Restoration priority assessment of coal mining brownfields from the perspective of enhancing the connectivity of green infrastructure networks.

Abstract Integration of mining brownfields into green infrastructure(GI) planning has been widely recognized as a sustainable developmentstrategy. The key is to locate the spatial priority areas for brownfieldrestoration that would provide the greatest enhancement of themultifunctionality of the GI network. At the regional scale, a wellconnectedGI network can help maximize the benefits that it generates andachieve greater multifunctionality. In this paper, an approach forassessing the restoration priority of brownfields is proposed from the perspective of enhancing the structural connectivity of GI network. Itcan also be used as an assistance tool for planning GI networks at theregional level. The Least Cost Path (LCP) model is adopted for mapping corridors among GI patches on the basis of a resistance map composed by considering the naturalness of land covers, the riparian corridor, and disturbance of roads. Taking Fenhe River Basin (in China) as an example, three factors are jointly considered in the priority assessment of brownfields restoration: their potential contribution as corridors, their importance as stepping stones, and their resistance values. Then, we divided the brownfields into groups indicating the level of priority for restoration. The results show that 67% of the brownfields are of high or very high priority for restoration (mainly located in the north), and less than 10% area is recognized as very low or low priority. Our proposed approach could be a valuable tool for providing a macro-scale assessment of restoration priorities of brownfields for enhancing the GI network connectivity, and giving instructions for on-site redevelopment.