Exploring the realities of the sustainable city through the use and reuse of vacant industrial buildings

The term “sustainability” is high on the European agenda – what implication does this have for the regeneration of our towns and cities? At Staffordshire University an EPSRC funded project is setting out to explore an often overlooked aspect: the problem of vacant industrial buildings and their reuse. Drawing from European examples and early research findings, this article investigates key elements of the process, raises research issues and suggests some ways forward. It concludes that reusing urban infrastructure is a worthwhile step towards a more sustainable city, even though we do not know exactly what the sustainable city entails.