Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.9
3.2
Journals
Land
Special Issues
Urban Landscape Transformation vs. Heritage and Memory
share announcement

Urban Landscape Transformation vs. Heritage and Memory

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Land Planning and Landscape Architecture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 September 2026 | Viewed by 3647

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Bojana Bojanic Obad Scitaroci

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Urban Planning, Spatial Planning and Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, University of Zagreb, Kačićeva 26, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: protection of cultural heritage; traditional architecture; landscape architecture; tourism; cultural landscape; post-disaster scape; soundscape; walkscape and space syntax
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Nerma Omićević

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Architecture Program, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, International University of Sarajevo, Hrasnička Cesta br. 15, Ilidža, 71210 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Interests: post-disaster scapes; urbanscapes; urbanscape identity; landscape; architecture; memorialscapes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Tamara Zaninović

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Urban Planning, Spatial Planning and Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, University of Zagreb, Kačićeva 26, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: streetscapes; walkability; urban landscapes; public space; memorials; space syntax; urban growth; historical routes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Following the success of the Special Issue “Urban Landscape Transformation vs. Heritage”, we are pleased to announce the launch of a second volume, “Urban Landscape Transformation vs. Heritage and Memory”.

Cities are systems composed of urban and natural landscapes with intangible and tangible layers, continuously developing and overlapping. Based on this perspective, layers of heritage and memory are inherent to urban transformation as a part of the continuous process of urban change. However, urban transformations can have different, possibly unwanted, outcomes.

As cities today face the consequences of rapid population growth and uncontrolled urbanisation, as well as the impact of environmental changes and disaster, there is growing pressure in terms of land resources and the limited usable land available in urban areas. Within this rapidly shifting, everchanging, and globally evolving urban context, rethinking the role of heritage and memory as an integral part of urban landscapes and land usage requires new attention, definitions, and comparisons.

Therefore, this Special Issue employs the term heritage urbanism, an internationally recognised scientific approach to the restoration and revitalisation of cultural, natural, and mixed heritage.

The goal of this Special Issue is to collect papers (original research articles and review papers) to address the following questions:

  • How can urban landscape transformation contribute to the protection of heritage and influence the perception of memory?
  • Does urban landscape transformation, in fact, transform heritage and memory?
  • Can urban landscape transformation achieve an awarenes of memory and generate new heritage?

This Special Issue will welcome manuscripts that use comparative approaches to address the following themes:

  • Urban landscape transformation and memory;
  • Urban landscape transformation through heritage preservation;
  • Urban landscape transformation as an opportunity to use heritage to support change towards sustainability and resilience;
  • Urban landscape transformation as a catalyst for creating new heritage systems;
  • Memory and the perception of heritage in urban landscape transformation;
  • Awareness of heritage-related issues in urban landscape transformation;
  • Modes and types of memorialisation in urban landscape transformation;
  • Perception and awareness of lost/perserved landscape values in urban transfromation.

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Prof. Dr. Bojana Bojanic Obad Scitaroci
Dr. Nerma Omićević
Dr. Tamara Zaninović
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

 

Keywords

  • urban landscape transformation
  • memorialisation
  • heritage resilience
  • active vs. passive land use
  • cultural heritage
  • natural heritage
  • heritage urbanism
  • forgotten urban layers

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

31 pages, 9196 KB  
Article
Balancing Ecological Restoration and Industrial Landscape Heritage Values Through a Digital Narrative Approach: A Case Study of the Dagushan Iron Mine, China
by Xin Bian, Andre Brown and Bruno Marques
Land 2026, 15(1), 155; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15010155 - 13 Jan 2026
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 583
Abstract
Under rapid urbanization and ecological transformation, balancing authenticity preservation with adaptive reuse presents a major challenge for industrial heritage landscapes. This study investigates the Dagushan Iron Mine in Anshan, China’s first large-scale open-pit iron mine and once the deepest in Asia, which is [...] Read more.
Under rapid urbanization and ecological transformation, balancing authenticity preservation with adaptive reuse presents a major challenge for industrial heritage landscapes. This study investigates the Dagushan Iron Mine in Anshan, China’s first large-scale open-pit iron mine and once the deepest in Asia, which is currently undergoing ecological backfilling that threatens its core landscape morphology and spatial integrity. Using a mixed-method approach combining archival research, spatial documentation, qualitative interviews, and expert evaluation through the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), we construct a cross-validated evidence chain to examine how evidence-based industrial landscape heritage values can inform low-intervention digital narrative strategies for off-site learning. This study contributes theoretically by reframing authenticity and integrity under ecological transition as the traceability and interpretability of landscape evidence, rather than material survival alone. Evaluation involving key stakeholders reveals a value hierarchy in which historical value ranks highest, followed by social and cultural values, while scientific–technological and ecological–environmental values occupy the mid-tier. Guided by these weights, we develop a four-layer value-to-narrative translation framework and an animation design pathway that supports curriculum-aligned learning for off-site students. This study establishes an operational link between evidence chain construction, value weighting, and digital storytelling translation, offering a transferable workflow for industrial heritage landscapes undergoing ecological restoration, including sites with World Heritage potential or status. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Landscape Transformation vs. Heritage and Memory)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

23 pages, 72638 KB  
Article
Spatiotemporal Distribution and Heritage Corridor Construction of Vernacular Architectural Heritage in the Cao’e River, Jiaojiang River, and Oujiang River Basin
by Liwen Jiang, Jun Cai and Yilun Fan
Land 2025, 14(7), 1484; https://doi.org/10.3390/land14071484 - 17 Jul 2025
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1735
Abstract
The Cao’e-Jiaojiang-Oujiang River Basin possesses abundant vernacular architectural heritage with significant historical–cultural value. However, challenges like dispersed distribution and inconsistent conservation hinder its systematic protection and utilization within territorial spatial planning, necessitating a deeper understanding of its spatiotemporal patterns. Utilizing 570 identified heritage [...] Read more.
The Cao’e-Jiaojiang-Oujiang River Basin possesses abundant vernacular architectural heritage with significant historical–cultural value. However, challenges like dispersed distribution and inconsistent conservation hinder its systematic protection and utilization within territorial spatial planning, necessitating a deeper understanding of its spatiotemporal patterns. Utilizing 570 identified heritage sites, this study employed ArcGIS spatial analysis (Kernel Density Estimation, Nearest Neighbor Index), correlation analysis with DEM data, and suitability analysis (Minimum Cumulative Resistance model, Gravity Model) to systematically examine spatial distribution characteristics, their evolution, and relationships with the geographical environment and historical context. Results revealed a distinct “four cores and three belts” spatial pattern. Temporally, distribution evolved from “discrete” (Song-Yuan) to “aggregated” (Ming-Qing) and then “diffused” (Modern era). Spatially, heritage showed density in plains, preference for low slopes, and settlement along waterways. Suitability analysis indicated higher corridor potential in the northern section (Cao’e-Jiaojiang) than the south (Oujiang), leading to the identification of a “Northern Segment (Shaoxing-Ningbo-Shengzhou-Taizhou)” and “Southern Segment (Wenzhou-Lishui)” corridor structure. This research provides a scientific basis for systematic conservation and integrated heritage corridor construction of vernacular architectural heritage in the basin, supporting Zhejiang’s Poetry Road Cultural Belt initiatives and cultural heritage protection within territorial spatial planning. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Landscape Transformation vs. Heritage and Memory)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop