Regeneration of Post-Agricultural Brownfield for Social Care Needs in Rural Community: Is There Any Transferable Experience?

Adaptation of the TIMBRE methodology for brownfields gully erosion analysis in urban areas

Soil erosion is a concern in many parts of the world, causing environmental and social impacts. Aiming at obtaining indicators of the recovery of brownfields created by gullies in urban areas, this study adapts the Tailored Improvement of Brownfield Regeneration in Europe (TIMBRE) for the analysis and classification of areas affected by gullies in the city of Bauru, Brazil. The TIMBRE methodology assists in the decision-making of priority areas for remediation and their reinsertion in urban spaces. The inventory of areas affected by gullies was compiled based on the analysis of two image sets (2004 and 2020) available on Google Earth. For the classification of brownfields, three classes were considered: Class 1 - local potential for business development, Class 2 - attractiveness and marketing, and Class 3 - environmental risks. These results demonstrate a correlation between gullies and urban expansion. The inventory identified 175 gullies in the municipality's urban perimeter in 2004, which affected an area of over 64 ha. In 2020, the number of gullies increased to 189, but the affected area decreased to 62 ha due to the recovery of some large gullies. The proposed methodology identified the area of Quinta da Bela Olinda as the one with the highest scores in all three classifications. Quinta da Bela Olinda is the location that has a local potential for business development, as it is the most attractive brownfield, as well as the area with the highest environmental risk. This area should, thus, be prioritized by public management for remediation. In conclusion, the proposed method of analysis can be transferred to other areas with adaptations in the criteria used and, therefore, may facilitate the management of urban areas affected by gullies in other places around the world.

Transforming the Use of Agricultural Premises under Urbanization Pressures: A Story from a Second-Tier Post-Socialist City

Diverse aspects of de-agrarianization, which is manifested by the cessation or significant reduction in agricultural activities, have been clearly visible at the outskirts of large cities in Central Europe in recent decades. The key drivers behind this process include increased pressures to cover peri-urban agricultural land by new developments, inadequate protection of agricultural land, ineffective implementation of urban planning policies, low recognition of the importance of agriculture, and overall changes in people’s dietary habits. Urbanization pressures undoubtedly belong to the factors intensifying overall de-agrarianization, as urban farmers are usually not able to compete with other urban functions. This article focuses on more in-depth understanding of the driving forces behind de-agrarianization processes that are specific to post-socialist cities. As a case study, Brno, a second-tier city in the Czech Republic, was selected. In the first part, the conceptual framework and drivers of de-agrarianization are discussed specifically for the case of large Central European post-socialist cities. In the next part, we explore by means of a set of qualitative interviews the case study of the regeneration of the area of a former Cistercian monastery in Brno that was traditionally used for agricultural purposes, but recently was redeveloped for a university campus. Our findings signal procedural issues connected to the preservation of architectural heritage during the regeneration that frequently end up with only fragments being preserved. We also demonstrate a decline in the use of urban agricultural properties that are hastily transformed into a new urban environment under extremely strong urbanization pressures. We argue that even in economically prosperous cities with highly neoliberal competition between possible urban land uses, agriculture must be considered a relevant and highly important urban function and more protected by planning tools.