A Research Agenda for Heritage Planning : Perspectives from Europe

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area.

Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel.

They are relevant but also visionary. This insightful Research Agenda examines the multidimensional relationship between heritage planning and pressing current societal challenges around climate, identity and development.

Mapping future avenues for the field, it suggests new approaches to executing, studying and reflecting on heritage planning.  Expert international contributors raise key questions that challenge practice and research to push for structural and institutional change, highlighting how heritage planning, conservation, and adaptive reuse have transformative potential - and the responsibilities that come with such potential.

Chapters explore central topics including industrial heritage and conservation planning, digital reconstruction methods and remote sensing technologies, rural tourism, participation and heritage-led regeneration, as well as issues around contestation and politicization, and the conceptualisations of heritage planning. Spanning the domains of theoretical and empirical insights, from academic outlooks to professional challenges, this Research Agenda will be a vital resource for academics and students of urban and human geography, heritage studies, planning, urban design and architecture.

Its examination of particular heritage projects will also be useful for policy makers and professionals working in the heritage planning field.