Brownfield Definition

Brownfields result from changing patterns of industry and development in many regions. The loss of the industry, the resulting unemployment and the reluctance of new investors to take on the technical problems and liabilities associated with brownfield sites, affect the economic prosperity of the region, particularly in urban locations.

Municipalities are often unable to revitalise brownfield from within their own resources, and their city centres and environs remain degraded and under-utilised.

In common usage brownfields refer to previously developed land or derelict, encompassing a range of sites in terms of size and location.

Specifically, CABERNET has defined brownfields as sites which:

• have been affected by former uses of the site or surrounding land;

• are derelict or underused;

• are mainly in fully or partly developed urban areas;  

• require intervention to bring them back to beneficial use; and

• may have real or perceived contamination problems

This definition has been refined from an original definition proposed by CLARINET 'Brownfields in Europe' Working Group 1.