Involving stakeholders to achieve successful development of brownfield sites

摘要

Our overall quality of life depends on balancing the interrelationship between human and ecological health, socio-cultural values, and economic well-being. Achieving appropriate balance of these components is critical to modern environmental (e.g., Brownfield site) decision-making. The American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) is involved in developing a standard guide to facilitate the analysis and management of Quality of Life decision making. This guide will provide a process to help identify, analyze, and resolve stakeholders' issues associated with environmental problems. A key component to the Quality of Life process is to empower the affected stakeholders to enable genuine participation in the decision making and management process. The basic components of the Quality of Life process will be presented along with an example case where the methods have been applied successfully to the development of a Brownfield property in urban Toronto, Canada. The application of the Quality of Life process enabled participation of all the affected stakeholders (people in the community, the developer, local government and regulators) from the very beginning. The stakeholders participated in all decision-making of the redevelopment process; from planning the types and locations of buildings through landscaping/community art for the site, traffic flow/public transportation, day-care requirements and a variety of specific community amenities (up-grading lake access portals, various water recreation facilities, community playground equipment). Application of the Quality of Life process resulted in a win-win situation for all stakeholders (i.e., people in the community, regulators and the developer). The derelict industrial property is being replaced by a residential development that will improve the overall quality of life of the community. The developer is completing a profitable, successful real estate project, without the excessive delays and resulting expense typically associated with such a project. The historical environmental issues are being successfully resolved with the necessary due diligence and care, but without the fears and apprehensions that arise from uninformed perceptions that the general public often associate with such issues.