The Path of Most Resilience

Giving brownfield sites a new life by helping communities prepare for climate change

Brownfields, vacant or underutilized sites with known or suspected contamination, pose significant challenges for communities worldwide. However, these sites also present valuable opportunities for revitalization, environmental restoration, and community resilience. In this storymap, we will explore the intersection of brownfields with climate change, and provide inspiring examples of successful brownfield redevelopment projects.

Brownfield redevelopment can play a vital role in creating resilient communities to address the challenges posed by climate change. Consider the following aspects, some of which can be combined for synergistic impact:

Flooding

Brownfield development can contribute to flood mitigation, both inland and along coastal areas. Many of these sites have great potential for flood mitigation due to their location (e.g., adjacent to waterbodies) and their size. Strategies include engineered wetlands and resilience parks that are designed to absorb flood waters.

Photo: Spicket River Greenway (Adi Nochur)

Carbon Capture and Clean Energy

Brownfields offer opportunities for carbon capture through the establishment of microforests using methods like the Miyawaki technique. Incentivizing clean energy production and improving access to sustainable transportation can also be integrated into brownfield redevelopment plans.

Photo: Solar array on a former landfill in Mt. Olive, NJ (CEP)

Air Quality

Brownfield redevelopment can positively impact air quality by reducing residential miles traveled for common services and mitigating heat island effects.

Photo: from "The State of the Urban Forest in NYC" by The Nature Conservancy (Diane Cook and Len Jenshel)

Food Security

Urban agriculture and indoor agriculture initiatives can transform brownfields into sources of local food production, enhancing community food security along with reducing the carbon footprint of produce.

Photo: AeroFarms in Newark, NJ

Redevelopment as Opportunity

Brownfield redevelopment projects can provide the opportunity to improve the built environment, including green stormwater management, implementation of green roofs, energy efficient buildings, and the reduction of impermeable surfaces, resulting in more sustainable urban landscapes.

Photo: Ironside, Newark, NJ Gold Certified LEED brownfield redevelopment

Community Identity and Strength

Repurposed brownfields can serve as community centers which can become cooling centers during heatwaves and platforms for facilitating feedback and community engagement. Revitalized, vibrant town centers can contribute to the local tax base and an overall positive perception of a town by removing blight, which can inspire a more involved citizenry.

Photo: Flemington, NJ ( Flemington Community Partnership)

Inspiring Examples

Lion Gate Park, Bloomfield, NJ

Once a thread and scientific glass factory, this property stood vacant since 1985 in a residential neighborhood in Bloomfield, NJ. This site has been redeveloped into a resilience park and soccer field. Designed to absorb 10 million gallons of floodwater, it protects both the downtown business district and surrounding residential neighborhoods.

Microforests, Elizabeth, NJ

Groundwork Elizabeth: Micro Forests for Macro Change - Groundwork USA