Attitudes of institutions in brownfield redevelopment projects

Systems tools for analyzing the impact of stakeholder attitudes under conflict are utilized to examine the decision of the University of Waterloo to build its new School of Pharmacy on a brownfield property in downtown Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. The redevelopment of brownfield properties often has tremendous environmental impacts due to the remediation of the contaminated subsurface. However, there is also a significant increase in the social and financial well-being of the community when a property is redeveloped. Often brownfield redevelopment projects are not undertaken due to the risk of liability that the developer may face. The analysis of this redevelopment project demonstrates the importance of institutional attitudes in the negotiations surrounding brownfield redevelopment projects.