Successful redevelopment and risk management in Emeryville, California

摘要

Emeryville, California is a small city in the San Francisco Bay Area that faced the challenge of redeveloping partially abandoned and underutilized industrial properties, while protecting environmental and public health. In the early 1970's, it suffered from high crime and unemployment rates, high vacancies of non-residential properties, and perceived extensive groundwater contamination. Guided by a Community Task Force and Technical Advisory Team, Emeryville implemented a program that significantly reduced the uncertainties to brownfields redevelopment, while enhancing environmental protection. The strategies that the city employed include an area-wide groundwater management program, financial assistance for site assessment and remediation, Internet-based GIS applications for dissemination of environmental, planning, real estate and institutional control information, and adaptive reuse of industrial buildings. In using these strategies in concert, Emeryville redeveloped key projects that served as economic catalysts, including infrastructure and transit-oriented developments, retail and entertainment centers and multi-family and mixed-income housing.