Generating a New Evaluating System for Regional Scale Redevelopment Effectiveness of Brownfields in Waterloo Region Using a Multi-Criteria Analysis Mechanism

Abstract

Brownfield redevelopment has been a popular topic as part of the contemporary planning literature. Encouraging brownfields’ redevelopment and improving the redevelopment effectiveness and efficiency have been two of the top concerns for planners. Redevelopments with various purposes can benefit the region in different ways. It is not necessary that redeveloping into the most common purpose would make the greatest contribution to the region. A region-wide redevelopment projects’ effectiveness evaluation will help planners have a better understanding of the region’s current situation in terms of brownfield redevelopment. This research aims to integrate a multi-criteria analysis method with brownfield redevelopment effectiveness evaluation, with the intention of suggesting improvements to brownfield redevelopment resource allocation and enlightening regional land use efficiency. During the first phase of this study, a database was generated for previously redeveloped brownfields within Waterloo Region to fill in the informational gap of region-wide redevelopment projects. During the second phase, criteria were selected that can represent redevelopments’ influences, and a multi-criteria analysis technique was used to generate a region-wide effectiveness evaluation model. The redevelopment projects in Waterloo Region have been assessed by this evaluation model. This study not only creates an information database for redeveloped brownfields in Waterloo Region, but also provides an effectiveness ranking for previous redevelopment projects and identifies the best and worst performing projects. Based on the effectiveness evaluation, the region’s performance in terms of brownfield redevelopment can also be analyzed. Waterloo Region has planning tools and policies available to provide legal and technical advice for potential developers of brownfield sites. At the same time, different levels of financial supports, such as grants and tax incentive programs, are also available in Waterloo Region. However, a lack of monitoring and evaluation of programs after redevelopments is Waterloo Region’s shortcoming. In terms of brownfield redevelopment, efficiently allocating supportive resources would be the key for the region’s next step. The region-wide brownfield repurposing activities’ effectiveness evaluation could be a start that draws attention to development of efficient brownfield redevelopment resources allocation tools in the future.