Sustainable brownfields redevelopment and empowering communities to participate more effectively in environmental decision-making

The mitigation and reuse of contaminated land is a central element of environmental risk management practice in high-income nations. In the United States, with approximately 1500 Superfund sites (National Research Council, 1991), over 400,000 hazardous waste sites (Environmental Research Foundation, 1993) and an indeterminate number of sites that are qualitatively less contaminated, generally known as 'brownfields', there is ample opportunity for environmental professionals interested in becoming actively involved in such work. The reuse of previously developed plots of land is an important environmental risk management strategy as well as a primary trajectory for advancing communities through local decision-making that seeks economic, aesthetic or recreational advantages. This edition of Local Environment will explore this topic from a variety of perspectives.