Challenges and opportunities for urban brownfield regeneration - ENSURE, Slovakia spin-off

Brownfields are the object of a double and contrasting perception. They often convey an image of aban-donment and decay, negatively affecting the surrounding area and the urban landscape. However, they are acknowledged for their potential to achieve sustainable urban development. The regeneration of unused, underused, or abandoned areas and buildings can limit investments in greenfield and prevent urban sprawl. 

At the European level, there is a raising interest in brownfield regeneration as driver of sustainable urbanisation. Sustainable use of land has been acknowledged as a crucial condition contributing to the achievement of a climate-neutral EU by 2050, as drew up by the European Commission in compliance with the Paris Agreement. In this regard, ESPON has already supported research and knowledge building on the topic, notably through the SUPER (Sustainable Urbanization and land-use Practices in European Regions) and ENSURE (European Sustainable Urbanisation through port city Regeneration) projects.

These reflections have been partially seized by Slovak national policies, and the new Operational Programme for the program-ming period 2021-2027 is expected to highlight the importance of brownfields (notably those located in cen-tral urban areas) transformation through sustainable innovative interventions. In Slovakia, the high presence of brownfields has become a raising concern. Although the national government is aware of the issue and some municipalities have carried out interesting implementation and research project, there is still a general lack of knowledge on the number, localisation, and potential of brownfields.

The project ENSURE/Slovakia is a crucial opportunity to give a new impulsion on the issue of brownfield and to establish a link between the European recommendations setting a target of no net land take by 2050 (Land use and forestry regulation for 2021-2030) and further policies in Slovakia, at both national and local level. In this report, the main historical aspects are hilighted and the presence of brownfields in Slovakian municipalities is explained to help analyse the current legislation in terms of spatial planning, through official documentation and interviews with local stakeholders.

Documents

1 ENSURE_Slovakia_Final Report.pdf

  • Acrobat Document | 859KB

2 Brownfields regeneration-step-by-step-guide_20220603.pdf

  • Acrobat Document | 1.24MB

3 ChiostriSanPietro_ReggioEmilia.pdf

  • Acrobat Document | 445KB

4 KPDPrison_Maribor.pdf

  • Acrobat Document | 483KB

5 LeneVoigtPark_Leipzig.pdf

  • Acrobat Document | 527KB

6 TemporaryOccupations_Timisoara.pdf

  • Acrobat Document | 281KB