Urban brownfield redevelopment and energy transition pathways: A review of planning policies and practices in Freiburg

This paper explores the role of urban brownfield redevelopment in navigating and enhancing energy transition in the built environment by conducting a case study of three city districts in Freiburg: Rieselfeld, Vauban, and Gutleutmatten, which have emerged from previously-developed lands used for sewage farm, army barracks, and inner-city allotment, respectively. It contributes to unpacking the social structure of planning system by analysing the dichotomy of structure and agency in the process of energy transition with particular focus on domestic energy use, both related to transport and in-dwelling use. The aim is to bring to light a new aspect of the complex relationship between brownfield redevelopment and energy transition by addressing the co-evolutionary interaction between structure and agency. The results show that the energy transition in the brownfield sites in Freiburg has been possible by gaining a broader agency for changing or reproducing the existing structure for planning and urban design. The broader agency was facilitated by two factors: the effective interaction and co-evolution between different elements of institutions: regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive; and the introduction and enactment of schemas (rules) across different sectors of urban design, energy, mobility, and civic participation. However, it is hard to transfer the outcomes of energy transition in the targeted sites to other places because of the unique temporal and socio-spatial context in which the transition has taken place. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.