Environmental Rehabilitation of Urban Distressed areas for improving the Quality of open and green spaces through integrating Brownfields into the green infrastructure systems in the framework of sustainable

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Associate Professor, University of Tehran , Faculty of Environment , Environmental Design Department

2 Associate Professor, University of Tehran , Faculty of Environment, Environmental Education, management & Planning Department

3 MSc. In Environmental design engineering, University of Tehran , Faculty of Environment , Environmental Design Departmen

Abstract

Introduction
Derelict redevelopment is widely acknowledged as one of the major strategies to help in achieving sustainable urban development. It is commonly recognized that the presence of derelict urban areas in the compact cities not only have adverse effects on the quality of life and environment but also on the economic health and social sustainability of a city. Mainly located in the inner city or downtown areas, these sites are facings some social and ecological challenges i.e. the lack of public and open spaces for social life, transportation difficulties, pollution, fragmentation and ecological disturbances, and also uneasement to receive proper services and city facilities. In order to respond to these challenges, many researchers suggest that cities have to change their current trends of urban development and regenerations. They need to move from a partial approach of urban development to a more integrated and holistic approach that can solve the complexity and crisis of derelict urban areas in the distressed parts of metropolitans .This paper investigates strategies that might be used to reclaim and regenerate derelict sites in 12 district of Tehran, transforming them from abandon, segregated land lot into the vital, flexible and viable places with enhancement in social life, and ecological and recreational qualities.
According to sustainable regeneration we can design patches and their connected corridors in different levels Patch hierarchies allow researchers to ask questions related to what factors influence the patterns and processes observed at each nested scale and functional relationship within and between scales. Urban landscape as a complex mosaic of biological and physical patches with in a matrix of infrastructure and social organization has heterogeneity in its ecosystem. By considering these principles we suggest a table for urban regeneration . 
This Thesis discusses the potentials of green infrastructure for the interconnected network of green ways, open spaces and green patches that helps mitigate problems and provide counterpoint solutions for the loss of natural landscape and environmental qualities of derelict areas. Some methods of intervention and suggestions for the structural and functional improvements of derelict urban areas are provided with strategies towards achieving a more sustainable city form and landscape qualities. 
Keywords: LUDA, urban regeneration, derelict urban areas, green infrastructure
Cities are manmade ecosystems that differ from other ecosystems in several ways. Ecological scholars have described the city as a heterotrophic ecosystem highly dependent on large inputs of energy and materials and a vast capacity to absorb emissions and waste. Compared to a “natural” ecosystem with a typical energy budget ranging between 1,000 and 10,000 Kcal per square meters per year, cities consume a vastly larger amount of energy. The budget of an urban ecosystem in an industrialized country can range between 100,000 and 300,000 Kcal per square meter per year. Other key differences in urban ecosystems are the lack of integration of habitat patches, the invasion of nonnative species, and the external control of succession . By the way, cites like the other dynamic ecosystems tend to chaos. According to the Gunderson & Holing theory that names "Adaptive Theory" all the ecosystems pass 4‌ stages: 
1. Rapid growth
2. Conservation
3. Collapse 
4. Reorganization/regeneration
In this process, old cities facing modern life, May lost their resilience ability to adapt themselves with new changes. Many cities are extended to the suburb instead of passing from collapse to regeneration step which is contrast to sustainable urban development and will stop being a well-defined spatial entity. 
In the urban planning context, revitalization means the planning measures that are necessary to improve the physical, social, economic activities of distressed areas which have lost their original functional vitality. The aim of urban revitalization should be an appropriate balance between urbanization and natural conservation. It includes maintenance of its natural resources and extending nature into the city. Figure 1 shows stages of urban evolution from rapid growth to collapse. For regeneration stage we should use strategies such as conservation, rehabilitation, renewal & etc as necessary.
Redevelopment of derelict lands by turning them to the green infrastructure in a network and integrating them to the upper level network is a smart conservation of land and that reduces the ecological and social impacts of sprawl and the accelerated consumption and fragmentation of open lands. By this kind of sustainable regeneration, cities have the interaction among ecological, social and economic processes, useful to dynamic change of urban structure. Green infrastructure systems help protect and restore naturally functioning ecosystems and provide a framework for future development and redevelopment. In doing so, they provide a diversity of ecological, social, and economic functions and benefits: enriched habitat and biodiversity; maintenance of natural landscape processes clear air and water; increased recreational opportunities; improved health; and better connection to nature and sense of place.

The effects of the globalization of industry over the past decades have had a profound effect on the traditional industrial areas all over the world. this process of industrial change, has resulted in the cre‌ation of so-called ‘brownfields’ that produced a vast array of obsolete industrial facilities and the various impacts, which are generated from them. Brownfield site refers to land that is or was occupied by a permanent structure, which has become vacant, underused or derelict and has the potential for redevelopment. Brownfield sites are part of the cycle of planning and development. By their nature they are transient communities. They are periodically lost through redevelopment while other brownfield areas develop as new sites. This natural dynamic creates a balance in the number of brownfield sites that persist at any one time. Several studies have focused on the biodiversity value of brownfield sites and found them to be diverse for flora, particularly in the younger pioneer and tall herb phases, which persist longer on nutrient poor substrate or under disturbance. These sites present particular challenges to national and regional policymakers, including the remediation of hazards to human beings, groundwater and ecosystems .The redevelopment of derelict industrial areas has received a lot of attention in the past few years and has become a major program of landscape design. Since the mid-1980s, policy makers and planners have been paying significantly more attention to sustainable redevelopment and improve the quality of life in brownfiels of distressed areas. The redevelopment of derelict brownfield sites, which are often located in the core sections of urban areas are prime targets for sustainable urban revitalization

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References

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