Does the community really matter? : civic environmentalism in brownfield redevelopment

This paper analyzes the process of civic environmentalism in brownfield redevelopment. A single "best case" scenario, the Empire Laundry project in Lynn, Massachusetts, illustrates key features of a citizen-led cleanup and redevelopment effort. The in-depth analysis traces key events and milestones of the community-based process and evaluates the important decisions that led to a successful result: the development of five single-family houses. This research revealed two main factors that were important in creating a successful outcome: strong civic leaders and neighborhood stability. These two factors were pivotal in fostering community involvement, but raise important questions regarding the balancing of community desires with environmental protection.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Emison, Abigail Harrison

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• James Hamilton.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37458

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/37458