Regenerative Urban Brownfields upon Economic Assessment: Case Studies from Danish Experiences

As cities evolve, urban infrastructures need to be updated, and if they fail, they will become abandoned and facilitate the creation of an urban phenomenon called “brownfields”. Since the past decade, abandoned or derelict sites have been spread out throughout developed urban areas worldwide. Brownfields may cause several problems for urban development, the economy, social values, and the environment. If they are left, more greenfields will be exploited, and urban sprawl will develop. The challenge is to be addressed in different ways in cities, though. Today, one of the urban development plans in major cities such as Copenhagen is to regenerate brownfields to benefit from these potential opportunities for improving social, economic, and environmental values. The case of Copenhagen has been experiencing brownfield regeneration practices since the 1990s, which has resulted in vibrant regenerated waterfronts, and industrial and residential districts. This thesis attempts to review urban policies implemented in Copenhagen for brownfield regeneration and assess the economic valuation of cases by using a Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) valuation model, construction and selling type, adopted in the Danish context. The thesis is concluded into two aspects; the primary outcomes of Danish brownfield regeneration policies and assessing economic profitable investment scenarios for regenerating brownfields. While the systematic collaborative relationships in the urban planning and land-use system and involving private sectors for regulating regenerative policies are notable, frameworks and indices could also be introduced to gain more attention for a better understanding of brownfield notions and their potential economic benefits, which Denmark lacks. In addition, it is studied that brownfield regeneration investment scenarios can be profitable if different variables introduced in the DCF analysis, such as time, construction costs, sale price, and leverage, are managed.