Brownfield Sites as Catalysts for Sustainable Urban Regenerationand the Demand for Objectives, Tools and Classifications for theSupport of their Redevelopment
Almost two decades today, the topic of brownfields has extensively been researched in urban sociology, urban planning, and human geography, and numerous Western-Centric studies have linked the redevelopment of the abandoned, contaminated, vacant or derelict sites to sustainable urban regeneration and achieving smart cities and sustainability goals in general. Yet, until this day, the concept has received little academic and practical attention in Middle Eastern contexts. Western contexts on the other hand including Europe, UK and USA continue to offer unique perspectives on approaching brownfields in ways that reduce the alarming spatial cluttering and address socio-spatial disparities and spatial segregation in addition to achieving economic and environmental goals, and similar to the global scene, brownfield sites make a large portion of the post-industrial city of Amman, the capital of Jordan. However, with the lack of a systematic definition for the urban phenomenon objectives, methods to identifying potential brownfield sites and evaluating the prioritisation of their redevelopment that takes into consideration context particularities, and with the absence of participative approaches that include the local community in the decision-making regarding these spaces, city planners fail to include the increasingly growing number of brownfield site that proliferate their cities in the urban planning practice. Through the examination of literature discussions on objectives, approaches, classification systems, methodologies, assessment and evaluation tools for the support of design and prioritising decisions for brownfield regeneration indifferent contexts, and through looking at the numerous potential alternatives for brownfield sites regeneration these contexts highlight, this paper bids to emphasise the importance of developing context specific, localised tools tailored for the Middle Eastern case. Building on the above, this paper identifies five potential brownfield typologies in the context of Amman; (1)residual planning outcomes; (2) discontinued mines and quarries; (3) unfinished mega-projects; (4) contaminated and hazardous sites, and; (5) miscellaneous abandoned sites and buildings, and ends on the note that looking at the increasing demand to meeting smart growth and sustainability needs, these urban landscapes may function as catalysts for achieving comprehensive sustainable urban regeneration.
Sustainable Park Landscaping as an Approach for theDevelopment of the Built E...IEREK Press
Implementing sustainable principles when landscaping parks is vital for the development of the built environment, and should take into account environmental, social, economic, and cultural aspects, in order to eliminate conflict between developmental requirements, and the need to preserve cultural and natural resources. This paper reviews the guidelines that should be considered for current and future sustainable parks in regions with a moderate climate, in order to ensure that they incorporate ecotourism, cost effective operation and maintenance, a clean environment, the promotion of renewable energy, and resource preservation. A number of parks, located in moderate climate zones, are studied in terms of aspects such as their location, topography, operation, and landscaping characteristics, to demonstrate the prevailing normative values that can be applied to sustainable park design. Prince Meshari Park, in Al-Baha city, Saudi Arabia, is employed as a case study for applying all of the guidelines proposed in this investigation, and to highlight some of their merits and limitations in terms of the current situation of the park.
Sustainable Park Landscaping as an Approach for theDevelopment of the Built E...IEREK Press
Implementing sustainable principles when landscaping parks is vital for the development of the built environment, and should take into account environmental, social, economic, and cultural aspects, in order to eliminate conflict between developmental requirements, and the need to preserve cultural and natural resources. This paper reviews the guidelines that should be considered for current and future sustainable parks in regions with a moderate climate, in order to ensure that they incorporate ecotourism, cost effective operation and maintenance, a clean environment, the promotion of renewable energy, and resource preservation. A number of parks, located in moderate climate zones, are studied in terms of aspects such as their location, topography, operation, and landscaping characteristics, to demonstrate the prevailing normative values that can be applied to sustainable park design. Prince Meshari Park, in Al-Baha city, Saudi Arabia, is employed as a case study for applying all of the guidelines proposed in this investigation, and to highlight some of their merits and limitations in terms of the current situation of the park.
Brownfield land redevelopment strategies in urban areas: Criteria contributin...IEREK Press
Urban intensification seems to be a growing trend, especially in the context of severe land scarcity. Brownfields
offer great potential in meeting the increasing demand for housing in major cities worldwide. Redevelopment
projects appear to provide immediate solutions to housing shortages that are being experienced due to population
pressures in large metropolitan areas. The paper explores the range of factors that property developers need to
consider in their decision-making process when assessing the viability of brownfield redevelopments. This research,
which employed a comparative case study approach, and examined two brownfield redevelopments in Auckland,
focused on the economic, social, and environmental criteria that were utilised in the decision-making process.
Document analysis of the two case studies, site observations, and semi-structured interviews with the property
developers were the main data collection methods. The results suggested that the economic aspects of a brownfield
redevelopment are the most important criteria that developers consider during the feasibility assessment of proposed
projects. Projects that offer the potential for quick investment returns for all stakeholders are the preferred choice
for developers. Brownfield redevelopments offer significant potential for invigorating local areas through urban
intensification which boosts local businesses and encourages community revitalisation. The environmental concerns
appear to be the lowest priority and little consideration is given to reducing the environmental impacts or
incorporating green building practices in the new developments. A major shift from a purely economic focus
toward a comprehensive environmental approach to new developments is needed to ensure the sustainable
development of cities.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is the formulation of a framework for assessing development
change in small developing countries modified for application to small islands, and further, to propose
a development process to be used alongside the framework. The methodology utilized in the case study
involved research of official published documents, analysis of relevant statistical data, and application
of Landsat imagery for producing a land cover map. The main finding is that the existing assessment
framework developed by the European Environmental Agency does not fully fit the conditions in
small islands and has to be modified for implementation which is better used in combination with a
development process that provides a better fit for purpose. The modified framework and the detailing of
a new development process presented in this paper are original in the suggested applications and will
be valuable to the agencies that carry the responsibility for undertaking environmental and
development assessments in small countries.
Sustainable Park Landscaping as an Approach for theDevelopment of the Built E...IEREK Press
Implementing sustainable principles when landscaping parks is vital for the development of the built environment, and should take into account environmental, social, economic, and cultural aspects, in order to eliminate conflict between developmental requirements, and the need to preserve cultural and natural resources. This paper reviews the guidelines that should be considered for current and future sustainable parks in regions with a moderate climate, in order to ensure that they incorporate ecotourism, cost effective operation and maintenance, a clean environment, the promotion of renewable energy, and resource preservation. A number of parks, located in moderate climate zones, are studied in terms of aspects such as their location, topography, operation, and landscaping characteristics, to demonstrate the prevailing normative values that can be applied to sustainable park design. Prince Meshari Park, in Al-Baha city, Saudi Arabia, is employed as a case study for applying all of the guidelines proposed in this investigation, and to highlight some of their merits and limitations in terms of the current situation of the park.
Sustainable Park Landscaping as an Approach for theDevelopment of the Built E...IEREK Press
Implementing sustainable principles when landscaping parks is vital for the development of the built environment, and should take into account environmental, social, economic, and cultural aspects, in order to eliminate conflict between developmental requirements, and the need to preserve cultural and natural resources. This paper reviews the guidelines that should be considered for current and future sustainable parks in regions with a moderate climate, in order to ensure that they incorporate ecotourism, cost effective operation and maintenance, a clean environment, the promotion of renewable energy, and resource preservation. A number of parks, located in moderate climate zones, are studied in terms of aspects such as their location, topography, operation, and landscaping characteristics, to demonstrate the prevailing normative values that can be applied to sustainable park design. Prince Meshari Park, in Al-Baha city, Saudi Arabia, is employed as a case study for applying all of the guidelines proposed in this investigation, and to highlight some of their merits and limitations in terms of the current situation of the park.
Brownfield land redevelopment strategies in urban areas: Criteria contributin...IEREK Press
Urban intensification seems to be a growing trend, especially in the context of severe land scarcity. Brownfields
offer great potential in meeting the increasing demand for housing in major cities worldwide. Redevelopment
projects appear to provide immediate solutions to housing shortages that are being experienced due to population
pressures in large metropolitan areas. The paper explores the range of factors that property developers need to
consider in their decision-making process when assessing the viability of brownfield redevelopments. This research,
which employed a comparative case study approach, and examined two brownfield redevelopments in Auckland,
focused on the economic, social, and environmental criteria that were utilised in the decision-making process.
Document analysis of the two case studies, site observations, and semi-structured interviews with the property
developers were the main data collection methods. The results suggested that the economic aspects of a brownfield
redevelopment are the most important criteria that developers consider during the feasibility assessment of proposed
projects. Projects that offer the potential for quick investment returns for all stakeholders are the preferred choice
for developers. Brownfield redevelopments offer significant potential for invigorating local areas through urban
intensification which boosts local businesses and encourages community revitalisation. The environmental concerns
appear to be the lowest priority and little consideration is given to reducing the environmental impacts or
incorporating green building practices in the new developments. A major shift from a purely economic focus
toward a comprehensive environmental approach to new developments is needed to ensure the sustainable
development of cities.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is the formulation of a framework for assessing development
change in small developing countries modified for application to small islands, and further, to propose
a development process to be used alongside the framework. The methodology utilized in the case study
involved research of official published documents, analysis of relevant statistical data, and application
of Landsat imagery for producing a land cover map. The main finding is that the existing assessment
framework developed by the European Environmental Agency does not fully fit the conditions in
small islands and has to be modified for implementation which is better used in combination with a
development process that provides a better fit for purpose. The modified framework and the detailing of
a new development process presented in this paper are original in the suggested applications and will
be valuable to the agencies that carry the responsibility for undertaking environmental and
development assessments in small countries.
The Land- Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS): mobile apps and collaboration...Greenapps&web
Jeffrey E. Herrick et al CC BY 4.0
Massive investments in climate change mitigation and adaptation are projected during coming decades. Many of these investments will seek to modify how land is managed. The return on both types of investments can be increased through an understanding of land potential: the potential of the land to support primary production and ecosystem services, and its resilience. A Land-Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS) is being developed and implemented to provide individual users with point-based estimates of land potential based on the integration of simple, geo-tagged user inputs with cloud-based information and knowledge. This system will rely on mobile phones for knowledge and information exchange, and use cloud computing to integrate, interpret, and access relevant knowledge and information, including local knowledge about land with similar potential. The system will initially provide management options based on long-term land potential, which depends on climate, topography, and relatively static soil properties, such as soil texture, depth, and mineralogy. Future modules will provide more specific management information based on the status of relatively dynamic soil properties such as organic matter and nutrient content, and of weather. The paper includes a discussion of how this system can be used to help distinguish between meteorological and edaphic drought.
Multi-Scale Assessment of Urban Gardens as Constructed Habitats for Biodivers...IEREK Press
Biodiversity in arid urban environments depends upon habitat formation that balances both bioclimatic and biophysical environment needs. There is the potential for urban gardens to establish symbiotic ecosystem services from microhabitat formation that collectively form an assemblage of ecological patches to connect a diverse range of flora and fauna, and establish community driven nursery and seed collection initiatives. This study of urban garden habitats situated within a new urban district of Jeddah Saudi. The analysis concentrates on the ability of garden spatial formations to construct a heterogeneous spatial morphology of sub-patch within the larger urban landscape patch. Patch and subpatch formations are examined based on the criteria of (I) assemblage of the spatial habitat (characterized by shape and spatial organization); (II) integration of spatial, functional and vegetation plantation patterns; (III) connectivity. Findings reveal that garden layout is structured by the integration and layering of plant types to generate cool understory habitat with seedling establishment, and water conservation. Designed layout of the garden as a spatial pattern is augmented with a range of microclimate mediators to dim solar exposure within the plantation habitat. A strong heterogeneity in plant formations and combinations is seen to dominant the garden formations.
Multi-Scale Assessment of Urban Gardens as Constructed Habitats for Biodivers...IEREK Press
Biodiversity in arid urban environments depends upon habitat formation that balances both bioclimatic and biophysical environment needs. There is the potential for urban gardens to establish symbiotic ecosystem services from microhabitat formation that collectively form an assemblage of ecological patches to connect a diverse range of flora and fauna, and establish community driven nursery and seed collection initiatives. This study of urban garden habitats situated within a new urban district of Jeddah Saudi. The analysis concentrates on the ability of garden spatial formations to construct a heterogeneous spatial morphology of sub-patch within the larger urban landscape patch. Patch and subpatch formations are examined based on the criteria of (I) assemblage of the spatial habitat (characterized by shape and spatial organization); (II) integration of spatial, functional and vegetation plantation patterns; (III) connectivity. Findings reveal that garden layout is structured by the integration and layering of plant types to generate cool understory habitat with seedling establishment, and water conservation. Designed layout of the garden as a spatial pattern is augmented with a range of microclimate mediators to dim solar exposure within the plantation habitat. A strong heterogeneity in plant formations and combinations is seen to dominant the garden formations.
Kuala Lumpur Waterfront: A Public Place for All? drboon
As one of the efforts to improve the quality of living environment in the city centre, revitalisation of the Kuala Lumpur waterfront was announced as one of the nine Entry Point Projects in the Economic Transformation Programme. This is an opportunity to revive the public place that used to be a trading post. When the function of the river changes from being the life line for the city to the city’s backyard, the use of this waterfront space was affected. This paper aims to examine the user’s perception on the accessibility of the Kuala Lumpur waterfront. Using the qualitative approach, the focus group technique was employed. The findings suggested that poor access to the waterfront has affected the use of the waterfront. The research inferred the importance to consider public access at the waterfront by future decision makers in reviving this priceless public place for all.
Description des thématiques et projets de recherche de BATIR - Université Libre de Bruxelles et Ecole Polytechnique de Bruxelles. Avec le concours du NCP Brussels et du Cluster Greenov
A soil pedologist is a soil scientist who specializes in a branch of soil science that is concerned with identification, formation, and distribution of soils, which covers soil classification, soil genesis and survey as well as land evaluation. He interprets the results of his work in a simple, non-technical language in diagrammatic forms (maps) called interpretive soil maps. Examples are, land capability maps, soil suitability maps and soil fertility capability maps. They serve as visual aids for extension education in training the trainer or training of farmers. Literate farmers can use it without an aid. The maps should be able to assist a potential land user to solve soil – related problem or sets of problems such as soil fertility, erosion and drainage, in an area covered in the map with less difficulty. The interpretive maps should be able to provide information on the nature and distribution of a particular soil problem or sets of problems and enhance a potential user to predict soil attributes in an area covered by the map. Based on the maps, decisions on land use planning, dissemination and adoption of agricultural innovations can be effective within a recommendation domain.
Regional Resource Urbanism, Envisioning an Adaptive Transition for the Urbani...IEREK Press
Despite a strong tradition of harmony between the landscape and its settlements, Kathmandu's periphery now stands altered due to the contemporary challenges of modernisation. It has become the contested territory where rapid urbanisation and infrastructureprojects conflict with the valley's last remaining resources. i.e., fertile soil, floodplains, water sources, forests and agricultural land. The periphery is essential in preserving the remaining agricultural landscape, which is the mainstay of the numerous traditional communities of Kathmandu. Both the occupants and the productive landscape are threatened due to haphazard urbanisation and future mobility projects, resulting in speculative and uncontrolled sprawl. A detailed investigation was conducted on a site 15km south of Kathmandu to address the city's landscape challenges. The chosen investigation frame presented the suitable conditions to study and test strategies posed by the research objectives. The research utilises landscape urbanism and cartography to reveal the landscape's latent capacities, identify the spatial qualities, stakeholders and typologies involved in the production and consumption of resources. The study identifies existing resource flows and their ability to generate future scenarios. Systematic design strategies were applied in resource recovery projects by optimising enterprising capacity building within communities after the earthquake. The research recognises the merit in existing practices, community networks, the ongoing post-earthquake rebuilding efforts in offering an alternative design strategy in which landscape becomes the carrying structure for the sustainable reorganisation of Kathmandu's periphery
Natural Urban Heritage and Preservation Policies: the Case of Kyoto’s Waterways.IEREK Press
The value of natural heritage within urban areas is nowadays gaining recognition, but there are still no clear reference frameworks to confront the complexities of their management. In this discussion, the challenges of the association of historical preservation and urban nature are explored through the analysis of the management of Kyoto’s waterways. The conflicts caused by the rapid modernization of Japan at the end of 19thcentury find in Kyoto a remarkable expression in the tensions between renovation and conservation, providing a fertile frame for discussion. Relevant achievements and shortcomings of Kyoto ́s experience are here analyzed, considering how the preservation of historic landscapes affected the protection of urban rivers, the relationship between sustainability and heritage, and the new environmentally aware approaches to river improvement.
Urban Public Space Axis Rector of Green Infrastructure in the Current City of...IEREK Press
The current city calls for the reconsideration of a close relationship between gray infrastructure and public spaces, understanding the infrastructure as a set of items, equipment, or services required for the functioning of a country, a City. Ambato, Ecuador, is a current intermediate city, has less than 1% of the urban surface with use of public green spaces, which represents a figure below the 9m2/ hab., recommended by OMS. The aim of this paper was to identify urban public spaces that switches of green infrastructure in the city today, applying a methodology of qualitative studies. With an exploratory descriptive level analysis, in three stages, stage of theoretical foundation product of a review of the existing literature, which is the theoretical support of the relationship gray infrastructure public spaces equal to green infrastructure. Subsequent to this case study, discussed with criteria aimed at green infrastructure and in the public spaces of the study area. Finally, after processing and analysis of the results, we provide conclusions for urban public space as a definition of the green infrastructure of the current city of Latin America; in the latter, the focus is to support this article.
More Related Content
Similar to Brownfield Sites as Catalysts for Sustainable Urban Regenerationand the Demand for Objectives, Tools and Classifications for theSupport of their Redevelopment
The Land- Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS): mobile apps and collaboration...Greenapps&web
Jeffrey E. Herrick et al CC BY 4.0
Massive investments in climate change mitigation and adaptation are projected during coming decades. Many of these investments will seek to modify how land is managed. The return on both types of investments can be increased through an understanding of land potential: the potential of the land to support primary production and ecosystem services, and its resilience. A Land-Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS) is being developed and implemented to provide individual users with point-based estimates of land potential based on the integration of simple, geo-tagged user inputs with cloud-based information and knowledge. This system will rely on mobile phones for knowledge and information exchange, and use cloud computing to integrate, interpret, and access relevant knowledge and information, including local knowledge about land with similar potential. The system will initially provide management options based on long-term land potential, which depends on climate, topography, and relatively static soil properties, such as soil texture, depth, and mineralogy. Future modules will provide more specific management information based on the status of relatively dynamic soil properties such as organic matter and nutrient content, and of weather. The paper includes a discussion of how this system can be used to help distinguish between meteorological and edaphic drought.
Multi-Scale Assessment of Urban Gardens as Constructed Habitats for Biodivers...IEREK Press
Biodiversity in arid urban environments depends upon habitat formation that balances both bioclimatic and biophysical environment needs. There is the potential for urban gardens to establish symbiotic ecosystem services from microhabitat formation that collectively form an assemblage of ecological patches to connect a diverse range of flora and fauna, and establish community driven nursery and seed collection initiatives. This study of urban garden habitats situated within a new urban district of Jeddah Saudi. The analysis concentrates on the ability of garden spatial formations to construct a heterogeneous spatial morphology of sub-patch within the larger urban landscape patch. Patch and subpatch formations are examined based on the criteria of (I) assemblage of the spatial habitat (characterized by shape and spatial organization); (II) integration of spatial, functional and vegetation plantation patterns; (III) connectivity. Findings reveal that garden layout is structured by the integration and layering of plant types to generate cool understory habitat with seedling establishment, and water conservation. Designed layout of the garden as a spatial pattern is augmented with a range of microclimate mediators to dim solar exposure within the plantation habitat. A strong heterogeneity in plant formations and combinations is seen to dominant the garden formations.
Multi-Scale Assessment of Urban Gardens as Constructed Habitats for Biodivers...IEREK Press
Biodiversity in arid urban environments depends upon habitat formation that balances both bioclimatic and biophysical environment needs. There is the potential for urban gardens to establish symbiotic ecosystem services from microhabitat formation that collectively form an assemblage of ecological patches to connect a diverse range of flora and fauna, and establish community driven nursery and seed collection initiatives. This study of urban garden habitats situated within a new urban district of Jeddah Saudi. The analysis concentrates on the ability of garden spatial formations to construct a heterogeneous spatial morphology of sub-patch within the larger urban landscape patch. Patch and subpatch formations are examined based on the criteria of (I) assemblage of the spatial habitat (characterized by shape and spatial organization); (II) integration of spatial, functional and vegetation plantation patterns; (III) connectivity. Findings reveal that garden layout is structured by the integration and layering of plant types to generate cool understory habitat with seedling establishment, and water conservation. Designed layout of the garden as a spatial pattern is augmented with a range of microclimate mediators to dim solar exposure within the plantation habitat. A strong heterogeneity in plant formations and combinations is seen to dominant the garden formations.
Kuala Lumpur Waterfront: A Public Place for All? drboon
As one of the efforts to improve the quality of living environment in the city centre, revitalisation of the Kuala Lumpur waterfront was announced as one of the nine Entry Point Projects in the Economic Transformation Programme. This is an opportunity to revive the public place that used to be a trading post. When the function of the river changes from being the life line for the city to the city’s backyard, the use of this waterfront space was affected. This paper aims to examine the user’s perception on the accessibility of the Kuala Lumpur waterfront. Using the qualitative approach, the focus group technique was employed. The findings suggested that poor access to the waterfront has affected the use of the waterfront. The research inferred the importance to consider public access at the waterfront by future decision makers in reviving this priceless public place for all.
Description des thématiques et projets de recherche de BATIR - Université Libre de Bruxelles et Ecole Polytechnique de Bruxelles. Avec le concours du NCP Brussels et du Cluster Greenov
A soil pedologist is a soil scientist who specializes in a branch of soil science that is concerned with identification, formation, and distribution of soils, which covers soil classification, soil genesis and survey as well as land evaluation. He interprets the results of his work in a simple, non-technical language in diagrammatic forms (maps) called interpretive soil maps. Examples are, land capability maps, soil suitability maps and soil fertility capability maps. They serve as visual aids for extension education in training the trainer or training of farmers. Literate farmers can use it without an aid. The maps should be able to assist a potential land user to solve soil – related problem or sets of problems such as soil fertility, erosion and drainage, in an area covered in the map with less difficulty. The interpretive maps should be able to provide information on the nature and distribution of a particular soil problem or sets of problems and enhance a potential user to predict soil attributes in an area covered by the map. Based on the maps, decisions on land use planning, dissemination and adoption of agricultural innovations can be effective within a recommendation domain.
Regional Resource Urbanism, Envisioning an Adaptive Transition for the Urbani...IEREK Press
Despite a strong tradition of harmony between the landscape and its settlements, Kathmandu's periphery now stands altered due to the contemporary challenges of modernisation. It has become the contested territory where rapid urbanisation and infrastructureprojects conflict with the valley's last remaining resources. i.e., fertile soil, floodplains, water sources, forests and agricultural land. The periphery is essential in preserving the remaining agricultural landscape, which is the mainstay of the numerous traditional communities of Kathmandu. Both the occupants and the productive landscape are threatened due to haphazard urbanisation and future mobility projects, resulting in speculative and uncontrolled sprawl. A detailed investigation was conducted on a site 15km south of Kathmandu to address the city's landscape challenges. The chosen investigation frame presented the suitable conditions to study and test strategies posed by the research objectives. The research utilises landscape urbanism and cartography to reveal the landscape's latent capacities, identify the spatial qualities, stakeholders and typologies involved in the production and consumption of resources. The study identifies existing resource flows and their ability to generate future scenarios. Systematic design strategies were applied in resource recovery projects by optimising enterprising capacity building within communities after the earthquake. The research recognises the merit in existing practices, community networks, the ongoing post-earthquake rebuilding efforts in offering an alternative design strategy in which landscape becomes the carrying structure for the sustainable reorganisation of Kathmandu's periphery
Similar to Brownfield Sites as Catalysts for Sustainable Urban Regenerationand the Demand for Objectives, Tools and Classifications for theSupport of their Redevelopment (20)
Natural Urban Heritage and Preservation Policies: the Case of Kyoto’s Waterways.IEREK Press
The value of natural heritage within urban areas is nowadays gaining recognition, but there are still no clear reference frameworks to confront the complexities of their management. In this discussion, the challenges of the association of historical preservation and urban nature are explored through the analysis of the management of Kyoto’s waterways. The conflicts caused by the rapid modernization of Japan at the end of 19thcentury find in Kyoto a remarkable expression in the tensions between renovation and conservation, providing a fertile frame for discussion. Relevant achievements and shortcomings of Kyoto ́s experience are here analyzed, considering how the preservation of historic landscapes affected the protection of urban rivers, the relationship between sustainability and heritage, and the new environmentally aware approaches to river improvement.
Urban Public Space Axis Rector of Green Infrastructure in the Current City of...IEREK Press
The current city calls for the reconsideration of a close relationship between gray infrastructure and public spaces, understanding the infrastructure as a set of items, equipment, or services required for the functioning of a country, a City. Ambato, Ecuador, is a current intermediate city, has less than 1% of the urban surface with use of public green spaces, which represents a figure below the 9m2/ hab., recommended by OMS. The aim of this paper was to identify urban public spaces that switches of green infrastructure in the city today, applying a methodology of qualitative studies. With an exploratory descriptive level analysis, in three stages, stage of theoretical foundation product of a review of the existing literature, which is the theoretical support of the relationship gray infrastructure public spaces equal to green infrastructure. Subsequent to this case study, discussed with criteria aimed at green infrastructure and in the public spaces of the study area. Finally, after processing and analysis of the results, we provide conclusions for urban public space as a definition of the green infrastructure of the current city of Latin America; in the latter, the focus is to support this article.
Revitalization Strategy for Historic Core of AhmedabadIEREK Press
In India, dense historic urban settlements were developed with the intention of provision of spaces for adequate engagement of the people. Public squares and streets became important places of interaction. ‘Historic core,’ especially had public spaces meant for various socioeconomic groups. Ahmedabad city is a blend of a harmonious past and a vivacious present. Number of historical and architecturally important buildings were built during Muslim and Moghul rules. One of the first built structures within the walled city is the Bhadra fort, a citadel founded by sultan Ahmed Shah in 1411 with a huge public square in front, developed for purpose of procession and gathering. This Bhadra precinct went through various layers of transformation in different eras and now have become vulnerable due to congestion and encroachment. Though, a need for intervention was felt to bring back the lost vitality of the Bhadra precinct, it was realized that a comprehensive approach would be the necessity. Conservation and sensitive development approach was taken to tackle this problem through pedestrianization of the Bhadra precinct, rerouting of traffic and restoration of Bhadra fort. Larger level traffic and parking issues were also considered be-yond the site. Alternative use of Bhadra fort as tourist information center was considered. Urban design guidelines were proposed for harmonious development in the surrounding area. This proposal was considered for funding under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission(JnNURM)and was implemented. Many issues were faced during implementation of Bhadra project due to contextualization of informal commercial, religious and other cultural activities. Political, social and administrative factors also played immense role in implementation of proposal. Now since Ahmedabad has achieved the status of World Heritage City through UNESCO certification further implementation of this project will be relatively easy due to envisaged strong political and administrative support.
Unlocking the Potentials of Urban Architecture in Enhancing theQuality of Urb...IEREK Press
Currently more than half of world population are living in cities, while world is witnessing a rapid urbanization process particularly in cities of the developing and emerging countries, where urban poverty areas (UPA) with low quality of urban life (QUL) and lack of the usual urban spaces are the most significant urban phenomena that characterized those cities. In such an urban context there is a need for an efficient tool that contributes positively to the enhancement of the QUL, meanwhile to provide the best use of the rare vacant lands. This study argues that urban architecture as a design field offers a distinctive approach to a special type of buildings made for an urban setting, thus it can enhance the QUL in UPA through community projects. The study is based on an analytical study of selected cases of community projects in UPA that represents examples of how urban architecture through its potentials has a positive impact on its urban context, notably through community projects that strongly linked to real community needs. The results showed that urban architecture as a design approach for community projects have multiple roles that boost the socio-economic daily life, as well it supports various environmental issues towards better QUL.
The Sinkhole Occurrence Risk Mitigation in Urban Areas for the Historic Salt ...IEREK Press
The present research focuses on the definition of a novel methodology for sinkhole risk assessment above shallow salt mines. The research were carried out on the area above the Wieliczka salt mine, a World Heritage site. The study of vertical stresses on the basis of a theoretical state of rock mass deformation in the area of test chambers was performed. Furthermore, the risk of chamber collapse due to ventricular stress exceeding the limit specified in the zone were calculated based on the arch pressure theory. The final stage of the research consists of spatial analysis that leading to the identification of chambers potentially influenced by other risk factors. The research shown in the article strongly suggests that combined spatial analysis with geotechnical analysis may lead to reliable sinkhole risk assessment methodology.
In Search of a Tool to Support Planning Inside Large Cities: the SustaIn-LED ...IEREK Press
The aim of the present study is to investigate the linkages between local economic development, innovation, and environmental sustainability inside urban areas. Can innovation affect the improvement of the quality of life inside urban areas? This research question comes from the consideration that usually innovation and growth in general are considered sources of conflict in affecting the livability of large cities. The objective of the paper is to design a model — the “SustaIn-Led” - to connect levels of environmental sustainability, quality of life, and economic development inside metropolitan areas, taking into account also innovation processes, activated by the innovation policies and by the knowledge economy. The study takes in consideration the 53 largest United States metropolitan areas with a population over 1 million, with a time series from the years 2000 through 2015.This has been done because of a two-fold reason: (1) the US among high-income countries is the one with the highest number of universities, patents, and citations; (2) several studies have shown that innovation occurs in large cities. The first part of the present study has carried out the identification of the variables to represent and significantly explain the phenomena – local economic development, innovation, and environmental sustainability – linked to the design of the SustaIn-LED model. Environmental sustainability in urban areas in this paper is represented by means of the Air Quality Index (AQI),while the number of workers synthetically quantifies local economic development. Correlation and multiple regression analyses are conducted in order to examine the relationship between the three main indicators. The multiple regressions for the year 2015 produced a low p-value, indicating that the predictors are significant in the regression analysis. Similar results of p-value are shown in all the years from 2000 to 2013. For 2015, the results showed that part of the variance in the measure of total workers of the metropolitan areas could be predicted by measures of innovation and air quality. Higher R2values have been registered for the years from 2000 through2013.The development of the SustaIn-LED model could be utilized in urban regeneration processes to help in the design of new urban planning policies inside large cities by means of a better comprehension of environmental and economic implications caused by the implementation of innovation policies.
Estimation of Coating Materials Contribution to the TVOCsEmissions of Wood Fl...IEREK Press
Based on the increasing concern about the exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from indoor finishing materials, industrial companies are called to meet the growing demand for more sustainable products. Recently, most designers and consumers have more environmental considerations while selecting the finishing materials. These considerations are related to the VOCs content of the finishing material itself regardless of its coating layers. Nowadays, interior wood coatings are commonly applied to large surfaces (ceilings, walls, floors) and many types of furnishing, leading to a high loading factor (surface-to-volume ratio). These coatings might contribute significantly to the VOCs emissions due to repeatedly and periodically use during maintenance, remodeling, and renovation of interior spaces. The aim of this study is to estimate the wood coating materials contribution to the TVOCs emissions of wood product in the indoor environment to shed light on the importance of comprehensive analysis of wood material with all treatment coatings. So, a small interior space with controlled temperature, relative humidity, and air exchange rate was simulated using IA-Quest program to investigate the influence of three wood coating materials; stain, wax, and varnish which were applied to an area of natural hardwood Oak floor. The TVOCs emission data resulted from the different coated wood floor was compared with VOCs emissions caused by the natural wood floor to find out the coating material contribution in TVOCs emissions of a wood flooring material
Load Shifting Assessment of Residential Heat Pump System in JapanIEREK Press
With the economic growth and increasing requirement of indoor thermal comfort, the load of building sector presents a greater variability. This paper aims at analyzing the energy consumption characteristics and influencing factors of the residential heat pump system. Firstly, we selected residential households as investigated objective in Kitakyushu, Japan, and compared the energy saving performances of heat supply systems between heat pump and natural gas boiler. The results were based on real measured residential load during winter period, and calculated the cost saving performance of residential heat pump system compared with traditional natural gas boiler. We also did a survey of residential occupation behavior for the 12 selected residential customers. The result indicated that there was low relationship between power consumption and occupation hours, and the number of family members had a significant impact on the power consumption. The results indicate that residential heat pump system presented promising energy saving and cost reduction potential
A Model Proposed for the Prediction of Future Sustainable Residence Specifica...IEREK Press
In Egypt, people are unable to determine the qualities of appropriate residence that achieves quality and occupant satisfaction, and contributes to sustainability of residential conglomerations. In general, developing countries lack housing information which can be used to enhance quality of residence. Also, the methods of assessing and identifying the appropriate criteria for future residence quality remain traditional ones that cannot address the multiple, conflicting, overlapping aspects to reach a good decision. This calls for using the Analytical Network Process (ANP), an effective tool for specifying the relative importance of all factors impacting a specific issue for making an appropriate residential decision. In addition, this method provides results for the decision element impacts network within the decision structure; thus contributing to more understanding of the mechanisms and requirements of residence selection. The proposed decision structure comprises a two-level network: main clusters, main elements, and sub-elements included in the demographic characteristics group, the residence criteria group, the demand parameters group, the supply parameters group, the residence specifications group, and the alternatives group which representing, in total, the decision and specifying the percentage needed for each housing level. Results of the model showed complete capacity in smoothly addressing complexities and overlapping in the decision structure. The decision structure showed that 52% chose luxury residence, 28% chose middle-class residence, and 19.5% chose the economic residence. Mechanisms of decision making were analyzed; particularly in terms of relationship to demographic characteristics and residence specifications. Also, the importance and impact of demand / supply parameters in reaching decision were analyzed
Development of an Open-Source Water Consumption Meter for HousingIEREK Press
This article reports on the project "Design and development of water and gas P.L. measurement devices in the housing: an approach to sustainable consumption in Mexico", prepared at the Metropolitan Autonomous University in the Department of the Environment, whose objective was to develop a device to measure water consumption in the housing, which allows users to know their spending and can make decisions in favor of efficiency through the reduction of water use in household activities. The meter is made up of open source, programmable or reconfigurable software, which receives the signal from a water flow sensor and a casing designed to contain the hardware and facilitate the user's installation. Both the hardware and the casing can be purchased, downloaded, manufactured and assembled at home (Do It Yourself). As specific results were obtained: hardware programming and housing design and as a final result: the assembly of the functional prototype with which measurements of water consumption were made in a housing in Mexico. With this work we conclude that through the development of new accessible and common measurement technologies for the users of a house, it will be possible to promote efficiency in the use of natural resources in cities, increasing availability and promoting a more sustainable urban development.
Architectural Education for Sustainable Urban RegenerationIEREK Press
Urban regeneration is one of the important agendas of Turkey as a developing country. Rapid urbanization problems have been causing vital social and economic problems together with physical and spatial ones especially in big cities of Turkey. Thus, national and local governments handled urban regeneration as a practical method for solution of these problems. However, they unfortunately don’t implement urban regeneration according to its real requirements. Instead, this multi-dimensional and complex process is seen as a pull down and built up operation. Considering this situation and being in awareness of the responsibilities of architects throughout urban regeneration process, the authors think that urban regeneration should be discussed in the scope of architectural education. This paper presents the purpose, the process and the products of an undergraduate architectural design studio that was undertaken at Bursa Uludağ University, Faculty of Architecture. The architectural and urban design projects of the students of which aim was to offer a livable and sustainable mixed used living environments are discussed together with their conceptual backgrounds. Putting stress on the differences between theory and practice, the conclusion introduces a critical evaluation of urban regeneration and sustainable housing concepts in Turkey.
Typology and Solar Gain Analysis: Vernacular Courtyard Houses of Tabriz, IranIEREK Press
The study presents the results of typological analysis and simulation modeling analysis of traditional courtyard residential houses in the cold semi-arid climate of Iran. The purpose of the research has been to analyze and evaluate traditional passive environmental strategies and their elements to provide implications for the design of sustainable residential buildings in contemporary time. Five existing traditional courtyard houses in the city of Tabriz, Iran, are used as case-studies to analyze the typology and the solar zoning conditions and to develop simulation models. The Ecotect simulation program is used to calculate the solar gains of the buildings and to analyze the effectiveness of the natural passive systems along with native design strategies in terms of potential solar gains of main and secondary living spaces. However, in the vernacular, not only the awareness of the climatic and topological considerations is important, but also the values, rituals, and beliefs that shape the design of the dwellings need to be considered. The research is based on the hypothesis that vernacular buildings (courtyard houses) of Iran have been environmentally sustainable structures. However, an important challenge of the study has been to avoid the technological bias and to consider the cultural and social aspects and embodiment of the studied houses, as well. The study also addresses the potential short comings that limit the reliability of Iranian vernacular architecture at present in order to arrive at a more holistic understanding of the sustainability of the vernacular architecture in the country.
Lessons Learned from the First Passivhaus Building in QatarIEREK Press
Energy efficient models have become the path to reduce energy consumption and Greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment in many developed countries. According to the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), new buildings constructed within the European Union (EU) countries are expected to be nearly zero energy buildings (nZEBs) by 2020, while new public buildings are expected to adhere to this target by 2018. The Passivhaus approach has been identified by several researchers as a possible roadmap to achieve nZEBs. The meticulous engineering and high standards of the Passivhaus building fabric, in addition to the high comfort levels, are the main reasons behind the success and widespread of the standard. Recently, in 2013 the Passivhaus principles have been applied to an experimental residential project in the hot and arid climate of Qatar. The project is composed of two identical buildings, one built according to the Passivhaus standard and the other according to normal practices in the country. The thermal performance and comfort levels of both buildings were assessed through dynamic simulation and on-site measurements. Results indicated that at least 50% reduction in annual operational energy, water consumption, and CO2 emissions were achieved in the Passivhaus model in comparison to the standard model. This paper aims to highlight the lessons learned through the Passivhaus project; first by exhibiting the Passivhaus criteria that have been met, second by showcasing the outcomes of the project, and third by displaying the barriers and difficulties that have been associated with building according to the standard in Qatar. Finally, recommendations and general guidelines are suggested towards a possible adoption of the Passivhaus standard in Qatar and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries
Optimal Sizing and Design of Isolated Micro-Grid systemsIEREK Press
Micro-grid and standalone schemes are emerging as a viable mixed source of electricity due to interconnected costly central power plants and associated faults as well as brownouts and blackouts in additions to costly fuels. Micro-Grid (MG) is gaining very importance to avoid or decrease these problems. The objective of this paper is to design an optimal sizing and energy management scheme of an isolated MG. The MG is suggested to supply load located in El-shorouk Academy, Egypt between 30.119 latitudes and 31.605 longitudes. The components of the MG are selected and designed for achieving minimum Total Investment Cost (TIC) with CO2 emissions limitations. This is accomplished by a search and optimization MATLAB code used with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) techniques. The use of Diesel Generators (DGs) is minimized by limiting the gaseous CO2 emissions as per targeted allowable amount. A comparison is accomplished for investigating the CO2 emissions constraints effects on the TIC in $/year and annual cost of energy in $/kWh. The obtained results verified and demonstrated that the designed MG configuration scheme is able to feed the energy entailed by the suggested load cost effectively and environmental friendly.
Regenerative Mobility: Disruption and Urban EvolutionIEREK Press
Mobility plays an important role in the cities by enabling people to carry out the most varied activities across the territory, as well as to ensure the city fully function. In addition, analogies to the human organism can be made by this urban dynamic, looking for solutions to specific issues. Moreover, this paper has been based by the premise that phenomena and urban elements could be conceptualized, explained and transformed from contemporary and innovative approaches applied in the medical field. For this reason, this paper aims to develop and present a new concept associated with urban mobility, based on the principles of regenerative medicine: the Regenerative Mobility, a concept with disruptive and evolutionary purposes. Furthermore, the structure of this paper is summarized by the introduction which contextualizes the theme, presents and characterizes the techniques used in the research. Additionally, the following chapters explore essential aspects of the city, explaining why it needs a mobility change and new concepts. Therefore, the concept of Regenerative Mobility is presented as a potential of mobility and cities improvement, followed by pragmatic cases, capable of illustrating some of its principles.
Unlocking the Potentials of Urban Architecture in Enhancing the Quality of Ur...IEREK Press
Currently more than half of world population are living in cities, while world is witnessing a rapid urbanization process particularly in cities of the developing and emerging countries, where urban poverty areas (UPA) with low quality of urban life (QUL) and lack of the usual urban spaces are the most significant urban phenomena that characterized those cities. In such an urban context there is a need for an efficient tool that contributes positively to the enhancement of the QUL, meanwhile to provide the best use of the rare vacant lands. This study argues that urban architecture as a design field offers a distinctive approach to a special type of buildings made for an urban setting, thus it can enhance the QUL in UPA through community projects. The study is based on an analytical study of selected cases of community projects in UPA that represents examples of how urban architecture through its potentials has a positive impact on its urban context, notably through community projects that strongly linked to real community needs. The results showed that urban architecture as a design approach for community projects have multiple roles that boost the socio-economic daily life, as well it supports various environmental issues towards better QUL.
Urban Public Space Axis Rector of Green Infrastructure in the Current City of...IEREK Press
The current city calls for the reconsideration of a close relationship between gray infrastructure and public spaces, understanding the infrastructure as a set of items, equipment, or services required for the functioning of a country, a City. Ambato, Ecuador, is a current intermediate city, has less than 1% of the urban surface with use of public green spaces, which represents a figure below the 9m2/ hab., recommended by OMS. The aim of this paper was to identify urban public spaces that switches of green infrastructure in the city today, applying a methodology of qualitative studies. With an exploratory descriptive level analysis, in three stages, stage of theoretical foundation product of a review of the existing literature, which is the theoretical support of the relationship gray infrastructure public spaces equal to green infrastructure. Subsequent to this case study, discussed with criteria aimed at green infrastructure and in the public spaces of the study area. Finally, after processing and analysis of the results, we provide conclusions for urban public space as a definition of the green infrastructure of the current city of Latin America; in the latter, the focus is to support this article.
The Sinkhole Occurrence Risk Mitigation in Urban Areas for the Historic Salt ...IEREK Press
The present research focuses on the definition of a novel methodology for sinkhole risk assessment above shallow salt mines. The research were carried out on the area above the Wieliczka salt mine, a World Heritage site. The study of vertical stresses on the basis of a theoretical state of rock mass deformation in the area of test chambers was performed. Furthermore, the risk of chamber collapse due to ventricular stress exceeding the limit specified in the zone were calculated based on the arch pressure theory. The final stage of the research consists of spatial analysis that leading to the identification of chambers potentially influenced by other risk factors. The research shown in the article strongly suggests that combined spatial analysis with geotechnical analysis may lead to reliable sinkhole risk assessment methodology.
Natural Urban Heritage and Preservation Policies: the Case of Kyoto’s Waterways.IEREK Press
The value of natural heritage within urban areas is nowadays gaining recognition, but there are still no clear reference frameworks to confront the complexities of their management. In this discussion, the challenges of the association of historical preservation and urban nature are explored through the analysis of the management of Kyoto’s waterways. The conflicts caused by the rapid modernization of Japan at the end of 19thcentury find in Kyoto a remarkable expression in the tensions between renovation and conservation, providing a fertile frame for discussion. Relevant achievements and shortcomings of Kyoto ́s experience are here analyzed, considering how the preservation of historic landscapes affected the protection of urban rivers, the relationship between sustainability and heritage, and the new environmentally aware approaches to river improvement.
Brownfield Sites as Catalysts for Sustainable Urban Regeneration and the Dema...IEREK Press
Almost two decades today, the topic of brownfields has extensively been researched in urban sociology, urban planning, and human geography, and numerous Western-Centric studies have linked the redevelopment of the abandoned, contaminated, vacant or derelict sites to sustainable urban regeneration and achieving smart cities and sustainability goals in general. Yet, until this day, the concept has received little academic and practical attention in Middle Eastern contexts. Western contexts on the other hand including Europe, UK and USA continue to offer unique perspectives on approaching brownfields in ways that reduce the alarming spatial cluttering and address socio-spatial disparities and spatial segregation in addition to achieving economic and environmental goals, and similar to the global scene, brownfield sites make a large portion of the post-industrial city of Amman, the capital of Jordan. However, with the lack of a systematic definition for the urban phenomenon objectives, methods to identifying potential brownfield sites and evaluating the prioritisation of their redevelopment that takes into consideration context particularities, and with the absence of participative approaches that include the local community in the decision-making regarding these spaces, city planners fail to include the increasingly growing number of brownfield site that proliferate their cities in the urban planning practice. Through the examination of literature discussions on objectives, approaches, classification systems, methodologies, assessment and evaluation tools for the support of design and prioritising decisions for brownfield regeneration indifferent contexts, and through looking at the numerous potential alternatives for brownfield sites regeneration these contexts highlight, this paper bids to emphasise the importance of developing context specific, localised tools tailored for the Middle Eastern case. Building on the above, this paper identifies five potential brownfield typologies in the context of Amman; (1)residual planning outcomes; (2) discontinued mines and quarries; (3) unfinished mega-projects; (4) contaminated and hazardous sites, and; (5) miscellaneous abandoned sites and buildings, and ends on the note that looking at the increasing demand to meeting smart growth and sustainability needs, these urban landscapes may function as catalysts for achieving comprehensive sustainable urban regeneration.
CHINA’S GEO-ECONOMIC OUTREACH IN CENTRAL ASIAN COUNTRIES AND FUTURE PROSPECTjpsjournal1
The rivalry between prominent international actors for dominance over Central Asia's hydrocarbon
reserves and the ancient silk trade route, along with China's diplomatic endeavours in the area, has been
referred to as the "New Great Game." This research centres on the power struggle, considering
geopolitical, geostrategic, and geoeconomic variables. Topics including trade, political hegemony, oil
politics, and conventional and nontraditional security are all explored and explained by the researcher.
Using Mackinder's Heartland, Spykman Rimland, and Hegemonic Stability theories, examines China's role
in Central Asia. This study adheres to the empirical epistemological method and has taken care of
objectivity. This study analyze primary and secondary research documents critically to elaborate role of
china’s geo economic outreach in central Asian countries and its future prospect. China is thriving in trade,
pipeline politics, and winning states, according to this study, thanks to important instruments like the
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Belt and Road Economic Initiative. According to this study,
China is seeing significant success in commerce, pipeline politics, and gaining influence on other
governments. This success may be attributed to the effective utilisation of key tools such as the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation and the Belt and Road Economic Initiative.
Water billing management system project report.pdfKamal Acharya
Our project entitled “Water Billing Management System” aims is to generate Water bill with all the charges and penalty. Manual system that is employed is extremely laborious and quite inadequate. It only makes the process more difficult and hard.
The aim of our project is to develop a system that is meant to partially computerize the work performed in the Water Board like generating monthly Water bill, record of consuming unit of water, store record of the customer and previous unpaid record.
We used HTML/PHP as front end and MYSQL as back end for developing our project. HTML is primarily a visual design environment. We can create a android application by designing the form and that make up the user interface. Adding android application code to the form and the objects such as buttons and text boxes on them and adding any required support code in additional modular.
MySQL is free open source database that facilitates the effective management of the databases by connecting them to the software. It is a stable ,reliable and the powerful solution with the advanced features and advantages which are as follows: Data Security.MySQL is free open source database that facilitates the effective management of the databases by connecting them to the software.
Understanding Inductive Bias in Machine LearningSUTEJAS
This presentation explores the concept of inductive bias in machine learning. It explains how algorithms come with built-in assumptions and preferences that guide the learning process. You'll learn about the different types of inductive bias and how they can impact the performance and generalizability of machine learning models.
The presentation also covers the positive and negative aspects of inductive bias, along with strategies for mitigating potential drawbacks. We'll explore examples of how bias manifests in algorithms like neural networks and decision trees.
By understanding inductive bias, you can gain valuable insights into how machine learning models work and make informed decisions when building and deploying them.
ACEP Magazine edition 4th launched on 05.06.2024Rahul
This document provides information about the third edition of the magazine "Sthapatya" published by the Association of Civil Engineers (Practicing) Aurangabad. It includes messages from current and past presidents of ACEP, memories and photos from past ACEP events, information on life time achievement awards given by ACEP, and a technical article on concrete maintenance, repairs and strengthening. The document highlights activities of ACEP and provides a technical educational article for members.
We have compiled the most important slides from each speaker's presentation. This year’s compilation, available for free, captures the key insights and contributions shared during the DfMAy 2024 conference.
Online aptitude test management system project report.pdfKamal Acharya
The purpose of on-line aptitude test system is to take online test in an efficient manner and no time wasting for checking the paper. The main objective of on-line aptitude test system is to efficiently evaluate the candidate thoroughly through a fully automated system that not only saves lot of time but also gives fast results. For students they give papers according to their convenience and time and there is no need of using extra thing like paper, pen etc. This can be used in educational institutions as well as in corporate world. Can be used anywhere any time as it is a web based application (user Location doesn’t matter). No restriction that examiner has to be present when the candidate takes the test.
Every time when lecturers/professors need to conduct examinations they have to sit down think about the questions and then create a whole new set of questions for each and every exam. In some cases the professor may want to give an open book online exam that is the student can take the exam any time anywhere, but the student might have to answer the questions in a limited time period. The professor may want to change the sequence of questions for every student. The problem that a student has is whenever a date for the exam is declared the student has to take it and there is no way he can take it at some other time. This project will create an interface for the examiner to create and store questions in a repository. It will also create an interface for the student to take examinations at his convenience and the questions and/or exams may be timed. Thereby creating an application which can be used by examiners and examinee’s simultaneously.
Examination System is very useful for Teachers/Professors. As in the teaching profession, you are responsible for writing question papers. In the conventional method, you write the question paper on paper, keep question papers separate from answers and all this information you have to keep in a locker to avoid unauthorized access. Using the Examination System you can create a question paper and everything will be written to a single exam file in encrypted format. You can set the General and Administrator password to avoid unauthorized access to your question paper. Every time you start the examination, the program shuffles all the questions and selects them randomly from the database, which reduces the chances of memorizing the questions.
HEAP SORT ILLUSTRATED WITH HEAPIFY, BUILD HEAP FOR DYNAMIC ARRAYS.
Heap sort is a comparison-based sorting technique based on Binary Heap data structure. It is similar to the selection sort where we first find the minimum element and place the minimum element at the beginning. Repeat the same process for the remaining elements.
Heap Sort (SS).ppt FOR ENGINEERING GRADUATES, BCA, MCA, MTECH, BSC STUDENTS
Brownfield Sites as Catalysts for Sustainable Urban Regenerationand the Demand for Objectives, Tools and Classifications for theSupport of their Redevelopment
2. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
Keywords
Brownfield sites; Urban Regeneration; Amman
1. Introduction
1.1. Brownfield sites regeneration potentials
According to Doick, Sellers, Castan-Broto, and Silverthorne (Doick, Sellers, Castan-Broto, & Silverthorne, 2009a),
numerous European governments place strong emphasis on integrated land use policies including the re-establishment
of public open green spaces through brownfield regeneration, in their research on understanding success in the con-
text of brownfield greening projects, they highlight that the UK government considers the regeneration of brown-
field sites as a prime tool for delivering regional economic regeneration in addition to neighbourhood renewal as
well as international biodiversity commitments. However, they stress that, the lack of monitoring and evaluation
—combined with insufficient supporting revenue funds— results in failure to highlight site issues, challenges in
local emphasis and ultimately lack of success with respect to project aims and site sustainability.
Atkinson, Doick, Burningham, and France (Atkinson, Doick, Burningham, & France, 2014) support this argument
and add that brownfield regeneration to green spaces in particular, has been used to help reverse social and envi-
ronmental decline in Europe and North America with typical benefits including increased flood retention capacity,
temperature regulation, providing habitat for wildlife, community building, encouraging local engagement and
providing space for play and recreation. According to them, setting regeneration objectives is important to maxi-
mize the benefit from brownfield regeneration at any given location and identifying the objectives of regeneration
is crucial to lever the funding required to pump-prime activity.
Kristiánová, Gécová, and Putrová (Kristiánová, Gécová, & Putrová, 2016) also explore the transformation of an-
other specific brownfield typology, old industrial sites, into parks. In their research they argue that the regenerating
of former industrial sites into green spaces has numerous benefits including the provision of space for play and
recreation in urban environments; enhancing the scenic beauty and neighbourhood appeal; improving the health of
urban environments; raising property values; the provision of ecosystem services; habitats for wildlife, in addition
to; fostering adaptation for climate change.
Moreover, in their research on renewable energy potential on brownfield sites in the city of Michigan, Adelaja,
Shaw, Beyea, and McKeown (Adelaja, Shaw, Beyea, & McKeown, 2010) for example suggest that with the in-
creasing demand to replacing conventional energy sources with renewable energy, brownfields make potential
landscapes to intensify renewable energy generation especially that they have relaxed constrains such as own-
ership, land use or zoning regulations. Hartmann, Török, Börcsök, and Groma (Hartmann, Török, Börcsök, &
Groma, 2014) support the brownfield regeneration for energy generating purposes argument by presenting a multi-
objective examination and evaluation method which provides a basis for the business analysis of an energy purpose
brownfield regeneration project.
Understood as the “ ... intended temporary or final re-use of brownfield sites which are not based on built con-
structions or infrastructure (‘hard’ re-use)” (Bardos et al., 2015), Bardos et al. describe that the ‘soft re-use’ of
brownfield sites including the creation of public open and green spaces has not been easy to demonstrate in strictly
financial terms. Accordingly, in their research on optimising value from the soft re-use of brownfield sites, through
suggesting a ‘Brownfield opportunity matrix’, they propose a value based approach to identify and optimize ser-
vices provided by the restoration of brownfields to soft re-uses, on a permanent or temporary basis, and explore
the links between soft re-use of brownfield sites and sustainability.
This notion of temporary use has been increasingly linked to brownfield regeneration and where weak planning
was often blamed for failed regeneration attempts, successful examples of tactical non-planned temporary inter-
ventions have introduced effective models to approaching brownfield sites and thus became an important area to be
considered in brownfield regeneration attempts. In their research on creative interventions in dynamic cities, Rall
and Haase (Rall & Haase, 2011) for example explore a variety of temporary use projects in recently demolished
pg. 17
3. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
brownfields using a triangular integrated evaluation method combining indicator-generated and questionnaires with
experts interviews. Their research results indicate that these uses have been more popular and have greater usage
rate, however, they conclude that public acceptance for such interventions can be strengthened with more seat-
ing, punitive measures for property owners and increased communication about the method and it’s potential as a
planning tool.
1.2. Brownfield categorisation, typifying and prioritising
The debate on brownfield categorisation and typifying has also been little researched. Considering the ambiguity
of the definition that includes a variety of potential interpretations which is often considered as a major setback to
understanding the variety of brownfield sites types and ultimately contributing to hindering their regeneration to
begin with.
Researchers such as Loures and Vaz (Loures & Vaz, 2018) have also shed light on this dilemma. In their research
on exploring expert perceptions towards brownfield redevelopment benefits according to their typology, they argue
that understanding brownfield characteristics and different typologies, between abandoned land, contaminated
land, derelict land, underulitised land or vacant land, has a strong emphasis on achieving consistency that enables
the creation of new methodologies and frameworks to deal with the redevelopment of these spaces.
Identifying the specific brownfield typologies they conclude has a great impact on realizing each site’s potentials
and result in more benefits on the different dimensions including the economy, community, ecology and health,
moreover, they conclude that knowing the exact brownfield typology and the exact dimensions each has positive
impacts on may aid designers, planners and decision makers make better informed designs and prioritising.
In addition to categorising and typifying, prioritising brownfield sites has also been problematic and literature dis-
cussions highlight its importance to the regeneration process. In fact, Limasset et al. (Limasset et al., 2018) identify
five Points that need to be taken into consideration when designing tools for regional brownfields prioritisation in-
cluding: (1) assessing end-user needs and orientation discussions; (2) availability and quality of the data needed
for the brownfield prioritization tool; (3) communication and stakeholder engagement; (4) drivers of regeneration
success, and; (5) financing and application costs.
Similarly, Bartke et al. (Bartke et al., 2016) argue that prioritising brownfields for redevelopment in real estate port-
folios can contribute to more sustainable regeneration and land management and that numerous factors must be
considered for prioritising actions, especially when adhering to principles. Their research suggests several Multiple
Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) based on lessons learned from literature on success factor, sustainability as-
sessment and MCDA approaches, in addition to the web-based Tailored Improvement of Brownfield Regeneration
in Europe (TIMBRE), Timbre Brownfield Prioritisation Tool (TBPT) which they argue facilitates the assessment
and prioritisation of a portfolio of sites on the basis of the probability of success and sustainable regeneration or
according to individually specific objectives.
Lastly, and prior to identifying brownfield regeneration measures and tools, factors including stakeholders, percep-
tions, concerns, attitudes and information with regards to brownfield regeneration must also be identified. Rizzo
et al. (Rizzo et al., 2015) present a participatory methodology applied in order to develop a system to support
the categorisation of the needed information and to support the understanding of which typology of information is
the most relevant for the specific categories of stakeholders also in relation with their concerns. The engagement
process they present consist of five phases; (1) planning and preparatory work; (2) identification of stakeholder
categories; (3) engagement activities (e.g focus groups and workshops); (4) submission of a questionnaire, and;
(5) provision of feedback to the involved stakeholder. The results of their research they argue created a knowledge
base for the future development of tailored and customised approaches and tools for stakeholders working in the
brownfield regeneration field.
pg. 18
4. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
1.3. Brownfields regeneration objectives, approaches, measurement and evaluation tools
In 2002, Thomas (Thomas, 2002) developed a decision support tool augmented by Geographic Information System
(GIS) that provide access to state, regional, and local geospatial databases; several informational and visualisation
tools, and; assumptions useful in providing a better understanding of issues, options and alternatives in redevel-
oping brownfields for decision makers and policy analysts at all levels of governments to establish urban land
use policy and development guidelines that may be applicable to related land use issues in a variety of urban and
urbanising settings.
Similarly, one decade later, Chrysochoou et al. (Chrysochoou et al., 2012) developed an indexing scheme to
screen large numbers of brownfield sites in wide areas, including municipalities, counties, states, or other types
of districts, in order to develop initial planning strategies for fund allocation and redevelopment. Their scheme
entailed three dimensions; socioeconomic, smart growth and environmental, each has an index constructed on
the basis of location-specific variables irrespective of the target end use. The socioeconomic variables included;
population density; property values, and; unemployment. Collectively, these variables demonstrate the potential
contribution of brownfield redevelopment on economic growth. The second dimension, smart growth, or liveability
index as Chrysochoou et al. describe, was developed on the basis of the U. S Green building Council Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design- Neighbourhood Development (LEED- ND) evaluation scheme, but isolating
location-specific features. The third and last dimension, environmental index, incorporated variables that represent
the potential sources of contamination (or past use); pathway to exposure (such as soil permeability), and receptors
(including zoning, proximity to water bodies, parks, critical habitats, open spaces, wetlands and floodplains).
Schädler, Morio, Bartke, Rohr-Zaenker, and Finkel (Schädler, Morio, Bartke, Rohr-Zaenker, & Finkel, 2011)
also introduced an integrated assessment model which evaluates redevelopment options of large contaminated
brownfields aiming to support efficient and sustainable regeneration communication between stakeholders. Their
assessment tool integrates three pinnacles of brownfield regeneration including: (1) subsurface remediation and
site preparation costs; (2) market-oriented economic appraisal, and; (3) the expected contribution of planned future
land use to sustainable community and regional development. Their assessment focused on early stages of brown-
field redevelopment which, they argue, is characterised with limited data availability and by flexibility in land use
planning and development scope. At this stage, their research found that, revealing the consequences of adjust-
ments and alterations in planning options can foster efficiency in communication between involved stakeholders
and thereby facilitate the brownfield regeneration process. Their research results indicated that the integrated
assessment provides help in the identification of land use options beneficial in both sustainable and economic
development.
On the complexity of decision support systems for brownfield sites regeneration, Stezar, Pizzol, Critto, Ozunu,and
Marcomini (Stezar, Pizzol, Critto, Ozunu, & Marcomini , 2013) presented a comparison between two Decision
Support Systems (DSS)s; the Spatial Analysis and Decision Assistance (SADA), and the Decision Support System
for the Re-qualification of Contaminated Sites (DESYRE) with the main objective of showing the benefits of
using DSSs to introduce and process data and then to disseminate results to different stakeholders involved in the
decision-making process.
Lastly, with regards to brownfield regeneration meeting sustainability demands, in their research on defining the
sustainability objectives of brownfield regeneration to green space, Doick, Pediaditi, Moffat, and Hutchings (Doick,
Pediaditi, Moffat, & Hutchings, 2009b) identified the objectives that brownfield regeneration projects must meet
in order to be considered sustainable. In addition to the proposed standard set of sustainability objectives, their
research suggested designing sites to achieve specific functionality using participatory, context specific methods.
The ‘pillars of sustainability’, as Doick et al. describe, include economic, social and environmental objectives.
The economic objectives include: (1) being economically efficient and self-supporting; (2) providing employment
opportunities; (3) promoting local and regional economic regeneration; (4) promoting attractive and functional
landscapes, and; (5) promoting social affluence and community prosperity. The social objectives include: (1)
encouraging social inclusion and cohesion; (2) promoting health and well-being; (3) providing good accessibility
pg. 19
5. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
to green space and local facilities; (4) facilitating education, and; (5) reducing crime and anti-social behaviour.
Lastly, the environmental objectives include: (1) minimising the use of un-recycled resources; (2) promoting land,
water, soil and air quality; (3) protecting biodiversity and the natural environment, (4) conserving natural and
cultural heritage, and (5) combating the impacts of climate change.
1.4. Brownfield regeneration in the international context: lessons learned
The topic of brownfield regeneration is increasingly becoming popular worldwide. In China for example, Chen,
Hipel, Kilgour, and Zhu (Chen, Hipel, Kilgour, & Zhu, 2009) present a strategic classification support system
for brownfield redevelopment based on two characteristics; brownfield effectiveness and brownfield future needs,
the resulting classification, they argue, is of valuable aid to cities and governments as they plan and budget their
brownfield regeneration projects.
In another example from the Chinese experience, Zhu, Hipel, Ke, and Chen (Zhu, Hipel, Ke, & Chen, 2015) provide
a framework for establishing and optimising an evaluation index system for brownfield redevelopment projects.
Their framework involves three steps; (1) the initial design; (2) testing and optimising, and; (3) verification. In the
implementation of their project they argue, extensive research has been conducted to ensure the reliability, validity
and effectiveness of their evaluation system.
Moreover, and similar to what this paper aims to achieve and from the Chinese experience as well, Cheng, Geert-
man, Kuffer,and Zhan (Cheng, Geertman, Kuffer, & Zhan, 2011) attempted to identify potential brownfields and
establishing priorities for their redevelopment. The identification of potential brownfield sites was done through
a four-step system as follows; (1) defining input sites; (2) verifying environmental liability; (3) confirming tax
delinquency, and; (4) cross-checking with industrial classification code.
The UK context has also provided extensive research on brownfield regeneration, Burke, Hough, Morgan, Hughes,
and Lawrence (Burke, Hough, Morgan, Hughes, & Lawrence, 2015), for example, shed the light on the Leeds
area of the West Yorkshire coalfield experience. Their research aims to identifying approaches to inform the re-
development of brownfield sites by demonstrating how certain types of publicly available data allow a greater
understanding of the interaction between human activity and natural superficial and bedrock geology. If success-
ful, they argue that, this approach can help lessen the impact of delays and increased financial costs caused by
unforeseen ground conditions.
The Central and Eastern European context was also grounds for testing brownfield re-use. Alexandrescu, Mar-
tinát, Klusáček, and Bartke (Alexandrescu, Martinát, Klusáček, & Bartke, 2014) for example look at the role of
the entrepreneurial public sector as actors in brownfield regeneration in the Czech Republic, Poland and Roma-
nia. Their research focus on the proactive role the public may play to fostering passive change in the cases of
brownfield regeneration whether through mobilising networks or leading by example which, they argue, defines an
entrepreneurial path to addressing the regeneration of brownfield sites.
The above mentioned Rizzo et al. (Rizzo et al., 2015)’s research on identifying stakeholders, perceptions, concerns,
attitudes and information needed for brownfield regeneration also took place in five European countries, Germany,
Italy, Romania, Czech and Poland.
In the Czech Republic case in particular, Martinat et al. (Martinat et al., 2018) argued that the re-use plans for
current brownfields are market-demand driven or public sector prioritised and do not always meet the requirements
of local residents and visitors. By investigating the range of brownfield re-use options as suggested by the locals
and visitors their research found that future brownfield uses including culture, sports and children parks are the
most popular. Their research highlights gender as a fundamental overlooked factor to deciding future brownfield
end uses as where women were inclined towards the previously mentioned uses, men were more interested in
industry oriented end uses.
Osman, Frantál, Klusáček, Kunc, Martinát (Osman, Frantál, Klusáček, Kunc, & Martinát, 2015) studied the factors
affecting brownfield regeneration in post-societal spaces also in the Czech Republic case. Their research was based
pg. 20
6. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
on two sets of data, one was the database of existing brownfields provided by the national CzechInvest agency,
while the other was the database for successfully regenerated brownfields compiled by the authors themselves.
The main types of functional transformation of space were identified and the factors that appeared to be significant
determinants of brownfields regeneration were classified as the result.
Also, from the Czech Republic experience, on their research exploring the spatial patterns of urban brownfield
regeneration in the case of Brno, Czech Republic, Frantal et al. (Frantal et al., 2015) challenge the assumption
that ‘the closer to the city centre, the better’. Their research results highlights that instead, regeneration seemed to
be a function of local development potential, local occupier-demand for specific utilities, and planning regulation.
Their research found that higher rates of regeneration have been detected in densely built-up areas (including inner
city zones and housing estates), while lower rates are registered for areas with low population density and with
a greater supply of green spaces (including garden colonies, green spaces, industrial zones and villa residential
districts). Frantal et al. end on the note that the spatial location of brownfield sites has a considerable effect on
potential investor decisions and brownfield regeneration.
Other examples from the European context include the above mentioned Stezar et al. (Stezar et al., 2013) compara-
tive DSSs study which took place in Romania; Rall and Haase’s (Rall & Haase, 2011) temporary use interventions
in brownfield sites which took place in Germany; Kristiánová, et al.’s (Kristiánová, et al, 2016) research on the
potentials for transforming old industrial sites into parks which took place in the city of Bratislava, the capital of
Slovakia; Hartmann et al.’s (Hartmann et al., 2014) multi-objective method for energy purpose redevelopment of
brownfield sites which took place in Hungary, in addition to; Bartke et al.’s (Bartke et al., 2016) research on TBPT
which also took place in Germany, Czech Republic and Romania.
In spite of the aforementioned, on the regional scale, little research has been done on the topic of brownfields.
In fact Abd Elrahman (Abd Elrahman, 2016) points out that, similar to the case of Jordan, brownfield sites in
Egypt undergo independent attempts for development with no identified comprehensive approach. He argues that
different state governments identify a variety of redevelopment potentials while others restrict the development to
particular uses in order to minimise exposure to leftover contaminants on-site. His research identifies the numerous
benefits of brownfield regeneration, yet he ends on the note that the success of such sites redevelopment heavily
depends on their successful space utilisation.
1.5. Brownfields stakeholders and public participation
The lack of participative approaches in decision-making with regards to urban redevelopment in general and brown-
field regeneration in specific was also not a problem exclusive to the study case. In fact, in his research on the pub-
lic versus expert perspectives towards the benefits and barriers of the reuse of post-industrial sites in urban areas,
Loures (Loures, 2015) highlights that post-industrial sites planning and redevelopment are increasingly becoming
less the result of design and more the expression of economic and socio-cultural factors, and that designers tend to
be primarily focused on aesthetics leaving society’s other main goals to secondary status.
His research findings demonstrate that while the general public considers the biological, chemical and physical
contamination impacts, liability and clean up to be the main barriers to post-industrial site development, experts
look at the high redevelopment costs and the challenges to obtain financial support. Furthermore, while the general
public consider the creation of open green spaces and the creation of jobs their main priority, experts were more
considered with reducing urban sprawl and encouraging recreation and connectivity.
Although this paper stresses the importance of having measures and tools for the support of brownfield regenera-
tion, it equally emphasise the importance of having specifically tailored tools for the variety of brownfield types
in the study context. Similarly, Bartke and Schwarze (Bartke & Schwarze, 2015) argue that when it comes to
brownfield regeneration and achieving sustainability, there is ‘no perfect tool’ that provides a ‘one size fits all’ so-
lution. They highlight that although certain general principles have been proposed for the evaluation of brownfield
sustainable development, the practical application for Sustainability Assessment Tools (SAT’s) remains contingent
pg. 21
7. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
on the actual requirements of tool users, e.g planners or investors, to pick up such instruments in actual decision-
making. Moreover, and more relevant to the idea of public participation this paper bids to highlight, they conclude
that there are no perfect tools for brownfield regeneration and that in order to be meaningful, the user requirements
of decision makers including the general public must take precedence in the design of SAT’s.
Numerous studies have recognised the importance of stakeholder involvement in brownfield regeneration with
a special emphasis on public participation including the previously mentioned Rizzo et al. (Rizzo et al., 2015)
and Alexandrescu et al. (Alexandrescu et al., 2014). Buchecker, Hunziker, & Kienast (Buchecker, Hunziker, &
Kienast, 2003) for example explored the social barriers associated to participative landscape development almost
fifteen years ago today which they argue are mainly connected with the pressure to adopt collective standards
and called for the need to embrace new communication instruments and concluded that fostering a participative
landscape development requires a long-term learning process. Similarly, Valencia-Sandoval, Flanders, and Kozak
(Valencia-Sandoval, Flanders, & Kozak, 2010) argued that in the lack of relevant resource data at appreciate scales
to develop community plans, community engagement through the use of participative landscape development may
be an effective mean of informing and impacting local policy related to sustainable community development.
Garcı́a-Martı́n, Bieling, Hart, and Plieninger (Garcı́a-Martı́n, Bieling, Hart, & Plieninger, 2016) also argue that in
order to achieve a holistic approach to landscape management, the involvement and coordination between different
sectors and stakeholders at many levels must be included. Similarly, through looking at the scope, representative-
ness, timing, comfort and convenience for five public participation in landscape development experiences, Eitar
and Vik (Eitar & Vik, 2016), identify ten methods that contribute to increase their evaluation criteria thus under-
line the importance of combining methods to achieve effective participation within the restricted frameworks of
concrete spatial planning processes.
The shifting focus from traditional top-down to bottom-up and integrated approaches through involving partici-
pation of local stakeholders has also been brought up in the work of Sevenant and Antrop (Sevenant & Antrop,
2010) as they explored ways to involve ‘the local people’ in an attempt to grasp their aspiration with regards to
the landscape features of their surroundings. Lastly, the final example on public participation this paper highlights
is Dramstad and Fjellstad (Fjellstad, 2011) research towards bridging the gap between science, policy and people
where they reflect on the applications of landscape research and the issue of communicating scientific findings to
policy, management, landowners and the general public.
2. Methods
This paper is an extension to previous research conducted for the author’s doctoral thesis and identifies as a quali-
tative study thus implements qualitative approaches including observation, focus groups and semi-structured inter-
views.
The study targeted five groups of participants; (1) locals of Amman; (2) Non Governmental Organisations (NGO)’s
projects and initiatives; (3) city authorities represented by Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) with its various
departments including Geographic Information System (GIS)department, the Comprehensive Master Plan (CMP)
department, the regulation department, the legal department, the planning and studies department, the building
supervision department, the Private Sector Projects (PSP) department, the Environmental Follow Up (EFU) depart-
ment, the Social Programs and Activities (SPA) department. In addition to ministries such as the Ministry of Envi-
ronment (MoE) including the nature protection directorate, Sustainable Management of Land Use (SMLU) section;
the monitoring and assessment directorate –including the environmental monitoring section and the State of the En-
vironment and Environmental Indicators(SEEI) section—; the environmental inspection directorate –including the
environmental inspection section and the Emergency Management and Environmental Control (EMEC)section—;
the Waste Management and Hazardous Substances (WMHS) directorate–including the Solid Waste Management
(SWM) section, the Hazardous Waste Management (HWM) section and the dump site division—; the Licensing
and Pollution Prevention directorate (LPP) –including the environmental licensing section and the Environmental
pg. 22
8. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
Impact Assessment (EIA)section—. The Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MoP) including the
policies and strategies department –including the national economy section, the sustainable development section,
and social studies section—; the projects department –including the Services and Investment Infrastructure Affairs
(SIIA) unit—; the Developmental Plans and Program (DPP) department; the Local Development and Enhanced
Productivity Programs (LDEPP) department –including the civil society institutions section—. In addition to the
Natural Resources Authority(NRA) including the mines and quarries directorate –including the licensing section;
the Inspection, Monitoring and Quality Control (IMQC) section; the technical studies section and the follow-up
section; the geographic information section at the information directorate. In addition to the Department of Land
and Survey (DLS) and the Land Registration Office (LRO); (4) urban planning professionals including the aca-
demic and the private sector, and; (5) miscellaneous bodies associated to the research problem including private
investors and estate developers in addition to environmental and legal consultants.
3. Potential identified brownfield typologies in Amman
Looking at the previously identified Thomas (Thomas, 2002) GIS-based decision support system for brownfield
redevelopment; Chrysochoou et al.’s (Chrysochoou et al., 2012) GIS indexing scheme; Bardos et al. (Bardos et
al., 2016) value based approach; Bartke and Schwarze (Bartke & Schwarze, 2015) stylised SATs’ approaches;
Hartmann et al. (Hartmann et al., 2014) multi-objective examination and evaluation method; Limasset et al. (Li-
masset et al., 2018) points of attention for brownfield regeneration tools development; Zhu et al. (Zhu et al., 2015)
evaluation index system for brownfield redevelopment projects; Millar, Simeone, and Carnevale (Millar, Simeone,
& Carnevale, 2001) logic model found in both Atkinson et al. (Atkinson et al., 2014) and Doick et al. (Doick et
al., 2009a), and; Pediaditi, Doick, and Moffat (Pediaditi, Doick, & Moffat, 2010) ‘ideal’ brownfield sustainability
monitoring and evaluation tool criteria, and without necessarily specifying a single framework, this paper identifies
five potential brownfield typologies found in the city of Amman.
3.1. Residual planning outcomes
The urban planning of Amman underwent— and is until this day still undergoing— several attempts to regulate
the city which were influenced historically by the early Ottoman occupation followed by the British rule and
more recently with contemporary global trends. That in addition to population growth and the advancement of
transportation and the resulting introduction of paved roads and motorised vehicles had a large impact on the urban
plan of the city.
As a result of these changes, marginal spaces which are the foci of this potential brownfield typology emerged.
According to this research findings, the definition of brownfields partially applies to three types of urban landscapes
found throughout the city of Amman; the Fadlih (English: land leftover); the Nutfih (English: land bit), and; the
Arasah (English: No known translation, but roughly equivalent to intermediate space between properties). The
definition also applies to a fourth type called Bour (English: unfit for cultivation), however, this type was not
taken into consideration as the definition implies it identifies as a rural brownfield where this research is solely
investigating urban brownfields.
To further elaborate, a Fadlih which when taken back to its root word and according to the Arabic dictionary
translates into: “what remains from something” (Almaany Arabic Dictionary, 2018) and in the planning practice
in Amman refers to the piece of land which results from the opening of a street. Note at the figure below, the red
line represents the right of way, the leftover piece of land which resulted from the intersection of the right of way
or legal quarter—-understood as the up to 25% of any private-own land the government is allowed to acquire in
order to provide public infrastructure including street opening—- line and the property outline would be the Fadlih
(outlined in the red circle).
In most cases, the resulting shape is irregular and too small for the building regulations to apply on (i.e. setbacks
pg. 23
9. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
and building percentages) therefore remains vacant and neglected.
Figure 1. Land leftover land-use map. Source: GAM- GIS for the author (2016).
Figure 2. Land leftover land-use over aerial view map. Source: GAM- GIS for the author (2016).
On the other hand, a Nutfih which when taken back to its root word and according to the Arabic dictionary translates
into: “little of something” (Almaany Arabic Dictionary, 2018) and in the planning practice in Amman refers to the
remaining land bit which results from the division or regulation of a previously owned land parcel. The Nutfih is
also often irregular in shape and too small for the building regulations to apply on. Note at the figure below the
Nutfih’s outlined in blue, unlike the Fadlih’s, Nutfih’s are given separate lot numbers, also note Nutfih’s are given
the same land use (residential D in the case demonstrated) and are given special regulations such as lower prices,
less setback requirements or increased building percentages to encourage adjacent landowner(s) to buy them.
pg. 24
10. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
Figure 3. Land bit land-use map. Source: GAM- GIS for the author (2016).
Figure 4. Land bit land-use over aerial view map. Source: GAM- GIS for the author (2016).
The third and last marginal planning outcome, the Arasah which when taken back to its root word and according
to the Arabic dictionary translates into: “the wide space between properties where there is no building” (Al-
maany Arabic Dictionary, 2018) and in the planning practice in Amman refers to the land area found between two
neighbouring parcels or two constructions in two adjoining parcels. No map was provided for this type as it was
undetectable on the GAM GIS maps due to the setbacks and regulations to each land-use.
Interestingly, unlike the Fadlih and Nutfih, the term Arasah was found in regional planning regulations in Jordan
in addition to neighbouring countries such as Syria and Saudi Arabia.
Landlord and tenants law no. (11) for the year 1994 amended by the law no. 2000/30 and law no. 2009/17 and
law no. 2010/43 and amended law no. (22) for the year 2011 and law no. (14) for the year 2014 (DLS, 2014)
states that; (A) for the owner of a rented Arasah for any purpose the right to clear it provided the following two
conditions apply; (1) the tenants issued a legal building license; (2) that the owner has notified the tenant(s) through
the notary not less than two months in advance. The tenant(s) afterwards have no right to return to the previously
rented property and is only entitled to a compensation estimated by the concerned court. (B) If there exists any
construction that the tenant(s) got permission from the landlord to build on the Arasah to be cleared — excluding
kiosks, security rooms or the similar— they are not allowed to be removed unless they have been erect no less than
ten years.
From another legal point of view regarding the Fadlih and Nutfih, the property law, article (173) states that unless
within the legal quarter, a property owner is compensated for the complete value of the land if the street right of way
pg. 25
11. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
deducts the whole property or leaves a Fadlih or Nutfih invalid for construction or use which in this case becomes
property of the municipality (DLS, 2015). In line with this law, the municipality currently owns abundant similar
urban landscapes which are unfit for traditional use and construction which is problematic not only as these sites
seize to participate in the economic growth, but also became an extra burden on the governmental authorities as
they are already serviced with infrastructure and road network for example but fail to generate revenue to balance
the acquired services.
Moreover, the Fadlih and Nutfih are also problematic to potential property owners for a variety of reasons, at least
the two revealed through the investigations for this research, firstly, according to local participants and confirmed
by local news, several incidents where buyers would forcibly buy the Fadlih or Nutfih as a prerequisite to buy
the adjacent property were reported and published in local newspapers (Al-Said, 2015). According to Rum News
Agency, the reported case is currently under investigation at the complaints department of the Board of Grievances
(ibid), moreover, according to the locals statements, this is a recurring situation that often goes unnoticed due to
the marginal difference to the property size that the buyer pays for unknowingly. Secondly, there are Fadlih and
Nutfih hunters that buy these pieces of land as part of a deceptive scheme, the hunters are interested in Fadlih and
Nutfih for two main reasons, firstly as mentioned earlier, they are often given special regulations and special prices
therefore are more affordable, secondly, due to their location between the property and street especially adjacent to
un-owned land, the hunters wait until the adjacent property is purchased and occupied to start a series of unpleasant
activities such as piling waste or limiting street access which would force the new owner to either buy the Fadlih or
Nutfih for a price much higher than the hunter bought it for or sell their own new property for a price much cheaper
than what they bought it for.
Below are few images of Fadlih’s, Nutfih’s and Arasah’s scattered throughout the city. Note their deteriorated
physical conditions.
Figure 5. Examples of Fadlih’s, Nutfih’s and Arasah’s 1. Source: Author (2015)
Figure 6. Examples of Fadlih’s, Nutfih’s and Arasah’s 2. Source: Author (2015)
pg. 26
12. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
Figure 7. Examples of Fadlih’s, Nutfih’s and Arasah’s 3. Source: Author (2015)
Figure 8. Examples of Fadlih’s, Nutfih’s and Arasah’s 4. Source: Author (2015)
3.2. Discontinued mines and quarries
With the enactment of the Small Business Relief and Brownfield Revitalisation Act (also known as the ‘brownfield
law’), the definition of brownfields was expanded to include mine-scarred lands making these properties eligible for
the benefits of the brownfields program. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines mine-scarred lands
as “lands, associated waters, and surrounding water sheds where extraction, beneficiation (crushing or separating),
or processing of ores and minerals (including coal) has occurred” (EPA, 2004).
According to EPA (EPA, 2005), mine sites have a variety of potential uses and their post-mining clean-up for
redevelopment provides an opportunity to turn them into lands that have beneficial uses. However, similar to
the situation in Jordan, complex economic, social and environmental issue face communities planning to redevelop
them including finding resources to characterize and remediate sites with potential significant environmental issues;
addressing state and local regulatory requirements, and; working through redevelopment issues with the local
community and stakeholders.
To help address these challenges, the EPA through its Brownfield and Land Revitalisation Technology Support
Centre, prepared a primer on Mine Site Clean-up for Brownfield Redevelopment which this study suggests adopt-
ing to provide information about the clean-up aspect of mine site redevelopment, including new and innovative
approaches to more efficiently characterise and clean up those sites. The use of these approaches to streamline
characterization and remediation of mine sites offers the potential for redevelopment at a lower cost and within a
shorter time frame (ibid).
Meanwhile, in terms of the guidelines for rehabilitating mined and quarried land in Jordan, the management of
mines and quarries post-activity in Jordan is extremely modest. The environmental impact assessment does not
exceed the role of being a formality or a routine procedure, and despite having environmental rehabilitation guide-
pg. 27
13. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
lines, the mine/quarry owners prefers to pay the very little bail condition of half a Jordanian Dinar per meter square
of waste.
The lack of follow up is also increasing the problem, according to research findings, in one case for example, where
the owner declared they were going with the forestation option, however, the foundation rubble used to fill the site
was not corresponding to the required specifications which resulted in landslides that affected the adjacent streets
and constructions.
In another case, the site was rehabilitated for recreational purposes, however, after few years, the owner filed to
change the land use from industrial into residential D and after providing the required documents and studies to the
interested parties, the soil test showed the site is not suitable for traditional construction, despite that, the owner
eventually attained the residential D land use change permission provided special building techniques are used.
Unfortunately, the site was sold and construction commenced using traditional methods which led to the collapse
of large parts of the site in addition to the new established construction.
See below examples of a discontinued quarry which when established was located outside the boundaries of the
Amman, however, due to urbanisation and urban sprawl has become part of the city boundaries. The surrounding
neighbourhoods are endangered of landslides and suffer from constant dust which is causing severe pulmonary
problems especially to elderly and children whom are also endangered of falling into the steep cliffs, yet, nothing
is being done about this according to the statements of the local area residents.
Figure 9. Quarry site within the urban setting in Amman. Source: author (2015)
Note at the figure below a quarry site discontinued since the early 2000s, located within an urban setting and has
been given a green space land use as the post-mining end use. Today, more than a decade post its closure, the site
still awaits treatment.
Figure 10. Discontinued quarry site aerial view map. Source: GAM- GIS for the author (2016).
pg. 28
14. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
Figure 11. Discontinued quarry site land use map. Source: GAM- GIS for the author (2016).
Figure 12. Discontinued quarry site land use over aerial view map. Source: GAM- GIS for the author (2016).
End land use in the mining industry is increasingly becoming a key consideration guiding the rehabilitation and clo-
sure planning and the need to develop comprehensive land use plan prior to conceptualising closure objectives and
associated rehabilitation measures is also gaining momentum. Towards reinstating post-mining land capabilities to
the pre-mining landscape and towards ensuring that mining operations consider ways of reinstating functional end
land use that passively contribute towards the future biophysical and societal demands of people living in Amman
or in proximity to the disturbed environment, mine closure planning (Kotze, 2013) which the study argues is miss-
ing in Amman must be considered, a mine closure planning that provides broad future land use objective(s) for the
site, and a plan that describes the final and future land use proposals and arrangements (MPRDA, 2013).
3.3. Unfinished mega-projects
The economic boom in the early 2000s had considerable effects on the urban transformation of Amman. Large-
scale property development ventures poured into the country and novelty planning methods such as gated commu-
nities and high-rise skyscrapers were introduced to the urban fabric of the city. Similar patterns of urban change
emerged in neighbouring countries such as Beirut, Cairo, Dubai, Qatar and Damascus –prior to the Syrian crisis—
(Daher, 2013), thus, this section focuses on a typology which is the manifestation of a particular outcome of the
economic thrive and shortly following crisis in the context of Amman.
The socio-economic and political characteristics of Amman encouraged foreign investors to extensively operate in
pg. 29
15. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
it. Consequently, numerous oil capital projects from Arab Gulf countries mushroomed throughout the city. The
term ‘Arab Megaproject’ was first introduced by Barthel (Barthel, 2010) to describe large-scale real estate devel-
opment which he considered as vectors of contemporary Arab town planning and the circulated images of the back
then proposals for the majority of mega projects in Amman mimicked images of similar western development
projects (Adham, 2005). Moreover, the projects promised the provision of better services for the area; creating a
competitive business environment that supports start-ups and entrepreneurs, and; create first-class tourism attrac-
tions.
However, in addition to other identified effects of the ‘cutting-edge urbanism’ (Daher, 2011) in Amman such as
the excessive privatisation; the abrupt increase in property values; the pressure on the already struggling infrastruc-
ture system including transportation, water and power supply; the circulation obstructing urban flagship projects
created, as well as; the social impacts such as emphasising the already apparent urban segregation through the
promise to create a lifestyle that accommodates the contemporary needs for the elite in the centre of Amman and
pushing lower-income groups to the city peripheries (Daher, 2013). This study therefore identifies another potential
brownfield typology which is abandoned unfinished mega projects structures.
In order to keep up with the rapid change, benefit from what seemed to be an exceptional opportunity and compete
with neighbouring countries to attract potential investments, poorly- planned extreme measures were implemented.
For example, to speed the process, in many cases building permissions were obtained without the provision of all
necessary documents such as soil tests, drainage analysis or environmental impact assessment. Moreover, the
proposed projects were given abundant facilitations such as minimal—to none—setback requirements, additional
floors, higher building percentages, and less open/ green space requirements, facilitations that according research
findings, GAM today regrets. The following paragraphs demonstrate three controversial unfinished mega projects
in Amman.
3.3.1. The Jordan Gate (Amman Gate) project
The Jordan Gate (also referred to as the Amman Gate) project which belongs to Bahraini- Kuwaiti developers
for example commenced in 2005, has been suspended in 2009 post the global economic crisis and until this day
remains on pause. The project faced two main accidents during its construction, a fire and collapse incident when
fire broke in the eighth floor of the North tower in August 2006, fortunately, nobody was injured, however, one
month later in September 2006, three floors of the same tower collapsed killing four workers and injuring 15
(Kheetan, 2009). In the second incident, a crane collapsed in May 2009 after being overloaded. Weighing 30 tons
and hanging 200 meters high, the falling crane injured one Egyptian worker, moreover, for the following three
days, residents living near the collapse area were evacuated to nearby hotels (Jordan Times, 2009). Another added
complexity to the project is that according to research findings, the shorter tower was supposed to become a high-
end brand hotel, however, in light of the lengthy halt and completion date uncertainty, the company withdrew their
investment which put the project at a serious financial dilemma. Note below the figure for the project proposal
versus the actual situation.
Figure 13. Jordan Gate (Amman Gate) project proposal. Source: Skyscrapercity.com (2006)
pg. 30
16. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
Figure 14. The current situation of the Jordan Gate (Amman Gate) project. Source: Jordan Times (2016)
The site was previously a public park which the children, youth and elderly of the area today much miss. Moreover,
the project sits in a very vital area in Amman where circulation is already congested and the addition of the towers
created a bottleneck affect which adds to the traffic jam.
According to the Jordan Times (Namrouqa, 2016), the $400 million project was supposed to commence within
days of signing an agreement between GAM and the involved stakeholders in May 2016 with a new completion
due date in 2018, no further data was obtained.
3.3.2. Sanaya Amman (Limitless towers) project
The second example for derelict mega projects this study looks at is the Sanaya Amman (also known as Limitless
towers). Located in Wadi Abdoun, also commenced in the year 2005, however, their constructions stopped post
the excavation phase leaving the site with 20+ meter deep hole. With a vision to become the largest Human Capital
and Talent Management in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region (Sanaya.net, 2006), the venture is
currently postponed due to current market conditions (Limitless.com, 2016).
See below the proposal renders versus the current situation of the project site.
Figure 15. Sanaya Amman (Limitless towers) proposal render. Source; Consolidated Consultants (2014)
pg. 31
17. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
Figure 16. Sanaya Amman (Limitless towers) hole in 2009. Source: Project: Manifesto, Holes on hold competition, Maiss
El-Razem (2011)
Although the latter image has been captured in 2009, it still reflects the current conditions of the site, moreover, this
image was selected specifically as it explains the circumstances where a 10-years-old boy who was playing in rain
water which created a deep pool in the site and drowned and, sadly, passed away. No news was published on the
accident, however, the local children commemorated their friend Mus’ab on the strips of metal sheets surrounding
the site (see below image. The text reads: May your soul rest in peace Mus’ab). Post Mus’ab’s accident, the hole
was filled with sand and gravel. See figures below.
Figure 17. May your soul rest in peace Mus’ab, Sanaya Amman (Limitless towers) project. Source: The Living Voids thesis.
Amr, Mazahreh and Muhtaseb. UJ (2011)
Figure 18. Sanaya Amman (Limitless towers) hole post filling it with sand and gravel. Source: Project: Manifesto, Holes on
hold competition (2011)
pg. 32
18. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
According to the head of the SPS department, the project failed due to the lack of preliminary studies, the site is
located in Wadi Abdoun, and as the name suggests, the Wadi (English for valley), is below street level from one
side, therefore, excavations were impossible unless drainage is taken care of as it was surely to collect rain water
which was exactly what happened.
3.3.3. The Living Wall project
The third and last example of derelict unfinished mega projects this study investigates in the city of Amman is the
Living Wall project, a 134,000 meter-square mixed-use complex which also commenced in 2006 but put on hold
midst construction. See below images of the design proposal and current situation.
Figure 19. The Living Wall design proposal. Foster+ Partners (2006)
Figure 20. The current situation of the Living Wall project site. Source: Project: Manifesto, Holes on hold competition (2011)
According to the head of the SPS department, unfinished projects including the living wall are, in addition to
being failed and have already cost the government millions of Jordanian dinars, a burden to the government. They
are hazardous to the surrounding neighbourhoods and are threatening the adjacent street networks, moreover, are
a waste of land and building materials. Therefore, as a desperate measure, the government is providing further
facilitations for investors to redevelop such projects. Regarding the Living Wall project in specific, in addition to
the extra facilitations, a land-use alteration is being considered for a Saudi investor who is interested in the project
under his condition to develop it into a hospital although less than few hundred meters away, the building marked
in the red circle is Jordan’s hospital. This would violate the Jordanian building regulation medical services buffer
area guidelines, yet, the offer is still being discussed and might eventually be considered.
3.4. Contaminated and hazardous sites
Under the general brownfield definition, contaminated and hazardous sites are widely recognised. Similarly, in
Jordan, there are numerous types of sites that identify as contaminated or hazardous. However, through the conduct
pg. 33
19. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
of the study, the following three types were the most prominent.
3.4.1. Near historical and archaeological sites
In Amman as in other Jordanian cities, many historical and archaeological sites are integrated within the urban
fabric. According to GAM officials, land parcels that are immediately adjacent to historical or archaeological
sites within the urban city are referred to as prohibited areas, prohibited in the sense that no construction or
development is allowed in these sites. The areas are often deteriorated due to neglect and abandonment, GAM
officials note that although the land use codes and building regulations do not allow for construction in those areas,
their redevelopment as public spaces or through using temporary structures is a favoured idea. See below example
of a prohibited site near Amman citadel (Arabic: Jabal Amman) in Downtown Amman. Note the hatched in brown
diagonal lines area surrounding the historical site.
Figure 21. Prohibited area site aerial view map. Source: GAM- GIS for the author (2016).
Figure 22. Prohibited area site land use map. Source: GAM- GIS for the author (2016).
pg. 34
20. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
Figure 23. Prohibited area site land use over aerial view map. Source: GAM- GIS for the author (2016).
3.4.2. Landfills and scrap yards
Often located at the outskirts of the city, landfills and scrap yard sites in many cases become part of the city during
its expansion. According to the head of CMP department and as the example below demonstrates, similar sites are
often located outside the boundaries of the municipality regulation, therefore, remain out of its control. However,
as the example below also demonstrates, the new regulation aims to remove such sites down the line –transformed
into a highway in the example below and highlighted in the red circle–.
The situation is often problematic as the residents of the area and the occupants of scrap sites would have already
constructed dwellings or established workshops or garages in the area and according to officers’ statements, are
not very collaborative and are often aggressive.
Figure 24. Scrap yard site aerial view map. Source: GAM- GIS for the author (2016).
pg. 35
21. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
Figure 25. Scrap yard site land use map. Source: GAM- GIS for the author (2016).
Figure 26. Scrap yard site land use over aerial view map. Source: GAM- GIS for the author (2016).
3.4.3. Near high voltage electrical lines and towers
Another typology that falls under the contaminated and hazardous sites category and suggested by the head of
the CMP department was the land parcels located adjacent to high voltage towers and along the strip parallel
to the electrical line between the towers. Such properties are given special regulations, for example, the prices
are extremely cheap, the setback requirements are reduced and the building percentages are higher, however,
constructions are only allowed to be one floor high –in order not to affect or get affected by the electric current—.
According to the statement of a local family in one near high voltage tower neighbourhood, living near the tower
caused the father of the family to suffer from cardiac problems, he currently has a pacemaker, moreover, the house
in addition to neighbours’ houses suffer from electrical current inconsistency which ruined many of their electrical
devices. See at the example below, high voltage towers are circled in red (note their shadows).
pg. 36
22. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
Figure 27. Near high voltage site aerial view map. Source: GAM- GIS for the author (2016).
Figure 28. Near high voltage site land use map. Source: GAM- GIS for the author (2016).
Figure 29. Near high voltage site land use over aerial view map. Source: GAM- GIS for the author (2016).
In general, in terms of the contaminated and hazardous sites potential brownfield typology, much of the investi-
pg. 37
23. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
gations yielded in no significant results. For example, interviews with the assistant managers of the Waste Man-
agement and HazardousSubstances directorate (WMHS) –including the Solid Waste Management (SWM)section,
the Hazardous Waste Management (HWM) section and the dump site division at MoE only uncovered the severe
lack of a developed waste management method or cleanup strategy, a situation this study also aims to highlight.
Moreover, as emphasised earlier, other types of contaminated and hazardous sites exist throughout the country,
however, due to the time constraints and limited financial resources, this study was only able to investigate few
which it argues will pave the way for broader, more extensive future research to explore the urban phenomenon in
more details.
3.5. Miscellaneous abandoned sites and buildings
Whether due to demographic shifts or the constant transformation of the city, abandoned and neglected sites and
buildings are dispersed throughout Amman. The following paragraphs shed the light on three famous examples.
3.5.1. The King Abdullah Park
Established in the 1980s as a recreational urban space with an integrated amusement park that includes a variety
of rides, cafes and restaurants, outdoor spaces and plazas in addition to a skating rank and a cable car, the park
(Arabic: Hada’eq Al-Malik Abdullah) was actively thriving in the period 1986-1999 until, according to participants
statements, it became known as Amman’s “red light district”.
While interviewed officials failed to explain what went wrong with this urban space, the statements of local par-
ticipants attempt to elaborate. One participant for example tells he was a tenant for five shops in King Abdullah
Park, however, once infamous shops started opening and extending work hours to post-midnight, sometimes until
next morning, families and schools started visiting the park less.
The park was evacuated and shut down completely by GAM in 2012 after shop owners have been warned since
2008. According to JO24 (JO24, 2012), a local news agency, the park has been closed after the four-year verbal
notice deadline for shop owners with expired profession licenses and/or violations. Moreover, the news pointed out
GAM is seeking alternative rehabilitation and redevelopment options for the 50-acre park which no longer serves
the public and has become a disreputable place and a source of disturbance.
Figure 30. King Abdullah abandoned park. Source: City seeker (2016)
pg. 38
24. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
3.5.2. The Housing Bank Complex
The second example this study introduces to derelict projects in Amman is its iconic Housing Bank Complex
(Arabic: English: Mujamma’ bank Al-Iskan).
Figure 31. Housing Bank Complex-Amman. Source: photobucket.com (2016)
Established in the early 1980s, the complex consisted of retails shops, offices and restaurants and was thriving
until the 1990s. Another phenomenon concerned authorities were not able to explain. According to the head of
the CMP, perhaps it was the demographic shifts, the urban transformations of the city or the competing high-
end shopping malls mushrooming throughout Amman. However, according to Al-Ghad newspaper (Al-Sheikh,
2011), post an acquisition change to a Libyan investor in 2001, the complex was bought for 11 million Jordanian
Dinar which forced tenants to pay higher rents or close their shops considering the new considerably lower profit
margin. As a result, the parking has been closed, the building has been stripped from banners and signs or any
other indication of life inside the building, the closed shops are used informally as storage units and there was no
adequate maintenance to the building in general which was becoming derelict day by day.
In a failed attempt to rehabilitate and revitalise the complex, a 7 million Jordanian Dinar budget was allocated.
However, according to a previous tenant, the rehabilitation was limited to surrounding the complex with a fence
which made the interior darker and the situation worse. He added that the 7 millions could have fixed the situation,
however, the absence of governmental censorship and legal accountability on investors and developers is the reason
the redevelopment failed.
There exists numerous other example of derelict, vacant or abandoned sites in Amman, however, as emphasised
earlier, due to time constraints and the lack of financial resource, the study will stop at the aforementioned ex-
amples. It is important here to note that the study identifies a crucial need for a base-map for the amounts and
locations of potential brownfield sites in Amman, in fact, having discussed a mapping project with the head of
the GIS department in GAM displayed a genuine interest, however, this remains another potential future research
project.
4. Conclusions
In the lack of brownfield databases and adequate information on the locations and conditions of potential brownfield
sites in Jordan, and considering the increasing demand on meeting sustainability needs, and with rapid urbanisation
whether due to population growth of natural causes or unnatural activities including the surrounding political
turmoil and immigration and the resulting refugees infiltrations throughout the city, the demand for smart(er) ways
to address contemporary city needs is constantly rising.
pg. 39
25. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
Through looking at the abundant research aimed for developing tools, approaches, assessment and evaluation
methods that support the decision-making, prioritising, categorisation or typifying of brownfields and brownfield
regeneration efforts, this paper highlighted the gap in research discussion in Middle Eastern contexts and accord-
ingly, the urge to develop similar but context specific, tailored tools aimed to addressing the phenomenon in such
contexts. It concludes that, supported by almost two decades worth of research today, a focus on the Middle East
case is long overdue, and as research on brownfields in Middle Eastern remains insufficient to generate such tools,
this paper aims to narrow this gap by presenting a proposed potential brownfield categorisation and typifying aimed
to further the understanding of the urban phenomenon, thus, help in the development of these tools. The proposed
identified potential brownfields included; (1) residual planning outcomes; (2) discontinued mines and quarries;
(3) unfinished mega-projects; (4) contaminated and hazardous sites, and; (5) miscellaneous abandoned sites and
buildings.
However, as demonstrated throughout the paper, the development of measurements and tools this paper concludes
will not be an easy task, it may entail extensive research on multi dimensions including the socioeconomic, socio-
cultural, geographic and environmental amongst other, let alone the identification of potential typologies. There-
fore, this paper emphasised that further efforts are needed to establish such tools and only suggest the presented
types as ’potential identified brownfield sites’ in reference to the cases found in the literature discussions with a
prominent objective to unpack the rhetoric of these emerging urban landscapes to the different stakeholders and
identify what establishes them as potential brownfield sites.
However, it is important here to note that, although this paper presented a proposed potential brownfield cate-
gorising and typifying looking at international, mostly Western-specific tools and measures identified in literature
discussions, it remains the sole work of the researcher and thus remains liable to subjectiveness and error. There-
fore, this paper ends on the note that further interested researchers are invited to the discussion table on brownfield
regeneration in an attempt to achieve more inclusive and comprehensive approaches that address this urban phe-
nomenon.
Towards achieving more sustainable and comprehensive urban development, this paper concludes that brownfield
regeneration must be put at the top of future development priorities list.
Similar to the global scene, and according to research findings, this paper concludes that these urban landscapes
whether a result of post-industry, experimental planning or natural causes have great potentials to diminish the
spatial cluttering, socio-spatial disparities and spatial segregation as well as address urbanisation issues and achieve
economic and environmental goals. Most popular brownfield regeneration plans in the case of Amman, Jordan this
study found may include cultural and recreational uses including public open green spaces, open street markets
and temporary spaces that allows emerging economies and entrepreneurs to experiments with their products and
services, yet, these links between brownfield regeneration and the notion of temporary use this paper concludes
need to be further explored in future research as regardless to the abundant land that may fall under the definition
of brownfields, and in the absence of any frameworks that regulate their regeneration, numerous non-planned
examples of temporary practices thrive throughout the city and such practices are increasingly generating.
Moreover, with public participation as a decision-making tool not being effective in developing countries con-
texts including the Middle East, which can lead to failure in regenerating brownfields, this paper highlighted the
importance of the role of the general public in the decision-making through embracing participative approaches
that equally includes all genders, ages, ethnicities and backgrounds in the debate around these urban landscapes
towards achieving more cohesive, inclusive, accessible approaches that ultimately contribute to realising a better
quality of life through the manifestation of brownfield sites as catalysts for sustainable urban regeneration.
5. References
1. AbdElrahman, A. S. (2016). Redevelopment Aspects for Brownfields Sites in Egypt. Procedia Environmen-
tal Sciences, Elsevier B.V. 34(December 2015): 25–35. Available from: http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retri
pg. 40
26. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
eve/pii/S1878029616300251.
2. Adelaja, S., Shaw, J., Beyea, W., & McKeown, J. C. (2010). Renewable energy potential on brownfield sites:
A case study of Michigan. Energy Policy, Elsevier 38(11): 7021–7030. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10
.1016/j.enpol.2010.07.021.
3. Adham, K. (2005). Globalization, neoliberalism, and new spaces of capital in Cairo. Traditional Dwellings
and Settlements Review 17(1): 19–32.
4. Al-Said, N. (2015). Amman Municipality violates law and deceives citizens for years. Rum News Agency.
Available from: http://www.rumonline.net/index.php?page=article&id=199829 (accessed 24 August 2018).
5. Al-Sheikh, G. (2011). Amman Financial Market News — From a place bustling with life to a lifeless
structure with no identity— Housing Bank Complex. Al-Ghad Newspaper. Available from: http://ammanxc
hange.com/art.phpid=6a316826734929bac7d4b355f8233bdfb43b8c3f (accessed 24August 2018).
6. Alexandrescu, F., Martinát, S., Klusáček, P., & Bartke, S. (2014). The Path From Passivity Toward En-
trepreneurship: Public Sector Actors in Brownfield Regeneration Processes in Central and Eastern Europe.
Organization and Environment 27(2): 181–201.
7. Almaany Arabic Dictionary. Almaany.com. Available from: https://www.almaany.com/ar/dict/ar-ar/Arasah
/, (accessed 24 August 2018).
8. Almaany Arabic Dictionary. Almaany.com. Available from: https://www.almaany.com/ar/dict/ar-ar/Fadlih/
, (accessed 24 August 2018).
9. Almaany Arabic Dictionary. Almaany.com. Available from: https://www.almaany.com/ar/dict/ar-ar/Nutfih/
, (accessed 24 August 2018).
10. Atkinson, G., Doick, KJ., Burningham, K., & France, C. (2014). Brownfield regeneration to greenspace:
Delivery of project objectives for social and environmental gain. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening,
Elsevier GmbH. 13(3): 586–594. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2013.04.002.
11. Bardos, R., , Jones P., Stephenson S.,Menger I., P., Beumer, V., Neonato, F., ... & Wendler, K. (2016).
Optimising value from the soft re-use of brownfield sites. Science of the Total Environment, Elsevier B.V.
563–564: 769–782. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.12.002.
12. Barthel, P. A. (2010). Arab Mega-Projects: Between the Dubai Effect, Global Crisis, Social Mobilization
and a Sustainable Shift. Alexandrine Press 36(2): 132–145.
13. Bartke, S. & Schwarze, R. (2015). No perfect tools: Trade-offs of sustainability principles and user require-
ments in designing support tools for land-use decisions between greenfields and brownfields. Journal of
Environmental Management, Elsevier Ltd 153: 11–24. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman
.2015.01.040.
14. Bartke, S., Martinát, S., Klusáček, P., Pizzol, L., Alexandrescu, F., Frantál, B., & Zabeo, A. (2016). Tar-
geted selection of brownfields from portfolios for sustainable regeneration: User experiences from five cases
testing the Timbre Brownfield Prioritization Tool. Journal of environmental management, 184, 94-107.
15. Buchecker, M., Hunziker, M. & Kienast, F. (2003). Participatory landscape development: Overcoming social
barriers to public involvement. Landscape and Urban Planning 64(1–2): 29–46.
16. Burke, H., Hough, E., Morgan, D. J. R., Hughes, L., & Lawrence, D. J (2015). Land Use Policy Approaches
to inform redevelopment of brownfield sites : An example from the Leeds area of the West Yorkshire coal-
field , UK. Land Use Policy, Elsevier Ltd 47: 321–331. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landuse
pol.2015.04.018.
pg. 41
27. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
17. Chen, Y., Hipel, K.W., Kilgour, D.M., & Zhu, Y. (2009). A strategic classification support system for
brownfield redevelopment. Environmental Modelling and Software, Elsevier Ltd 24(5): 647–654. Available
from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2008.10.011.
18. Cheng, F., Geertman, S., Kuffer, M., & Zhan, Q. (2011). An integrative methodology to improve brownfield
redevelopment planning in Chinese cities: A case study of Futian, Shenzhen. Computers, Environment and
Urban Systems, Elsevier Ltd 35(5): 388–398. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.
2011.05.007.
19. Chrysochoou, M., Brown, K., Dahal, G., Granda-Carvajal, C., Segerson, K., Garrick, N., & Bagtzoglou, A.
(2012). A GIS and indexing scheme to screen brownfields for area-wide redevelopment planning. Landscape
and Urban Planning, Elsevier B.V. 105(3): 187–198. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbpl
an.2011.12.010.
20. Daher, R.F. (2011). Discourses of Neoliberalism and Disparities in the City Landscape «Cranes, Craters,
and an Exclusive Urbanity». Collections électroniques de l’Ifpo. Livres en ligne desPresses de l’Institut
français du Proche-Orient, Institut français du Proche-Orient (6): 273–295.
21. Daher, R. F. (2013). Neoliberal urban transformations in the Arab city. Environnement Urbain 7: 99.
Available from: http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1027729ar.
22. DLS (2014). Landlords and tenants law amended with the law no. (14) for the year 2014. Department
of Land and Statistics. Available from:http://www.farrajlawyer.com/viewTopic.php?topicId=966 (accessed
24August 2018).
23. DLS (2015). The Department of Lands issues the draft real estate ownership law — Jordan News Agency.
Petra News Agency. Available from: http://petra.gov.jo/Public News/Nws NewsDetails.aspx?Site Id=2&la
ng=1&NewsID=210282 (accessed 24 August 2018).
24. Doick, K. J., Sellers, G., Castan-Broto, V., & Silverthorne, T. (2009a). Understanding success in the con-
text of brownfield greening projects: The requirement for outcome evaluation in urban greenspace success
assessment. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, Elsevier 8(3): 163–178. Available from: http://dx.doi.or
g/10.1016/j.ufug.2009.05.002.
25. Doick, K. J., Pediaditi, K., Moffat, A. J., & Hutchings, T. R. (2009b). Defining the sustainability objectives of
brownfield regeneration to greenspace. International Journal of Management and Decision Making 10(3–4):
282–302. Available from: https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJMDM.2009.024994.
26. Dramstad, W. E., and Fjellstad, W. J. (2011). Landscapes: Bridging the gaps between science, policy and
people. Landscape and Urban Planning, Elsevier B.V. 100(4): 330–332. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/1
0.1016/j.landurbplan.2011.02.003.
27. Eiter, S. and Vik, M.L. (2015). Public participation in landscape planning: Effective methods for implement-
ing the European Landscape Convention in Norway. Land Use Policy, Elsevier Ltd 44: 44–53. Available
from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2014.11.012.
28. EPA (2004). Brownfields Mine-Scarred Lands Initiative — Federal Agencies Collaborate with Communi-
ties. Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. EPA 560-F-04-252. Available from: www.brownfield
stsc.org/miningsites.cfm.
29. EPA (2005) Mine site Cleanup for Brownfields Redevelopment: A Three-Part Primer. United States Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency, National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP).
30. Frantál, B., Greer-Wootten, B., Klusáček, P., Krejčı́, T., Kunc, J., & Martinát, S. (2015). Exploring spatial
patterns of urban brownfields regeneration: The case of Brno, Czech Republic. Cities 44: 9–18.
pg. 42
28. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
31. Garcı́a-Martı́n, M., Bieling, C., Hart, A., & Plieninger, T. (2016). Integrated landscape initiatives in Eu-
rope: Multi-sector collaboration in multi-functional landscapes. Land Use Policy, Elsevier Ltd 58: 43–53.
Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.07.001.
32. Hartmann, B., Török, S., Börcsök, E., & Groma, V. O. (2014). Multi-objective method for energy purpose
redevelopment of brownfield sites. Journal of Cleaner Production 82, 202–212.
33. JO24 (2012). Jordan News, the implementation of the decision to evacuate the King Abdullah Gardens
at the end of the year. Jo24. JO24.net. Available from: http://www.jo24.net/post.php?id=13311(accessed
24August 2018).
34. Kheetan, T. (2009). Collapsed Jordan Gate crane to be dismantled this weekend. Jordan Times.
35. Kotze, C. (2013). Importance of end land use and mine closure planning increases in SA. MiningWeekly.
Available from: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/importance-of-end-land-useand-mine-closure-plann
ing-increases-in-sa-2013-11-22/rep id%3A3650 (accessed 24 August 2018).
36. Kristiánová, K., Gécová, K., & Putrová, E. (2016). Old Industrial Sites–Conversion to Parks: Potential of
Bratislava. Procedia engineering, 161, 1858-1862.
37. Limasset, E., Pizzol, L., Merly, C., Gatchett, A. M., Le Guern, C., Martinát, S., ... & Bartke, S. (2018).
Points of attention in designing tools for regional brownfield prioritization. Science of the Total Environment
622–623: 997–1008.
38. Limitless.com (2016) Limitless Project Details Sanaya Amman. Limitless.com. Available from: http://limit
less.com/en-gb/Projects/Middle East/SanayaAmman.aspx (accessed 24 August 2018).
39. Loures, L. (2015) Post-industrial landscapes as drivers for urban redevelopment: Public versus expert per-
spectives towards the benefits and barriers of the reuse of post-industrial sites in urban areas. Habitat In-
ternational, Elsevier Ltd 45(P2): 72–81. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2014.06.028
.
40. Loures, L. and Vaz, E. (2018) Exploring expert perception towards brownfield redevelopment benefits ac-
cording to their typology. Habitat International 72: 66–76.
41. Martinat, S., Navrátil, J., Hollander, J. B., Trojan, J., Klapka, P., Klusacek, P., & Kalok, D. (2018). Re-reuse
of regenerated brownfields: Lessons from an Eastern European post-industrial city. Journal of Cleaner
Production, Elsevier Ltd 188: 536–545. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.03.313.
42. Millar, A., Simeone, R. S., & Carnevale, J. T. (2001). Logic models: A systems tool for performance
management. Evaluation and program planning, 24(1), 73-81.
43. MPRDA (2013). Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act 49 of 2008. Centre for
Environemntal Rights, 49(36541): 1–104. Available from: https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/
MPRDA-28-of-2002.pdf.
44. Namrouqa, H. (2014). Jordan world’s second water-poorest country — Jordan Times. The Jordan Times.
Available from: http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/jordan-world’s-secondwater-poorest-country (ac-
cessed 24august 2018).
45. Osman, R., Frantál, B., Klusáček, P., Kunc, J., & Martinát, S. (2015). Factors affecting brownfield regener-
ation in post-socialist space: The case of the Czech Republic. Land Use Policy 48: 309–316.
46. Paull, E. (2008). The Environmental and Econonic Impacts of Brownfields Redevelopment. Northeast-
Midwest Institute, Washington, DC: 1–53. Available from: www.nemw.org.
pg. 43
29. Tarawneh / Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, ESSD
47. Pediaditi, K., Doick, K. J. & Moffat, A. J. (2010). Monitoring and evaluation practice for brownfield,
regeneration to greenspace initiatives. A meta-evaluation of assessment and monitoring tools. Landscape
and Urban Planning, Elsevier B.V. 97(1): 22–36. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2
010.04.007.
48. Rall, E. L. & Haase, D. (2011). Creative intervention in a dynamic city: A sustainability assessment of an
interim use strategy for brownfields in Leipzig, Germany. Landscape and Urban Planning, Elsevier B.V.
100(3): 189–201. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2010.12.004.
49. Rizzo, E., Pesce, M., Pizzol, L., Alexandrescu, F. M., Giubilato, E., Critto, A., ... & Bartke, S. (2015).
Brownfield regeneration in Europe: Identifying stakeholder perceptions, concerns, attitudes and information
needs. Land Use Policy, Elsevier Ltd 48: 437–453. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.
2015.06.012.
50. Sanaya.net (2006). About Sanaya. Snaya.net. Available from: http://www.sanaya.net/aboutsanaya(accesse
d 24August 2018).
51. Schädler, S., Morio, M., Bartke, S., Rohr-Zaenker, R., & Finkel, M. (2011). Designing sustainable and
economically attractive brownfield revitalization options using an integrated assessment model. Journal of
Environmental Management, Elsevier Ltd 92(3): 827–837. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenv
man.2010.10.026.
52. Sevenant, M. and Antrop, M. (2010) Transdisciplinary landscape planning: Does the public have aspirations?
Experiences from a case study in Ghent (Flanders, Belgium). Land Use Policy 27(2): 373–386.
53. Stezar, I. C., Pizzol, L., Critto, A., Ozunu, A., & Marcomini, A. (2013). Comparison of risk-based decision-
support systems for brownfield site rehabilitation: DESYRE and SADA applied to a Romanian case study.
Journal of Environmental Management, Elsevier Ltd 131: 383–393. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.10
16/j.jenvman.2013.09.022.
54. Thomas, M. R. (2002). A GIS-based decision support system for brownfield redevelopment. Landscape and
Urban Planning 58(1): 7–23.
55. Valencia-Sandoval, C., Flanders, D. N. & Kozak, R. A. (2010). Participatory landscape planning and sustain-
able community development: Methodological observations from a case study in rural Mexico. Landscape
and Urban Planning 94(1): 63–70.
56. Zhu, Y., Hipel, K. W., Ke, G. Y., & Chen, Y. (2015). Establishment and optimization of an evaluation index
system for brownfield redevelopment projects: An empirical study. Environmental Modelling and Software,
Elsevier Ltd 74: 173–182. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2015.09.012.
pg. 44