?
It is quite clear that if brownfields are
not regenerated their existence would:
- diminish the competitiveness of not only
individual municipalities but also of the
whole regions;
- diminish the quality of life of offended
municipalities and regions;
- contribute to these territories inhabitants
migration acceleration to the regions
with better environmental, economic
and social conditions;
- to diminish the potential investors interest in industrial
and other entrepreneurial activities in the offended
regions;
- to diminish the interests of tourists in such territories
influencing - among others – negatively the volume
of available financial resources necessary for municipalities
and regions development;
- to diminish pieces of lands sales and leasings not only in
devastated territories but also in their surroundings (first
of all of agricultural land).
The experience accumulated in European countries
concerning the brownfields regenerations confirms the
fact that there are
three principle possible ways of this process implementation:
1.Complete regeneration financed exclusively by the public
administration (i.e. local government) authorities - on the
basis of projects invested from public finances.
2. Regeneration established by private developers –
completely through projects financed from private
resources.
3. The combination of public and private sectors financial,
other material and human sources on the basis of the
municipalities and regions stakeholders close cooperation:
the projects are then financed from the public and private
resources.
The very significant feature of this Public - Private Partnership
approach implementation in brownfields
regeneration is significant from the point of view
of municipalities and regions development by the fact
that the decisive role in this form of business activities
is played by the local government.
4. ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES
RESPONSABILITIES
IN REGENERATION ACTIVITIES
Elected representatives of municipalities
in the European union are fully responsible
for:
- all decontamination and other regeneration activities;
- the reconstruction of some old buildings situated in
brownfields as well as for the construction of new
ones;
- the infrastructure construction;
- making decision concerning the possibly
most effective utilization of the regenerated
territory.
5. CONCRETE EXAMPLES
OF BROWNFIELDS REGENERATION
IN EU SELECTED MEMBER STATES
THE UNITED KINGDOM
The role of local government offices and authorities
in brownfields regeneration was strengthened
substantionally in this country since the beginning
of the 1990s by the adoption of the new Environmental
Protection Act.
It was in time when the Global, Continental, National,
Regional and Local Agendas 21 were worked out and then
approved by the first United Nations Conference on
Protection of Environment held in Rio de Janeiro in the
year 1992.
These basic Agenda 21 principles were implemented
in England, Scottland and Wales during the 1990 s and
the beginning of the 21st century – including in the
sphere of brownfields regeneration.
The mentioned orientation was further strengthened
in April 2004 when the European Union Direction Nr.
2004/35/ES was approved and started to be
implemented in the British legal system.
All mentioned legal standards underlined - at first the
local government representatives duty to identify
the contaminated localities and to take care for their
regeneration.
a) SCOTTISH DEVELOPMENT
AGENCY ROLE
The mentioned activities are traditionally directed
in the United Kingdom by the Development Agencies.
The Scottish Development Agency (SDA) established
in year 1974 was very progressive among them.
Its activities are oriented predominantly to
the regeneration of localities damaged by the
coal and slate mining activities and also to
localities where the dominated position had
the heavy industry for many centuries.
Nowadays these sectors of national economy
are, unfortunately, in the crises for a long time.
Vast majority of those projects are financed
from the public finances sector till now
in Scottland.
Nevertheless, the cooperation of the public
and the private sector on the basis of the Public Private
- Partnership principles implementation
is becoming more and more often.
Every year about 150 million EURO are
invested into the brownfields regeneration
only in Scottland.
The Scottish Development Agency cooperates
closely with the organization named “Scottish Homes”
that constructs - mainly around a very famous town
Glasgow and in the Lanarkshire county - cheaper
social flats in the regenerated areas.
In such a way Scottland is becaming the example
for other European countries in the brownfields
regeneration activities.
b) ENGLISH PARTNERSHIP
ROLE
Effective steps in the brownfields regenerations were
made also in England, especially thanks to the activities
of the organization called English Partnership
established in the year 1994.
Its principal duty is to identify all falow lands
capable for their regeneration and which are offered
for:
- the modern industrial activities;
- communal flats construction;
- recreation of the local inhabitants.
All these activities are considered to be very complex.
That is why several Regional Development Agencies
implementing the mentioned activities were founded in
England in year 1999.
The idea of Public- Private - Partnership in brownfields
regeneration was implemented in England through the
Land Restoration Trust established by the alliance
of English Partnerships, Environmental Agency, the
Forest Commission and the organization Groundwork.
This alliance decided to regenerate 10 000 hectars
of brownfields in the period of ten years.
c) WELSH DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
ROLE
What concerns the restoration activities in Wales, it
is coordinated by the Welsh Development Agency (WDA)
closely cooperated with the local government offices
and authorities.
More than 1 300 such localities were restored
and offered for different utilization only in the
period of years 1966 – 2000. This organization planned
to construct approximately 60% of new houses in the
regenerated localities till year 2010.
d) FEDERAL REPUBLIC
OF GERMANY
Brownfields regeneration was made predominantly
in the Northern Rhine – Westvallen region.
This territory was one of those where the so called
industrial revolution has begun in Germany in the 19th
century (half of the century).
Northern Rhine – Westvallen region represented
the centre of the mining and metallurgical industry
in the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries is
now in crises - like the Black Country region in
England.
Taking all these facts into account the plan
of the river Emsher basin brownfilelds regeneration
in the territory of about 800 000 km2 was worked
out and step by step implemented.
Nearly 60% of the restoration costs were settled
here by the European Union from its structural funds.
About 500 hectars of restored land were offered
to 1 300 industrial enterprises for its utilization
and approximately 1 300 flats were constructed there.
e) BROWNFIELDS REGENERATION
ACTIVITIES IN FRANCE
What concerns other EU Member States, some precious
experiences from brownfields restoration were achieved
also in the northern and eastern French regions:
most of them in the Nord – Pas de Calais and in
the Lotrin regions.
6. EUROPEAN UNION STRATEGIES
AND BROWNFIELDS REGENERATION
EU Members States are supporting the brownfields
regeneration predominantly in the framework of their
regional policy and through some other programmes.
They underline the significance of:
- new building construction in the regenerated
areas;
- modernization of buildings constructed in
previous periods in that localities, possible
brownfields transformation into greenfields.
FINANCIAL SOURCES UTILIZED
FOR BROWNFIELDS REGENERATION
Except of European Regional Development Fund
the another possible source of financial supports
for brownfields regenerations is the EU Cohesion
fund.
Money from this fund is used for activities aimed
mainly at the improvement of the environmental
situation.
Last but not least some money is possible
to achieve in the form of credits provided by
the European Investment Bank as well as from
the European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development.
REMARK TO NATIONAL
STRATEGIES OF BROWNFIELDS
REGENERATION
European Union member states and their
public administration are obliged to work
out their National strategies of brownfields
regeneration.
The European Union authorities underline
the position that those strategies could be
successful only if their implementation is
based on the consensus of all decisive political
and other active forces of national states.
Moreover, the European Union as the whole
shares the opinion that the successful brownfields
regeneration strategy implementation helps
to increase the competitiveness of individual
regions- first of all of NUTS II – and that it
simultaneously contributes positively to the
diminishing of inter- regional disparities.
That is why the brownfields regeneration plays the
important role in the European union regional policy.
Moreover, it was underlined for several times
that a consensus of all municipalities and regions
development actors is extremely important for
the brownfields concrete regeneration activities
in the regional and local levels.