Do Urban Regeneration of Brownfields and New Emission Efficiency Needs Conflict? An Economic Perspective

摘要

The redevelopment of brownfield sites poses costs due to prior land uses and obsolete structural features, not just real or perceived contamination. Regeneration may require public subsidy, and the process may be further "threatened" by higher standards for building energy efficiency likely to arise with new climate change policies. New structural standards might undermine private reuse of old buildings on cost grounds. This article examines the potential conflict in terms of benefit trade-offs and the distribution of costs and benefits across current and future, populations, examining impact assumptions and the approaches taken to risk of failure in emissions reduction, especially with regard to irreversible impacts. Two examples of pursuit of both objectives are considered: land-use planning and densifica-tion, including contaminated-land reuse; and new building standards and financing for retrofitting older structures for energy efficiency. It concludes that the conflicts are overstated and that complementarities are stronger, especially when viewed from a public sector perspective.