Residents’ perceptions and attitudes toward waste treatment facility sites and their possible conversion: A literature review

• We review the literature on attitudes toward waste treatment sites and their potential conversion for recreation use.
• We identify perceived impacts of existing/proposed waste treatment sites and summarize determinants of these perceptions.
• We evaluate research on former brownfield/landfill sites and their conversion for economic redevelopment and recreation use.
• Converting brownfields/landfills for recreation use can be vital to community development and urban renewal efforts.

The siting a landfill or waste treatment facility and the redevelopment of a brownfield or former landfill site are generally treated as independent issues in the research literature. Nonetheless, the two are important elements of community development and urban revitalization efforts. The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrated review of the current literature on attitudes toward waste treatment sites and their potential conversion for recreation use. We begin by examining research on residents’ perceptions of and attitudes toward proposed and existing waste treatment facility sites, including the perceived impacts and determinants of attitudes toward these sites. Next we summarize work that has explored the subsequent conversion of former landfills or brownfield sites, with a particular emphasis on repurposing these sites for green space and recreation use. We conclude by summarizing key issues and implications for future research and policy development.