Introduction

Redundant army, naval and air force sites offer a range of opportunities to planners, developers, architects and local communities to redevelop large areas, bringing new life to often neglected parts of town. These opportunities are common to many countries and this first International Conference on Defence Sites: Heritage and Future will help to stress their common features and share experiences of their transformation to civilian uses all over the world.

The conference aims to raise the knowledge of the scale, design and functions of military, naval and air force sites. It will bring a better understanding to the issues raised by their redundancy, and the implications of different disposal processes for state owned land. It is also important to understand the interaction of different stakeholders and their influence on the outcome. They include government agencies, developers, planners, architects, historians and members of local communities. Special issues related to historical naval ships and other maritime infrastructure will also be discussed.

There is also a need to achieve sustainable development, which involves issues related to maintenance, conservation, as well as built and natural environmental controls, while responding to the needs and aspirations of local communities.

The re-use of defence sites also raises questions regarding the need to recover brownfields and contaminated land, which can have far-reaching legal responsibilities and environmental consequences.

The conference encourages the presentation of case studies, highlighting examples of good practices that can help to transfer knowledge between different partners across the world.