Brownfield infrastructures

Abstract

While infrastructure systems have been planned to ensure the well-being of society over time, their abandonment may follow contemporary neoliberal urban regeneration trends and growth-oriented urban entrepreneurialism. In this regard, we question how brownfield infrastructures are managed towards new unequal and exclusionary functions. This chapter comprises four sections. The first section interrogates what brownfield infrastructure means by analyzing the concepts of brownfield and infrastructure and the interweave with urban governance issues. The second section provides a literature review on brownfield infrastructure regeneration, which also pinpoints current research gaps. The third section is dedicated to the case study analysis, aiming to classify the reuses carried out on the basis of brownfield infrastructure. Eventually, conclusions relate the main findings of this work, both the significance of brownfield infrastructure for the future of the cities and the trends provoked by the reuses.