Reclaiming the Industrial Past: Linking Industrial Cultural Landscapes with Urban Brownfield Renewal
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37134/kupasseni.vol14.sp.2.2026Keywords:
Industrial Cultural Landscapes, Brownfield Regeneration, Place Identity, Place Identity Culture- Led RegenerationAbstract
In the post-industrial era, many cities face the challenge of regenerating brownfield sites while preserving the cultural legacies of their industrial past. This paper addresses the prospects of the framework of industrial cultural landscapes in the area of brownfield regeneration to produce place identity, collective memory and socio-cultural resilience. Breaking away from redevelopment models that are mainly based on economic development and ecological reclaiming, the work insists on industrial heritage as one of the key recommendations for change and sustainable use. Using a mixedmethod research design the work is conducted as a case study research in the Jianxi District of Luoyang, a historic industrial city located in central China.
Spatial mapping provides information on the distribution and transformation of heritage assets while site investigation and interviews with planning authorities, heritage professionals and community stakeholder representatives are used to gain an understanding of perceptions, priorities and issues of culture-led regeneration. In sum, the presented methods present an overall view of how industrial cultural values can be incorporated in the conceptualization and strategies of designing the urban brownfield regeneration processes.
These findings show that industrial cultural landscapes offer a multi-layered framework which links material remains, narratives and community identity. Cultural values for redevelopment is one strategyto build place attachment, integrate the public and build resilience in communities. By reusing the industrial heritage and establishing a link between it and the contemporary life of the city, brownfield transformation is able to regain continuity and malleability. The article makes a contribution to the developing discourse on culture-led regeneration by proposing a contextcritical approach of cultural heritage and sustainable urban regeneration.
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