April 5, 2011 Christopher De Sousa Department of Urban Planning, Associate Professor and Chair Founding Co-Director, Brownfields Research Consortium University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Personal Mission: ◦ To help reclaim and redevelop brownfields in a manner that revitalizes urban neighborhoods, enhances quality of life, and moves us toward sustainability. Research ◦ Identify barriers to redevelopment & measures for overcoming them ◦ Examine alternative end-uses for brownfield sites ◦ Measure the outcomes of redevelopment Teaching ◦ Provide students with the knowledge and tools needed to take redevelopment from vision to completion in a way that maximizes benefits
Research Brownfields Context (US & Canada) Real Estate & Economic Development Sustainability & Green Development Methods Stakeholder interviews Analysis of development costs & benefits Case study analysis Utility Common perceptions & challenges Effectiveness of policy toolkit
Research ◦ Brownfields to green space (Toronto & US Cities) ◦ Brownfields to housing (Milwaukee, Chicago, Toronto & Vancouver) ◦ Sustainable redevelopment Best Management Practices (US) Methods ◦ Case study analysis ◦ Stakeholder interviews Utility ◦ Perceptions ◦ Redevelopment Processes ◦ Barriers ◦ Lessons Learned
Research ◦ Economic Jobs, taxes Surrounding property value ◦ Environment Reclaimed land Consumption behavior & Impact ◦ Community User & public perceptions Quality of life ◦ Sustainability Benchmarks Methods (numerous) Utility ◦ Case for why we should bother supporting redevelopment
Menomonee Valley & Inner Harbor Atlanta False Creek Vancouver Many popular brownfield projects have been envisioned and/or developed via collaborative class & research experiences
Fund applied work Collaborate with researchers (data, interviews, writing) Act as a client for classes or thesis projects Teach or co-teach a class Suggest research ideas for academics Find ways to incorporate research into policy discussions Encourage academics to condense research results