Reuse of abandoned buildings or sites
Land recycling is the reuse of abandoned, vacant, or underused properties for redevelopment or repurposing.
Land recycling aims to ensure the reuse of developed land as part of: new developments; cleaning up contaminated properties; reuse and/or making use of used land surrounded by development or nearby infrastructure. End-uses from land recycling may include: mixed-use, residential, commercial, or industrial developments; and/or public open space such as urban open space used by urban parks, community gardens; or larger open space reserves such as regional parks.
Since many abandoned and underutilized properties lie within economically distressed and disadvantaged communities, land recycling often benefits and stimulates re-investment in historically under-served areas. However, due to the previous use of these sites, there can be many health hazards when dealing with the land, such as metals, plastics, asbestos, glass shards, gas generation, and radioactive substances. Such environmentally distressed properties, with site clean-up and mitigation considerations, are commonly referred to as brownfields.
Types.
Adaptive building.
The most common form of land recycling is the redevelopment of abandoned or unused building properties. Adaptive building is the development of an old abandoned building to repurpose it into a new building design and/or new purpose. Saving the old buildings and reusing the materials within the buildings is considered more environmentally sustainable than building all new structure with new materials. This repurposing of materials in the existing adaption or to a different building site could include wood, metals, roofing, brick, etc. and would provide products for new projects to prevent excessive waste. Site disruptions are also decreased due to less destruction and building.
The adaptive process also provides a more sustainable way to promote environmentally friendly infrastructure. It also reduces the amount of pollutants that can contaminate the soil and water around the abandoned building. This can be particularly beneficial when repurposing buildings which are near schools, residential neighborhoods, or other workplaces by mitigating occupational hazards from such contaminants commonly found in construction. This is considered more economically friendly, when accounting for direct and indirect cost savings to the construction company and to the building owner. The cost of producing new materials and the services that come with manufacturing these products are much more costly than repurposing existing buildings.
Brownfield redevelopment.
The EPA classifies a brownfield as "A brownfield is a property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant." Currently in the United States there are more than 450,000 brownfields, which when improved have been shown to improve the surrounding environmental stress. Funding for these hazardous sites may be obtained through the EPA's Brownfields and Land Revitalization Program which empowers municipalities, landholders, and land developers to safely clean up and repurpose the land.
Non-infrastructure redevelopment.
Land recycling can also include those spaces that are not within urbanized environments are involve a building. Agricultural reuse is a very important part of land reuse where an existing field might have been abandoned due to nutrient depletion, and can be developed into something else. In addition to this the redevelopment of underutilized land into parks, community gardens and open space reservoirs are also prominent.
Other terms.
Other commonly used terms can relate to or serve as synonyms of land recycling:
Benefits.
Social and economic revitalization.
Land recycling helps clean up and revitalize inner cities by returning abandoned, idle, or underused sites to productive use, bolstering community spirit, creating jobs and boosting local tax-revenues.
The re-use of land revitalizes communities and renews economic activity, particularly in under-served urban areas. Abandoned, idled, and vacant properties often lie in former industrial and commercial areas, typically in urban and historically disadvantaged areas. These sites can be community eyesores, negatively impacting social and economic development, and often human and environmental health. The failure to redevelop brownfields in particular translates into potentially more exposure to toxins and the loss of economic and housing benefits that can come from appropriate redevelopment.
By putting these properties to new and productive use, land recycling encourages growth of businesses and services in such areas, helping to break up concentrations of poverty, creating jobs, and stimulating additional private investment and local tax-revenue. An abandoned, well-situated, factory site can be cleaned up and redeveloped into a much-needed mixed-use development with a grocery store, senior housing, and access to public transportation. The addition of neighborhood-serving retail, affordable housing, or a clean public park in a disadvantaged community can boost local spirit and improve overall quality of life.
Alternative to sprawl.
Land recycling increases density in urban areas, by reducing urban sprawl and unplanned, low-density, automobile-dependent developments.
Sprawl development scatters housing, public transit, jobs and other amenities farther apart, demanding more frequent use of cars for travel. The increase in miles travelled by vehicles causes a range of health and environmental problems, including air pollution, increased greenhouse gas emissions, a larger occurrence of traffic jams, and asthma. This results in a lower quality of life for residents, ever-increasing commute times, and the health implications of smog.
By moving new jobs, economic opportunities and community amenities farther from established populations, sprawl development can cripple once-thriving cities. This trend takes a toll on the socio-economic health of urban communities as growth retreats from the urban center.
Rather than take advantage of existing infrastructure such as roads, public transit, and public works, building sprawl projects abandons these resources and demands further consumption of land and resources.
Land recycling offers an alternative to sprawl development. It reuses vital infrastructure and public resources and creates compact, full-service neighborhoods that reduce vehicle use and carbon dependence. Rebuilding in urban neighborhoods generates reinvestment in vibrant economic and cultural centers, rather than drawing away much-needed resources. As daily commute times decrease due to proximity to urban centres, quality of life can also be increased.
Directing development to urban cores.
Redirecting population growth and growth of businesses to already urbanized areas can help in the fostering of sustainable communities, as buildings are already near existing infrastructure and amenities, not requiring new infrastructure to be built as would be the case in greenfield development. Applying sustainable principles to land use and growth management requires that growth be redirected from scattered fringe areas back to our urban cores, where people, services and infrastructure already exist. Building up urban areas positively increases population density, providing the critical mass to support local services from coffee shops to grocery stores, public transit to libraries and symphony halls. Land recycling can also assist in the creation of affordable housing, as it increases housing stocks due to its use of land previously unused for residential purposes.
Addressing climate change.
Land recycling effectively curbs greenhouse-gas emissions by encouraging smart, compact growth that reduces vehicle dependence. Redevelopment within an urban core reduces commuting distances and therefore average vehicle miles traveled (VMTs) by creating residential, office, and other amenities within close proximity. Since transportation alone accounts for a third of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted in the United States, land recycling offers a key tool in any fight against climate change. A recent Urban Land Institute study found that compact urban developments reduce the number of vehicle miles traveled (VMTs) by 20 to 40 percent because users are closer to amenities and can more easily rely on public transportation. Smart urban planning is therefore crucial to maximizing energy savings and overall reduction of greenhouse gases.
Leaders in Energy and Environmental Design Certification.
As of 2009[ [update]] the green movement has started to emphasize the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, a certification system that rewards the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. LEED certification signifies incorporation of smart building design and technology to reduce energy use and minimize waste. However, even if a building is energy-efficient, the energy required to travel to and from a LEED certified site may well exceed the energy saved through energy-efficient features. LEED certified buildings and other developments best benefit climate change when they reuse infill sites and access existing resources.
LEED Certification can also benefit the occupant of the reused building. As sustainability becomes more prioritized within the building movement, having a LEED certified building becomes more desirable This certification may persuade public opinion and encourage more of the population to seek services by a company that prioritizes sustainability. In addition to this, some governmental bodies provide monetary benefits for prioritizing a sustainable cite such as tax breaks and stipends.
Sustainability.
Sustainability involves meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
By encouraging the recycling rather than the consumption of land, land recycling promotes smart growth and responsible, sustainable patterns of development. A 2001 study by George Washington University shows that for every acre of brownfield redeveloped, of undeveloped land is conserved.
Public Policies and Private Decisions Affecting the Redevelopment of Brownfields: An Analysis of Critical Factors, Relative Weights and Areal Differentials. As most brownfields and other abandoned sites are typically situated in urban areas, they tap into existing nearby infrastructure, limiting the need to build new roads, gridlines, and amenities, thereby reducing further land consumption. Each infill development prevents sprawl into open space, forests and agricultural land, preserving acres of undeveloped land.
Sustainable Land Remediation and Planning.
Land development is an aspect of land recycling which involves urbanization and development of land, by reusing previously abandoned and unused land in commercial areas of larger cities. Sustainable remediation is an aspect of land development where there is an increased focus the costs and benefits of certain aspects of land recycling. It aims to look at land remediation holistically considering not just the current environmental implications but also the long term social and economic implications. Co-design, is much more intentional and focuses on a multitude solutions by completing cost-benefit analyses, engaging in more inclusive conversations with stakeholders along with environmental impacts like energy and resources which may be consumed during land recycling projects. The Society of American Military Engineers have focused on using policy implemented by the American department of defense to ensure more sustainable practices. Looking more specifically some efforts being implemented by the S.A.M.E include composition of a sustainability remediation tool which allows for estimates of specific technologies to be considered when analyzing land remediation. Planning and design for land development and transformation by using co-design has resulted in better shared information on systems. These have worked well on sustainable land development as well as improved communication and handling of barriers, ultimately creating a better integrated program on a global scale.
It has been used in cities in Australia as part of global urban research programs to create land remediation solutions. The overall process involves four phases which included co-design which resulted in outcomes for policy and practice, research and knowledge and solution development. In this case, the sustainable remediation framework was created and used to create better co-design processes starting small scale locally and extending out to global scales. The process was split into three components starting with assisting in creating urban goals on each level of the scale which align with world views and influence, the policies which are in place and finally, to local technology and knowledge. Then shifting to look at how the urban goals affect urban systems like finances, environmental, and social capital as well as more physical systems like energy and water. Allowing better understanding of the costs and benefits of different land remediation goals. Then the process then looks more long term and focuses on the outcomes over time to understand the overarching effects of the implemented land remediation goals. Finally, the process looks at the major parts of the framework which need to be improved or need more focus.
A push for sustainable land remediation can be seen all over the world, when looking at urban planning and can also be connected to large public health scares or changes in social norms. In the UK after cholera outbreaks in the 19th century, people started to pay more attention to the way homes were being built and where they were being built. Now as urbanization has increased, the push is for using land which has already been partially or completely developed and transforming it into something different. The inclusion of garden cities, which are cities built with the intention of avoiding disrupting previously present natural ecosystems. An example is the Hampstead Garden Suburb which began formulating plans that focused on preservation of natural beauty in the area by avoiding the removal of