Are EU policies for brownfield redevelopment sufficient? A case study of Alpine industrial landscapes in the context of small and medium-sized towns

Abstract

Small and medium-sized industrial towns in the Alpine area are often peripheral and degraded. These areas have also experienced declines in population and business opportunities as well as substantial environmental remediation costs, and they have undergone complex transformations. This research investigates what options towns with Alpine industrial brownfields have for redevelopment, what support is offered by the European Union, and how much development potential is fully valorized in this way. The evaluation was undertaken using four case studies of peripheral regions in four Alpine countries: Austria, France, Italy, and Slovenia. The results reveal that brownfields are not sufficiently covered by current EU policies, and that financial incentives are spread among several resources and, consequently, are difficult to absorb. In addition, the regions in question do not possess the required knowledge or capacity (both individually and collectively) to obtain the funds needed to turn their ideas into successful redevelopment stories. keywords