Author(s)

L. Potts & C. E. Cloete

Abstract

In contrast to guidelines and comprehensive policies for brownfield development in the UK and the USA, no reference to brownfields is made in any of the current legislation or policies of South Africa. The objective of the research was firstly to develop an appropriate definition for brownfields in the South African context and secondly to propose guidelines for redevelopment of brownfields in South Africa. A possible definition and a set of guidelines were tested against the perceptions and opinions of stakeholders. Based upon the literature study and responses to the questionnaire, both a definition and a set of guidelines for the South African context are proposed. It is concluded that further research is required and that policies need to be generated in order to firstly come to agreement on a definition of brownfields and secondly to finalize development guidelines. These have to be incorporated into the existing development policies. The research also indicated that it is necessary for an inventory of brownfields to be established by local authorities in order to start the process of brownfield development in South Africa. Keywords: brownfields, South Africa, guidelines, policies. 1 Introduction World-wide, brownfields sites offer considerable potential for development. The number of sites suspected of being contaminated is estimated to be between 900,000 and 1,500,000 in Europe and 50,000 to 100,000 in the UK [1], while there are an estimated 600,000 brownfield sites in the United States [2].

Keywords

brownfields, South Africa, guidelines, policies.