Identification and ecological aspects of large-scale brownfields in the republic of srpska

Abstract

Large-scale brownfield sites are the most apparent brownfield category in the Republic of Srpska, and they are the most valuable asset when it comes to explaining this spatial phenomenon. Transition and armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina have caused, among other things, brownfield formation; a decline in industrial employment alongside a reduction in the size of the armed forced have further increased the number and total area of brownfields in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Srpska. Their ecological characteristics, as in other transitional countries, are largely responsible for the definition of brownfields, but they are not the most significant barrier to the revitalization of large-scale brownfield sites. The present paper will provide the methodology of large-scale brownfield identification as well as an accompanying distribution map of these sites in the Republic of Srpska.