Best Practice: London Brownfields Sites Database
Five years ago, the London Assembly’s Environment Committee published a damning report about brownfield development in London. The report, called Dereliction of Duty, criticised the London Development Agency (LDA) for not doing enough to encourage the reclamation of brownfield land.
In response, the LDA published the first stage of its London Brownfield Sites Review, a report showing how much brownfield land was available in London.
With the second stage, the LDA promised to create an electronic database of all land available for redevelopment and to allow developers to access this information via a website.
Project
London Brownfield Sites Review (Stage 2)
Client
London Development Agency, Homes & Communities Agency. A funding contribution was also received from CLG
Partners
Arup, RADE (GIS software developer)
When it happened
Launched 8 October 2009
Brief
Create a website offering a database of brownfield sites, an interactive map of the land, and an analysis of key trends which affect brownfield land in London.
Aims
The project had to:
- improve the quality of data available about trends relating to brownfield land in London
- help find practical ways of bringing sites to market more effectively
- build on the National Land Use Database (NLUD) by identifying more sites, including smaller ones that may not be registered already
- display them on a web-based Geographic Information System (GIS)
How it was done
Multidisciplinary steering group set up. This group consisted of London Councils, government officers, brownfield specialists, economists, property experts and London Boroughs. Their aim was to work out the most effective way to collect and use data about brownfield sites.
Reviews of existing London data in the NLUD were conducted. This allowed the consultants, Arup, to work out what needed to be done to bring the data up-to-date.
Each of the 33 London local authorities then worked with Arup to bring their information on brownfield data up-to-date and make it more precise. This involved compiling information that was not registered on the NLUD, and screening for new sites.
Supplementary data was added from third parties where possible. This meant that instead of having to collect new information about sites, Arup used other online mapping resources when it could, and bought over 900 Land Registry ownership site records to add to the database.
Adding “polygons” to the database, which more precisely outline the distinct shape of sites than dots or rectangles.
Entering all the data collected into a Geographic Information System. This results in an interactive map which allows users to search for land based on the area and size of the site.
Key benefits
- Around 60% of the land on the database was newly identified during the course of the project, with the other 40% taken from the NLUD.
- This means at launch, the website showed a total of 2,068 sites with an area equating to 3,745 hectares. The sites on the database account for around 2.5% of the entire area of Greater London.
- The GIS interface, which works as an interactive map, allows users to export maps and data to PDF, Excel of graphic files for inclusion in their own reports.
- The map complements data in the London Development Database, which shows what the demand is for brownfield use and where it is most wanted.
- Developers can now find brownfield sites of a specific size and type across London. This gives them more information with which to plan developments.
What they say
Edd Rowe, senior information and research officer at the London Borough of Lambeth, said: “The London Brownfield Sites Database will be an invaluable tool for local authorities, developers and the public allowing them to keep track of available brownfield sites and what development constraints exist on them.
“Better monitoring of the brownfield sites available in London will greatly help efforts to maximise gains from regeneration throughout the city and the simple but effective map interface should become a standard for all public sector online mapping systems.”
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