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The Brownfields Phenomenon: Much Ado about Something or the Timing of the Shrewd?

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  • Wernstedt, Kris

    (Resources for the Future)

  • Alberini, Anna
  • Heberle, Lauren
  • Meyer, Peter

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated properties known as “brownfields.” It has three principal parts. First, we introduce the brownfields phenomenon and its drivers, drawing on the body of available empirical evidence to discuss characteristics of individual brownfield redevelopment projects. Second, we present findings from a recent study we have conducted that examines the relative attractiveness to private developers of public interventions to promote brownfields redevelopment. Third, we briefly summarize some of the problems with brownfields development and policy and propose an approach to promote wider societal benefits of brownfields development. We conclude with several broad questions about brownfields policy and practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Wernstedt, Kris & Alberini, Anna & Heberle, Lauren & Meyer, Peter, 2004. "The Brownfields Phenomenon: Much Ado about Something or the Timing of the Shrewd?," RFF Working Paper Series dp-04-46, Resources for the Future.
    • Handle: RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-04-46
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    File URL: http://www.rff.org/RFF/documents/RFF-DP-04-46.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Boyd, James & Harrington, Winston & Macauley, Molly K, 1996. "The Effects of Environmental Liability on Industrial Real Estate Development," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 37-58, January.
    2. Wernstedt, Kris & Hersh, Robert & Crooks, Lisa, 2003. "Brownfields Redevelopment in Wisconsin: A Survey of the Field," RFF Working Paper Series dp-03-54, Resources for the Future.
    3. Miriam Schoenbaum, 2002. "Environmental Contamination, Brownfields Policy, and Economic Redevelopment in an Industrial Area of Baltimore, Maryland," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 78(1), pages 60-71.
    4. David J. Bjornstad & James R. Kahn (ed.), 1996. "The Contingent Valuation of Environmental Resources," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 731.
    5. McCluskey, Jill J. & Rausser, Gordon C., 2003. "Hazardous waste sites and housing appreciation rates," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 166-176, March.
    6. Kiel, Katherine & Zabel, Jeffrey, 2001. "Estimating the Economic Benefits of Cleaning Up Superfund Sites: The Case of Woburn, Massachusetts," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 22(2-3), pages 163-184, March-May.
    7. Ted Gayer & James T. Hamilton & W. Kip Viscusi, 2002. "The Market Value of Reducing Cancer Risk: Hedonic Housing Prices with Changing Information," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 69(2), pages 266-289, October.
    8. McCluskey, Jill & Rausser, Gordon C., 2000. "Hazardous waste sites and housing appreciation rates," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt0z9156qx, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    9. Greenberg, M. & Lee, C. & Powers, C., 1998. "Public health and brownfields: Reviving the past to protect the future," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 88(12), pages 1759-1760.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. David Adams & Christopher De Sousa & Steven Tiesdell, 2010. "Brownfield Development: A Comparison of North American and British Approaches," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(1), pages 75-104, January.
    2. Hilary Sigman, 2010. "Environmental Liability and Redevelopment of Old Industrial Land," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(2), pages 289-306, May.
    3. Chang, Howard F. & Sigman, Hilary, 2007. "The effect of joint and several liability under superfund on brownfields," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 363-384, December.
    4. Howard F. Chang & Hilary Sigman, 2014. "An Empirical Analysis of Cost Recovery in Superfund Cases: Implications for Brownfields and Joint and Several Liability," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(3), pages 477-504, September.
    5. Barrieu, Pauline & Bellamy, Nadine & Sinclair-Desgagné, Bernard, 2017. "Assessing contaminated land cleanup costs and strategies," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 68198, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Linda McCarthy, 2009. "Off the Mark?," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 23(3), pages 211-228, August.
    7. Laura Solitare, 2005. "Prerequisite conditions for meaningful participation in brownfields redevelopment," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(6), pages 917-935.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    brownfields; contamination; economic development; infill;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q24 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Land
    • Q28 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Government Policy

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