Research Results
Professor Christopher De Sousa is studying brownfield sites that have been
or are being redeveloped in a sustainable way. The resulting case studies
focus on projects that are recipients of funding under U.S. EPA's
Brownfields Sustainability Pilots program (many of which are in the
process of being redeveloped) and on a number of innovative, successful,
completed projects around the country referred to as "Best Management
Practice" sites. The case studies aim to identify best practices for
sustainable redevelopment of brownfields, including the underlying
policies and practices that enabled these redevelopments to be undertaken
and/or completed. They will be posted as they are finalized.
Sustainable Redevelopment of Brownfields Case Studies:
Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley: A Sustainable Re-Industrialization Best
Practice (posted January 2012)
As part of this project, Dr. De Sousa also wrote a book chapter about the
Menomonee Valley redevelopment, entitled "Creating the green industrial
district: Transforming Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley from a blighted
brownfield into a sustainable place to work and play.” It is included in
the book Sustainability in America's Cities: Creating the Green
Metropolis, M. Slavin, Editor, published by Island Press, 2011.
Moran Center, Burlington, Vermont: A U.S. EPA Brownfields Sustainability
Pilot (posted January 2012)
Tabor Commons to Café Au Play, Portland, Oregon: A U.S. EPA Brownfields
Sustainability Pilot (posted February 2012)
June Key Delta Community Center, Portland, Oregon: A U.S. EPA Brownfields
Sustainability Pilot (posted January 2012)
Brownfields Sustainability Pilots Data Matrices and Benchmarks:
Also as part of the Brownfields Sustainability Pilots case studies, Dr. De Sousa developed data matrices of pre-development data for each site. These are intended to present an informal pre-development snapshot of conventional and sustainability-oriented information for each of the pilots and their surrounding neighborhoods. He also developed a list of recommended benchmarks for pilot recipients to collect. This information should help the projects with tracking sustainability progress on a range of indicators.
Anvil Mountain Neighborhood, Silverton, CO: Data Matrix
Commercial Street, Springfield, MO: Data Matrix
Focus: Hope, Detroit, MI: Data Matrix
Greenville Workforce Housing Project, Greenville, SC: Data Matrix
Haynes Recreational Center, Laredo, TX: Data Matrix
Houston Solar Project, Houston, TX: Data Matrix
Jackson Square, Boston, MA: Data Matrix
June Key Delta Community Center, Portland, OR: Data Matrix
Langdale Mills, Valley, AL: Data Matrix
Moran Center, Burlington, VT: Data Matrix
Samoa Peninsula, Humboldt County, CA: Data Matrix