PT-6 :: Urban planning and redevelopment

Sub-topics: Brownfields redevelopment; multicultural cities; Ageing; Shrinking cities.
Land is a limited natural resource. The efficient urban planning is one of the priorities on the EU countries facing the intensification of urban growth and sprawl. Currently the absence of a strong policy in Portugal that reinforces land reuse has consequence in a society that keeps on consuming green areas and fertile soils to feed urban development. Brownfields in shrinking cities could be reused converting problem in opportunity. This urban sprawl means significant losses in land supply that means a wasteful of its natural capital or services in a long-term perspective. It was demonstrated that the conversion of productive farmland with fertile soil into urbanized areas, may lead to inefficient land allocation. Sustainable urban land-use concerns everyone since it has significance to the human well-being, economic development and environment protection.
Therefore, how to provide effective support to the planning process in these cities is a necessary research question. Socio-economic, political and environmental evaluation, the possible indicators, development of databases (e.g. of brownfield areas) and spatial analysis are some of the priorities. It is also necessary to create more and recent cartography to use it in land management, planning and projecting the future change and development. This priority research question should be funded not only by the government who grants permissions to urban and industrial development, but also by private sector like urban contractors, industrial companies, and corporations, which will, on a near future, be part of this problem.
Specific research questions (following the conceptual model of INSPIRATION):
Demand and natural capital:
• Analysis of shrinking cities and alternative development. Identification of brownfields, redevelopment areas and priority areas for requalification and greenfields.
Why: Essential knowledge for sustainable urban planning, with current mapping and scenarios for future development taking into consideration demographic and environmental trends.
Land management:
• Improve research focused on technical, structural and innovative solutions, instruments and policies for redevelopment and urban requalification. Planning for multicultural cities.
Why: to improve not only the development and urban planning efficiency with economic and environmental benefits but also to ensure the well-being of city residents.
Net impacts:
• Gain knowledge on the impacts of different management strategies and deal with synergies and trade-offs between multiple land functions.
Why: Raising awareness and acceptance among stakeholders is crucial for supporting decisions/policies to reduce land uptake.