Cultural Heritage Preservation as a Basis for Sustainable Development and Transformation of Historic Urban Landscapes (Second Edition)
A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Land Planning and Landscape Architecture".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 351
Special Issue Editors
Interests: conservation; cultural heritage; economics of conservation; fields of creative power; sustainable development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: heritage-based integrated urban development; heritage governance; heritage management and heritage communication; project development and strategic coordination of policies in an international environment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: heritage values; historic urban landscape approach; community resilience; digitally-mediated heritage practices; grassroots mobilization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Cultural heritage and cultural landscapes are a popular topic of research. Preservation and development are often presented as two poles that need to be balanced. With this Special Issue, we aim to utilize a contemporary approach that uses heritage (preservation) as the starting point for sustainable development policies, strategies, projects, and results. Starting with a systemic understanding of heritage that includes objects, landscapes, subjects, processes, values, etc., and views heritage as a system and process, this Special Issue will explore how heritage can contribute, stimulate, facilitate, and accompany urban development, as well as transformation projects and processes.
The aim of this Special Issue is to explore the potential of cultural heritage and cultural landscapes as dynamic and integrative resources for sustainable urban development, resilience, and transformation. Moving beyond the traditional dichotomy of preservation and development, we adopt a systemic and process-oriented perspective that understands heritage as an evolving framework encompassing objects, landscapes, communities, values, practices, and meanings. We do not view heritage as a constraint, but rather as an active driver and catalyst for sustainable development, inclusive growth, and adaptive urban transformation.
This Special Issue seeks to demonstrate how heritage can contribute to, stimulate, facilitate, and accompany processes of sustainable urban development, risk mitigation, climate adaptation, and socio-ecological transformation. We encourage interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral approaches that connect cultural, social, environmental, and technological dimensions of change and resilience.
We invite contributions that offer theoretical, conceptual, and practical insights into the role of heritage in sustainable transformation, including, but not limited to, the following themes:
- Case studies of sustainable development and transformation that are based on or related to urban heritage;
- Conceptual and theoretical papers related to heritage-based urban development, transformation, and resilience;
- Challenges and problems associated with heritage preservation and transformation processes;
- Literature reviews exploring the intersection of heritage, sustainability, and urban resilience;
- Challenges, threats, and transformation at (World) Heritage Sites;
- Examples and case studies on the effects and impacts of heritage-based development and change;
- Contextualization of change and transformation from theoretical and systemic perspectives;
- Issues related to governance approaches, tools, and participatory mechanisms;
- Heritage as a resource for resilience and adaptation to risks such as climate change.
In addition, we welcome papers addressing emerging and interdisciplinary topics, including, but not limited to, the following:
- Heritage and Well-being: The role of heritage in promoting individual, community, and societal well-being; heritage spaces as environments for healing, identity formation, and social cohesion.
- Heritage and Trauma: Approaches to difficult, dissonant, and contested heritage; the role of memory, reconciliation, and healing in post-conflict or post-disaster contexts.
- Heritage and Social Justice: Inclusive and participatory heritage practices; decolonizing heritage narratives; addressing inequalities in access to and benefits from heritage resources.
- Digital Heritage and Transformation: The role of digital tools (AI, VR, GIS, digital twins) in heritage documentation, management, and participatory transformation processes.
- Heritage and Ecological Transition: Integrating heritage values into climate adaptation, ecological regeneration, and circular economy strategies; heritage landscapes as ecological and cultural systems.
- Heritage and Innovation: Adaptive reuse and creative industries as drivers of sustainable urban regeneration; heritage-led design and place-making.
- Temporal and Processual Dimensions of Heritage: Understanding heritage as a dynamic and evolving process balancing continuity and change across time and scale.
By bringing together diverse disciplinary perspectives, methodologies, and empirical experiences, this Special Issue aims to advance our systemic understanding of heritage as both a foundation and a catalyst for sustainable, resilient, and inclusive urban transformation.
We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.
Prof. Dr. Christer Gustafsson
Dr. Matthias Ripp
Dr. Manal Ginzarly
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
- cultural heritage
- sustainable development
- historic urban landscape
- urban transformation
- resilience
- cultural landscapes
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