Revitalizing Contaminated Land in Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States

Brownfields in both the United States and Western Europe comprise previously used properties, with abandoned or underused facilities, where expansion or redevelopment faces barriers to reuse. ¹ In the United States and some western European countries, real or perceived contamination is an important element of brownfields, although other parts of Western Europe do not define this as a necessary component. In both settings, however, the focus is on interventions that may be necessary for beneficial reuse of largely unwanted properties—interventions that may reduce or mitigate liabilities that current owners, purchasers, or developers may have to absorb if they attempt redevelopment—or those that address other site and neighborhood characteristics that deter investment interest.