Industrialisation and population concentration left its traces in soil and groundwater of the metropolitan areas of Europe and Latin America, in particular in the regions of intensive raw material exploration and industrial production. The management and the protection of the resource soil are associated closely with the widespread growth of metropolitan regions. Here the conflicts result in appearance from the increasing demand for living space (urban sprawl). Social conflicts and economic losses due to the migration of the particularly poor class of population to the city limits reach further explosiveness by uncontrolled settling on contaminated surfaces or contaminated sites and the associated endangerment of the health of these population groups. In order to take remedial measures here, an integrated procedure between planning, economics and environment is necessary. This can be achieved by the support of the technical and management capacities of the public and private actors involved as well as by the improvement of cooperative mechanisms. Experiences from the European area are valuable, the application in Latin America however needs a high degree of adjustment to the local circumstances.

INTEGRATION is an action initiated by the City of Stuttgart and funded by the European Commission in the URB-AL III programme. INTEGRATION aims at a sustainable inner urban development and brownfield revitalisation. Ecological and social aspects will be included into adequate urban planning concepts. Socially house building on brownfield areas will facilitate public participation with comprehension of deprived people. An adequate urban environmental quality will be provided by the generation of healthy working and living situation on brownfield areas, containment of urban sprawl and improvement of environmental awareness. The action partners carry out urban development and environmental projects. Each partner will work up the practised proceeding and develops optimisation suggestions in terms of a sustainable urban development. The action partners decide about the selection of suitable pilot projects and the implementation of adequate planning and investigation measures. Legal optimisation suggestions will be introduced on national level, e.g. with the aid of the network RELASC. A support can be funded in the following areas of action:

• Improvement of communication in order to prevent health damage particularly that of poor population groups, if necessary also by inclusion of social workers and public health services.

• Preventive identification of contaminated sites, in particular of industrial brownfield zones and evaluation with special consideration by town planning and planned soil use.

• Investigation and evaluation of soil contamination to selected sites.

• Support of public political approaches to brownfield revitalisation in inner urban areas with the goal to reduce use conflicts and to mobilise private capital for contaminated site remediation.