Proposed Definition and Typology of Brownfield Sites in Iranian Cities

The term of brownfield and its redevelopment has been considered extensively in the world urban planning literature. However, the nature of the brownfields and the differences between how they are created in countries have caused this term to be defined based on the contextual and typological conditions in each country, involving a wide range of lands. Meanwhile, despite the high importance of brownfield development in improving the quality of urban life, this issue is still neglected in the urban planning system of Iran. Therefore, this study is aimed to propose the definition of brownfield sits in Iranian cities and their typology as a policy to help reconsider them in urban development plans. After presenting the adaptive criteria extracted from the relevant literature, experts in this field were interviewed to determine the main categories of this concept in the country’s cities using the grounded theory qualitative method. Then, the rules and regulations related to the categories were reviewed to finally define this concept and present its comparative typology. The findings show that in Iranian cities, the brownfield sites comprise abandoned sites or lands including activities that pollute the environment, being incompatible with authorized urban activities. According to this definition, twelve types of brownfield sites can be identified in Iranian cities, in which the activities are incompatible with urban activities and they require intervention for development, and one type includes lands with no function at present, in which development has occurred previously.