Sustainable Regeneration of Former Military Sites

Book excerpt: Sustainable Regeneration of Former Military Sites is the first book to analyze a profound land use change happening all over the world: the search for sustainable futures for property formerly dedicated to national defense now becoming redundant, disposed of and redeveloped. The new military necessity for rapid flexible response requires quite different physical resources from the massive fixed positions of the Cold War, with huge tracts of land and buildings looking for new uses. The transition from military to civilian life for these complex, contaminated, isolated, heritage laden and often contested sites in locations ranging from urban to remote is far from easy. There is very little systematic analysis of what follows base closures, leaving communities, governments, developers, and planners experimenting with untested land use configurations, partnership structures, and financing strategies. With twelve case studies drawn from different countries, many written by those involved, Sustainable Regeneration of Former Military Sites enables the diverse stakeholders in these projects to discover unique opportunities for reuse and learn from others’ experiences of successful regeneration.