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WHEN FACTORIES CLOSE DOWN
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H aving gone through one big econo mical tr a nsition when the shipbuilding industry closed dow n Gothenburg might face ev en bigger ch allenges in the nea r futur e, being the auto m obile ca pital of Sw eden. Ther efor e w e think th at a cyber-study-tour to Ger m a ny is in pl ace.
Ther e a r e a lot of these e m pty plots which ca n be fou nd inside city structur es u ntouched for decades as r e m ediation is often con nected to high costs a nd econo mical risks. Polluted soil h as to be clea ned or exch a nged, old factories a nd industrial structur es need to be pulled dow n to pr epa r e the l a nd for new usages. But these a r eas a r e not j ust polluted waste l a nd. Because of their im porta nce in history they a r e m ostly located to m ajor tr affic routes like m otorways or bigger riv ers a nd in proximity to ur ba n a r eas. This m ea ns th at r edev elopm ent of brow nfields is not only a ch allenging task but bea rs a lot of potential to rise the city’s quality.
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WHEN FACTORIES CLOSE DOWN
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The question is how to acco m plish the r e m ediation in the best m a n ner? M a ny str ategies a r e possible while new technologies like bior e m ediation allow m or e sustaina ble tactics. Instead of exch a nging whole l ayers of polluted soil the a pplication of natur al occur ring microbes might be a r esource friendly alter nativ e. But ev en growing crops might be consider ed. Pl a nts like soybea n, cor n, ca nol a or switchgr as a r e a ble to clea n up the soil. Besides they could be used for the production of biodiesel or eth a nol fuel giving in v estors a econo mical r efu nd possibly incr easing the attr action to r edev elop brow nfields.
A nother question is whether the tr aces of history should be totally r e m ov ed. It might be r easona ble to leav e so m e l a nd m a r ks r efer ring to the r egion’s history. This h as been done in E mscher Pa r k situated in industrial sta m ped Ruhrvalley in Ger m a ny. Old buildings with a heritage value w er e r econstructed to serv e fu nctions like business, housing or cultur e. But ev en j ust pa rts of old structur es w er e used in a cr eativ e m a n ner for r ecr eation a nd sport to str engthen the identification of the r egion’s popul ation with the newly desig ned pl aces.
So the clea n up of brow nfields doesn’t necessa rily m ea n the elimination of ev erything fou nd on the plots. Ther e a r e good ex a m ples in Gothenburg too, like the old shipya rd buildings along the riv erside, now used for conferences, hotels a nd offices, or the old mill “Röda Sten” used as a n exhibition pl ace a nd cultur al m eeting point.
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WHEN FACTORIES CLOSE DOWN
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LINKS: Duisburg-Nord L a ndsca pe Pa r k Brow nfields a nd L a nd R evitalization
[im age 1: http://w w w.l atzu ndpa rtner.de/proj ects/ detail/17] [im age 2: http://w w w.l a ndliving.co m/a rticles/0000000618. aspx]