Creating Community-Based Brownfields Redevelopment Strategies

The American Planning Association is the recipient of a Brownfields Training, Research and Technical Assistance Grant from the U.S Environmental Protection Agency. Creating Community-Based Brownfields Redevelopment Strategies is a three-year initiative with the goal of helping community groups in low-income communities develop a new set of "eyes" to see brownfields sites as opportunities.

It is estimated that there are more than 450,000 brownfields sites in the U.S. In many brownfields redevelopment projects, community groups are frequently left out of the process. However, they represent the main constituency that suffers from the negative impact of vacant and abandoned brownfield sites. By creating a workbook and training program for community development corporations and similar groups, the project team intends to empower residents to actively and effectively participate in brownfields redevelopment and understand how different development strategies will benefit their communities.

APA's research department is undertaking this project, working in close collaboration with Bethel New Life, Inc., a Chicago-based CDC with extensive experience in brownfields redevelopment issues. APA and Bethel are also working with the Center for Public Environmental Oversight (CPEO), an organization that promotes and facilitates public participation in environmental activities, including brownfields, to create the workbook.

Contact Us

To learn more about the initiative, e-mail brownfields@planning.org.