Containing Urban Sprawl? Comparing Brownfield Reuse Policies in England and Germany

Containing urban sprawl and limiting greenfield developments has become an important aim of land use planning policy over recent decades. Traditionally planning instruments such as greenbelt designations and restrictive development controls have been used to achieve this aim. Beyond that in recent years the systematic reuse of brownfield land has become an important policy objective, which could in turn ease the pressure to develop on greenfield land. The aim of this paper is to identify factors explaining differences in the success of such strategic brownfield reuse policies in England and Germany. To do this the paper explores the underlying spatial development paradigms in both countries as well as differences in planning policies and institutional settings.