Martina Bosone (p), Anna Onesti , Luigi Fusco Girard

Eva Stegmeijer

See extended abstract

Eva Stegmeijer (p)

Martina Bosone

Over the last decades heritage conservation activity across Western Europe has been shifting. More dynamic, developmental and holistic approaches of cultural heritage have emerged. One of the major drivers of this development-oriented outlook on built heritage has been of economic nature: adaptation to new demands can guarantee ongoing functionality and an financial base for maintenance. Notwithstanding this rather instrumental impetus, there are more fundamental legitimations for a more dynamic view, drawing on the notion that heritage evolves over time, as do the meanings attributed to it.

Several authors have discussed these shifts, generally comparing, or even preferring, the ‘old’ (preservationist) concept to the ‘new’ (dynamic) one. Earlier research (e.g. Janssen et al., 2017) theorizes an evolution, rather than paradigm shift, of heritage conservation in the Netherlands and proposes a conceptual framework of the increasingly interlinked nature of heritage conservation and the spatial-economic domain. Three approaches to heritage in shaping spatial planning outcomes are described: heritage as a spatial sector (preserving by isolating heritage from spatial dynamics), via an approach in which it is regarded as a factor in spatial dynamics (heritage as an asset and stimulus to urban regeneration), to regarding it as what we have termed a vector, determining the direction of spatial projects and developments.

In the current research, this frame is now empirically tested. Drawing on the theoretical work of, amongst others, Ashworth, Pendlebury and Fairclough, the coexistence of the three approaches to heritage in Dutch spatial planning is chronicled. In particular, the national Dutch policy programme Vision on Heritage and Spatial Planning (2011-2019) is studied through this framework. It is assessed for its contribution to the development of (policy) instruments and, more generally best practices and evidence for each form of heritage utilization for the benefit of cities and regions. Comprising over a 150 experimental collaboration projects, the programme aims to contribute to the development of heritage strategies in responding to very actual challenges such as climate change, energy transition, water safety, demographic decline, agricultural transition, urban pressure and restructuring of more recent (post-WWII) urban areas. While combining conservation goals with development potential, an increasingly central importance is given to the involvement of people and their memories, values, and narratives tied with the physical historic environment, generally in combination with the interdisciplinary knowledge of experts through such instruments as the landscape biography.

The paper invites further debate on the conceptual frame and transitions it reflects.