EJQ7 - Winter 2026 - Journal - Page 48
“Usingbrown昀椀eldsaspotentialtoolsforsocial
redevelopmentinstrategicareascouldbeatideofchange
formarginalizedcommunities.”
“social justice”—by prioritizing equity—the outcomes could be
materially advantageous for a city by reducing environmental inequities.
Brown昀椀elds in urban spaces are generally either cleaned up via private
market forces, large public works redevelop sites that renew (and/or
can gentrify) or are left idle to continue its neglected and disinvested
communities. They can be cleaned up based on environmental risk, or
as part of community improvement areas, such as targeted investment
renewal projects based on geographic scope.
Furthermore, brown昀椀elds are disproportionally distributed, typically
located in older, core neighbourhoods, and in post-industrial landscapes,
which could be proximal to the aforementioned. Vacant, derelict, and
contaminated sites often are concentrated in inner city areas with
high poverty and higher numbers of racialized groups, and Indigenous
Peoples, especially in Canadian contexts.
Compounding the issue, certain sites get cleaned up and redeveloped
quicker. The “low hanging fruit” metaphor is ripe for comparison when
the land is highly valuable, and the contamination is small or not present.
So, the more problematic of contamination, or low land value, can create
an “upside down” brown昀椀eld—when the cost of remediation exceeds
the value of the land. In capitalistic terms, this means it will remain
vacant, derelict and contaminated, harming the social fabric of those
communities—at least until it is pro昀椀table for someone to redevelop it.
In those cases, government support in terms of tax abatements or 昀椀nancing
is paramount. Additionally, a trend noted in report entitled, “Off the
Mark?: Ef昀椀ciency in Targeting the Most Marketable Sites Rather Than
Equity in Public Assistance for Brown昀椀eld
Redevelopment” indicated that U.S. federal
funding was more likely spent in wealthier
neighbourhoods, even when market forces
were expected to clean up those sites in the
昀椀rst place. However, author Linda McCarthy
concludes that the economic returns are
higher if that money is spent in marginalized,
disinvested communities versus wealthier
DOING THE RIGHT THING
AT THE DUNN HOUSE
established neighbourhoods.
E N V I RON M E N T J OURN A L QUA RT E RLY RE PORT • W I N T ER 2 02 6 • P AG E 4 8
