Abstract

Nowadays, it is widely recognized that brownfi elds revitalization has the potential to promote sustainable growth especially in urban areas. Nevertheless, given that state and local authorities operate within an increas-ingly tight fi scal environment, brownfi elds become often of low priority, unless there exist signifi cant human health and ecosystem threats, and remain degraded and underutilized. In order to confront this situation, it is vital for the responsible authorities to justify the necessity of redevelopment projects in ‘hard’, that is mon-etary terms. Toward this direction, not only economic but also social and environmental benefi ts should be monetized by means of market and non-market valuation methods. The paper presents two case studies, the redevelopment of a former metallurgical complex to a Technological and Cultural Park and the potential reuse of the former Athens International Airport as a Metropolitan Park, as a means of highlighting the emerging value of brownfi elds regeneration. The results indicate that both projects, when examined from a social point of view, create an economic value and contribute signifi cantly toward sustainable development.