What happens to the most deprived neighbourhoods in England?
Schulze Bäing, A. and Wong, C., 2012. Brownfield residential development: what happens to the most deprived neighbourhoods in England?. Urban Studies, 49(14), pp.2989-3008.
Dixon, T., Otsuka, N. and Abe, H., 2011. Critical success factors in urban brownfield regeneration: an analysis of ‘hardcore’ sites in Manchester and Osaka during the economic recession (2009–10). Environment and Planning A, 43(4), pp.961-980.
1, Compare and analyze these two articles in terms of research methods
2, Outline design for your own research project
Brownfield land is an area of land or premises that has been previously used, but has subsequently become vacant, derelict or contaminated. This term derived from its opposite, undeveloped or ‘greenfield‘ land.
Brownfield sites typically require preparatory regenerative work before any new development goes ahead, and can also be partly occupied.
Brownfield land gained political significance after the UK government set a national target in February 1998 to ensure 60 per cent of all new developments were built on brownfield land.
In planning terms, local authorities use brownfield development to help regenerate decaying inner urban areas. This approach is deemed preferable to developing on green space.
Planning Policy Statement 3 (PPS3) published in November 2006, reiterated the Government‘s commitment to the 60 per cent target for new homes built on brownfield land, stressing that local authorities should continue to prioritise brownfield land in their plans and “take stronger action” to bring more brownfield land back into use.
The national regeneration agency English Partnerships was tasked by the Government to work with government departments and a wide range of stakeholders to develop a National Brownfield Strategy for England.
Subsequently the National Brownfield Forum was established to oversee the implementation of the National Brownfield Strategy and report annually on its progress. The Forum held its first meeting in February 2009 and further meetings were scheduled to be held quarterly.
In its 2017 Housing White Paper, the Government stated that, “local authorities should give priority to suitable brownfield land well-served by public transport”. It became compulsory for local planning authorities to publish a list of suitable brownfield sites, and to make estimates of their capacity for housing. This move was said to make it easier to analyse the number of identified suitable brownfield sites for housing across the whole of England.
In 2020 the government announced that owners of vacant and redundant freestanding buildings of a footprint of up to 1,000 square metres would be able to fast-track the planning process for demolishing and rebuilding them as new residential developments within the footprint of the original building, up to a maximum height of 18 metres, including up to 2 storeys higher than the former building. The new development could be a block of flats or a single new family home.
The government championed this reform, as supporting the brownfield regeneration of towns and cities, by allowing vacant and derelict buildings to be repurposed quickly for much-needed housing. By encouraging housing development on brownfield land, it was suggested that the move would protect green spaces and help kick start the construction sector post Covid 19.
As part of its policy agenda in relation to affordable housing, and its objective of constructing 300,000 new homes per year, in late 2020, the UK government announced plans for a £100m “brownfield land release fund” to promote urban regeneration and development on public sector land.
In his October 2021 budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak earmarked £11.5bn for the construction of up to 180,000 affordable homes, with brownfield sites targeted for development.