Abstract:

Brownfields as underused and abandoned sites are becoming an increasingly important topic that is being recently discussed among a considerable part of researchers, public administration representatives, non-governmental organisations, potential private investors and landlords. The regeneration of brownfields has recently become an important issue for general public as well. This paper aims to comment on the perception of local brownfields among the population of the city of Karvina (population 55 thousand, the Czech Republic). The presented research was based on the questionnaire survey that was conducted from November till March. The first part of the paper presents theoretical approaches linked to economic, social and environmental aspects of brownfields regeneration with a special attention to the Central European conditions and specifics of post-industrial cities. The following part shortly presents the city of Karvina where the research was performed, and then the research results are presented. We found out that the local brownfields are perceived by their local population as a topic that deserves more attention by both the owners of the sites and the local public administration. In the long-term perspective quite a high unemployment rate can be recorded in the region, and it is primarily job opportunities that is expected from the new use of the contemporary brownfields. Based on the results of the questionnaire survey several recommendations for public administration of how to improve the process of regeneration of brownfields are defined.