Greening the void: actions for the de-sealing and renaturalisation of soils in brownfield regeneration processes

Abstract

The decommissioning of large industrial sites has started a long and complex ‘season’ in which different actions for their reuse and regeneration have emerged. In addition to the preservation of existing structures and the construction of new buildings (obtained after the demolition of existing facilities), projects have emerged that have chosen to combine the actions with specific soil desealing interventions. This 'demolition without reconstruction' has generated a new permeability of soils previously 'sealed' by built volumes or surfaces and created the conditions for the construction of new public facilities (e.g. public parks), the partial renaturalisation of areas, and the creation of new Ecosystem services. The analysis of a selection of brownfield redevelopment experience, characterized by a common interest in the partial de-impermeabilisation of soils, makes it possible to compare both the spatial effects produced by these processes and the relative variety of planning policies adopted to foresee and implement these interventions. The contribution proposes the identification, analysis, and comparison of some regeneration processes of large brownfield sites, selected in different Italian cities (Milan, Turin, Trento, etc.), which are characterised by the promotion of partial soil desealing interventions and the implementation of Nature-based Solutions. The contribution also intends to analyse the correlations between planning policies and de-sealing, highlighting the objectives sought, the results obtained (in terms of green areas), and any concepts/terms considered to support/guide this type of intervention.