Industrial Brownfield Sites in the Alps. A first Quantitative Overview and Potential Implications for Regional Development

Since a few decades the Alpine region is undergoing a process of economic restructuring which involves the decline of traditional heavy and manufacturing industry. This process is occurring however with less evidence and most of all with considerable delay in comparison to the surrounding lowlands. Accordingly, the management of industrial brownfield sites is expected to become increasingly relevant in the future development of the Alpine region, especially in connection to land use optimization and socio-economic well-being. This contribution intends to raise the attention on the issue of industrial fallow land in mountain areas by presenting and discussing the first results of a macro-regional quantitative survey of industrial brownfields in the Alps.