Have you ever driven past an abandoned industrial site or vacant shopping center and wondered what went wrong? In the planning world, these spaces are referred to as Brownfields and Greyfields – and they can be caused by a variety of factors such as irregular lot shape, difficult access, inadequate infrastructure, environmental contamination, outdated or obsolete design, and economic issues.

Although the two are similar, Brownfields result from the contamination of sites due to multiple prior uses (old steel mills, chemical or manufacturing facilities, abandoned buildings, former dumps, lumber yards, dry cleaners, gas stations and auto body shops), while Greyfields are usually not hazardous, but rather obsolete, outdated, or underutilized due to changing market demand, decreased buying power in nearby areas, changes in consumer buying habits, lack of investment, or architecture that no longer meets market demand.

While Brownfields and Greyfields both present potentially negative impacts to their local communities, they can also provide opportunities for redevelopment resulting in community revitalization, open space preservation, public safety, increased service demand, and more.