Urban “brownfields”: An Australian perspective

Treatment and conversion of former industrial sites into residential or commercial properties are becoming popular practice in the intensification process of urban regeneration in mature and emerging markets. We use Melbourne as an example to obtain an overview of the institutions that govern inner-city brownfields in Australia. We identify projects/sites, transforming processes and stakeholders related to Melbourne’s inner-city brownfields, an example of ‘best practice system’useful for international knowledge exchange. The paper concludes that fundamental to the strength of Australian brownfields development is the mature institutional setting for property development. With comprehensive legal system, the government and its agencies are playing essential roles for socially responsible redevelopment process where negative externality due to previous industrial land use is properly identified and responsibilities clarified and allocated. It is hoped that the study can help stimulate and facilitate knowledge sharing between Australia and China on brownfield redevelopment. However it appears that it is challenging task for direct comparison and knowledge transference which demand further scrutiny by policy maker and researcher.