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Experiences of cooperation between European and Latin-American cities in the field of Brownfield revitalisation

Hermann J. Kirchholtes, Nicolas Leyva Douat Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart, Amt für Umweltschutz, Gaisburgstr. 4, 70182 Stuttgart, u360351@stuttgart.de, www.stuttgart.de

ABSTRACT:

The municipality of Stuttgart developed a procedure of contaminated sites management. Based on this, a strategy for sustainable Brownfield revitalisation arose in close cooperation of urban development, environmental protection, real estate management and economic promotion. These experiences were the starting position of the REDESC project, an European - Latin American cooperation project funded by the European Union. Five municipal partners from Latin America and European established a cities network. During the project, a wider cooperation with the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and CETESB, the state environmental department of Sao Paulo emerged. Thus a stable network could be established. Common international projects were proved to be an effective way of interchanging successful strategies for Brownfield revitalisation in an effective and enduring way.

Municipal experiences

In the 1980s, contamination in inner urban areas of Stuttgart generated considerable financial losses in the purchase and sale of plots of land. Since 1992 the city has developed and implemented a systematic management of contaminated areas. Thanks to the systematic registration of all areas suspected to be contaminated, it is possible to know today which sites are expected to contain harmful substances (Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart 2002). This way, experts on contaminated areas can develop adequate solutions in early stages of redevelopment, which guarantee both the required environmental remediation and a sustainable, efficient, and economic realization of Brownfields revitalization projects (PROSIDE-Partner 2006). A cooperation of urban development, environmental protection, economical promotion and real estate management was implemented. Thus it was proven that very often the required environmental remediation is only successful in interaction with urban regeneration measures. This way, a win-win situation could be reached in Stuttgart.

The interchange of knowledge and expertise, as well as the creation of networks, has proven to be an effective way of cooperation between different cities. These activities impart experts a good insight in the experiences and methodologies of other partners. The development of common projects produces even higher benefits, since these demand the additional adaptation and implementation of new work methods in the specific areas of the different partners.

The Municipality of Stuttgart, encouraged by promotional programs of the European Union, has participated in a variety of international projects in previous years. In these projects specific measures are carried out exemplarily within a defined time and financial framework. One example of successful cooperation between Latin-American and European cities in the area of rehabilitation of Brownfields is the EU funded project REDESC. Based on the experiences gained, the project proposal REUSO aims at the integration of the public, private consulting, political and research sectors. More experienced partners from Europe and Latin America will transfer their knowledge to less experienced cities in Latin America.

The URB-AL Project REDESC – Rehabilitation of Contaminated Areas for the Sustainable Inner Development of the City

From 1995 to 2006, the Program URB-AL from the European Union connected and promoted a total of 13 thematic networks of cities and regions in Europe and Latin America. The network N°6 “Urban environment” aimed at the improvement of the socioeconomic conditions and the living quality of the population, especially through an adequate development of inner urban areas. In the framework of this network, Stuttgart applied for and coordinated the project REDESC, which began in March 2004 and ended February 2006. Partners

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in the project were the Province of Treviso (Italy), the Municipality of Tres de Febrero (Argentina) and the cities of Santo André (Brazil) and Viña del Mar (Chile) (REDESC-Partner 2005).

Figure 1: The REDESC-partnership

In the REDESC Project, the partners had the chance of implementing different procedures for the investigation and evaluation of contaminated areas for the redevelopment of Brownfields. This was an ambitious and complex challenge, since a wide variety of aspects and interests needed to be taken into account and coordinated to attain this objective. An adequate management of environmental damages produced by harmful contaminants (such as dioxins, furans, solvents, pesticides, heavy metals and creosotes) demands experience and interdisciplinary cooperation.

With help of the REDESC project it was possible to organize and promote the necessary activation of private experts to carry out the investigations on the contaminated sites and to interlock remediation and urban development. The participants overcame their sectoral operation methods in favor of a networked methodology. The following questions were clarified on the part of the urban planning:

- Is the planned urban land use in a redevelopment project put at risk by existing harmful substances in the soils?

- Which remediation measures are required for the removal of the contaminants that affect human health?

In the course of REDESC, the partners developed strategies for the analysis of contaminated areas oriented to the future land uses. With this objective, the partners set specific goals according to their particular situations and aims. The work plans for each partner were established in three joint workshops. Additionally, in the workshops, the evaluation of the investigation results was undertaken and recommendations for following procedures were developed. The activation of private experts for the investigations on contaminated areas proved to be helpful and deciding for the continuation of the measures

beyond the duration of the project. That was especially the case with the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the environmental department of the Federal State of Sao Paulo (CETESB). This way it was possible to support the partners in LA in an efficient and continuous way. Thanks to the integration of CETESB it was possible to guarantee that all measures carried out were in accordance with the requirements of the competent supervisory authorities. As a result a robust network was established that remains after the conclusion project.

Figure 2: Brownfield Revitalisation

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REUSO – A Brownfield revitalisation project proposal

The project proposal REUSO (Reuse of inner urban areas) , in cooperation with German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the Center for Ecology & Development (KATE as an NGO) is a project proposal that aims at the transfer of knowledge to cities in Latin-America. The main objective is the practical implementation of advanced strategies in Brownfield revitalization, based on the successful examples of Europe, Mexico and Brazil.

In REUSO, pilot projects will be implemented in Latin American cities. The measures aim at an integration of urban planning, environmental protection and financing strategies. A broad public and political involvement leads to an improved acceptance in the community, the politic and the public administration. New financing concepts like PPP approaches will be applied. The pilot actions will lead to an adoption of the methodology to the different national legislations and settings. Furthermore, the creation of a network between the municipalities involved will become a common basis for the exchange of experiences, especially by means of concrete projects.

The participation of citizens, especially from the neighborhood of the sites, will make the process more democratic and transparent. To attain this objective, REUSO provides measures for communication, discussion and diffusion of strategies, measures and results.

The involvement and integration of different institutions like public administration, research facilities, states agencies, other municipalities, or political circles will improve a broad acceptance of the strategies. The specific skills and competences of the practitioners and decision makers in the participating cities will be improved.

The duration of the project will be 4 years. Potential partners are Sao Paulo (Brazil), Santo André (Brazil), CETESB (Brazil), Viña del Mar (Chile), CONAMA (Chile), Bogotá (Colombia), Querétaro (Mexico), City of Milan (Italy), Province of Treviso (Italy), GTZ (Germany/Brazil), KATE (Germany), and Stuttgart (Germany).

REUSO is conceived as an international project within the “Latin American network on the management and prevention of contaminated land and redevelopment of Brownfields”, in which partner cities of Latin America and Europe implement sustainable development concepts for the rehabilitation of inner urban areas, improving urban quality and guaranteeing ecological sustainability. REUSO aims at a sustainable urban

development by reducing the demand for new settlement areas (slowing urban sprawl), revitalizing Brownfields and protecting and rehabilitating soils and groundwater.

Conclusions on the cooperation of European and Latin-American cooperation

The knowledge-transfer offers an important fundament for the improvement of the revitalization of Brownfields. However, it is important to take into account that even within Europe and Latin-America there are considerable differences concerning legal, organizational and conceptual aspects. This applies to both urban planning and environmental protection.

For this reason, common international projects are an effective way of interchanging successful strategies and adapting them abroad, within a framework of reciprocal support based on existing networks. Clearly defined projects, with previously stipulated measures and objectives, contribute considerably to a fructuous interdisciplinary cooperation. The realization of projects is an adequate way to guarantee the necessary adaptation of concepts to the specific legal and organizational conditions in the partner cities.

In the European-Latin-American project REDESC, the scientific transfer and the implementation of measures, according to the specific case of each partner, proved to be an important component for the improvement of Brownfield revitalization. Especially interesting are the concepts concerning urban planning, environmental protection and financing. Above all, international projects are an efficient way of generating general consciousness on the importance of cautiously handling limited resources and on a sustainable development of urban areas.

References

PROSIDE-Partner (2006). Promoting sustainable inner urban development. ISBN 3-937750-02-9. Download from www.prodide.info

REDESC-Partner (2005). Áreas contaminadas – gestión y rehabilitación urbana. Download from REDESC-Homepage www.redesc.de

Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart (2002). ISAS – Informationssystem Altlasten Stuttgart. Download from www.stuttgart.de.