Brownfield Building Investments Report

ASEAN is home to developed and emerging economies which experience high levels of urban migration and urban population growth. As economic activities are centered around dense cities or metropolitan areas in the region, these areas tend to be more built-up. However, as time passes, the need to upgrade existing infrastructure to accommodate more economic activities and people, ensure sustainability and livability, as well as to present a pleasant facade will emerge. The COVID-19 pandemic has also highlighted and accelerated technology adoption in creating an agile, safe, and connected environment.

More importantly, the importance placed on smart city, industry 4.0 and green initiatives in ASEAN means that existing infrastructure must adapt to these developments. In addition to progressive building design, much of these goals are achieved through the adoption and incorporation of technology including digital twinning, IoT, data analytics and green technology into real estate development which encompasses both greenfield and brownfield development. In the built-up urban areas around ASEAN, brownfield building investments through retrofitting existing buildings are more easily achievable due to lower costs and regulatory barriers.

This report seeks to briefly introduce brownfield building investments and the landscape for brownfieldbuilding investments in built-up urban areas in ASEAN. This is followed by various case studies of brownfield building improvement and repurposing grouped by broad post-development purposes of economic development and community revitalization to illustrate both the various forms of adaptations and innovations that have been adopted as well as the potential for brownfield investments in ASEAN.