engleski

Challenges in Planning Brownfields Redevelopment - Case of Rijeka (Croatia) –

The aim of this paper is to investigate how brownfield redevelopment (BR) might be approached in Croatia, based on a case study. This research focuses on identification, analysis of roles and the coordination of institutions and respective activities of stakeholders involved in BR at local level. Through questionnaires, interviews, other relevant sources of information and indicators of sustainable development where applicable, the research tries to answer two main questions: how the participation of key stakeholders influences success of brownfield redevelopment in the light of sustainable development and secondly what are the major factors in Croatia that determine this process to start. Two cases are presented with similar institutional and legislative frameworks in which BR happens, with differences in previous and future use, location conditions, existing risks and ownership structure. The issue of brownfields has recently gained more attention, and through doctoral programmes the knowledge is transferred and further expanded. A few development initiatives are promoted and funded through grant schemes of the EU Integrated Pre-accession programme – IPA, giving preference to revitalization of brownfields. At the national level hot spots are identified and addressed for immediate remedial activity. Slow administrative and legal procedures related to solving property rights, lack of strategic development vision at all levels of government, participation being only formally translated into Croatian legislation as part of the EU accession process (e.g. Environmental Impact Assessement, Strategic Environmental Assessement) but not understood fully are perceived as main obstacles to development. BR is a very concrete issue through which impact due to (non)existing development planning policies in Croatia can be examined. The paper concludes with the preliminary assessment of success of sustainable brownfield redevelopment, identification and extent of factors determining BR and recommendation for further improvement in planning BR initiatives in Croatia and possibly in the wider EU context.

brownfields' redevelopment; local planning; participation

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