Sustainable urban land management is a requirement increasingly formulated within political strategies in European countries and beyond. Because of its potential to avoid land consumption and to strengthen inner-urban structures the revitalization of degraded land is seen as major contribution to sustainable urban development. Due to the multitude of actors involved but also because of the uncertainties caused by potential contamination revitalization projects are characterized by complex decision making. For this reason in recent years a series of innovative methodologies and tools has been developed to support sustainable brownfield revitalization. Those tools usually are applicable within a specific context but their transferability to other regions and countries is often limited. Within this article, we present the collaborative work of a German-US American working group which recently applied, evaluated and improved four decision support tools. The German tools are based on quantitative methodologies and are partly computer based. They support users in finding the best option for land re-use, considering a scope of aspects such as contamination and remediation, sustainable urban development, planning aesthetics and energy aspects. The US tools provide check lists that allow local actors to assess and compare different sites throughout the community, e.g. in order to find the best vacant place for a specific use required (assessment of a portfolio), and to initiate and assess urban land use policy and planning in terms of sustainability. All tools have in common that they can be used by public bodies or politicians and also by investors. Thus their application initiates deliberative planning processes and enables collaboration of a diversity of actors. Within this article, we introduce the four tools which were applied in the collaborative project and discuss benefits and hindrances observed.