Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
6.4
3.5
Journals
Land
Special Issues
Cultural Heritage Preservation as a Basis for Sustainable Development and...
share announcement

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) belonging to the section "Land Planning and Landscape Architecture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 December 2026 | Viewed by 6703

Editors

Prof. Dr. Christer Gustafsson

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Art History, Uppsala University, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden
Interests: conservation; cultural heritage; economics of conservation; fields of creative power; sustainable development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Matthias Ripp

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department for Cultural Heritage, Organisation of World Heritage Cities, 93047 Regensburg, Germany
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
Dr. Manal Ginzarly

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
ArGEnCo Department, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
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-anonymized 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

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 (4 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

26 pages, 20676 KB  
Article
From Preservation to Transformation: Long-Term Locational Vitality Evolution and Multi-Scale Influencing Factors of Heritage Spaces in the Yangtze River Delta, China
by Zhihui Shen and Kaida Chen
Land 2026, 15(9), 1722; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15091722 - 16 Sep 2026
Viewed by 58
Abstract
Heritage spaces are gradually transforming from traditional conservation objects into dynamic resources that promote urban regeneration and regional development. However, their long-term vitality changes and associated influencing factors remain insufficiently understood. This study investigates national-level heritage spaces in the Yangtze River Delta, including [...] Read more.
Heritage spaces are gradually transforming from traditional conservation objects into dynamic resources that promote urban regeneration and regional development. However, their long-term vitality changes and associated influencing factors remain insufficiently understood. This study investigates national-level heritage spaces in the Yangtze River Delta, including national-level historic and cultural blocks, historic and cultural towns, and tourism and leisure blocks. An analytical framework integrating nighttime light remote sensing data, economic development indicators, population characteristics, and spatial location conditions was established to examined long-term locational vitality changes (as reflected by nighttime light intensity), spatial differentiation, and associated influencing factors of heritage spaces. The results show that (1) from 2000 to 2022, national-level heritage spaces in the Yangtze River Delta exhibited an overall significant increase in nighttime light intensity, indicating positive locational dynamism during the study period, although substantial differences existed among individual sites; (2) different types of heritage spaces demonstrated significantly different nighttime light change patterns, with spatial distributions showing clustering characteristics mainly concentrated in core urban areas; and (3) the evolution of locational vitality of heritage spaces was jointly influenced by economic conditions and population characteristics. A stronger service-oriented economic structure was associated with greater vitality enhancement, while population-related factors exhibited scale-dependent associations. County-level population density showed a negative relationship with vitality growth, whereas local population density around heritage spaces was not statistically significant, suggesting that population concentration alone does not necessarily guarantee vitality improvement. This study reveals the locational vitality transformation of national-level heritage spaces from conservation toward adaptive development, as reflected by nighttime light changes, from a long-term dynamic perspective and establishes a multi-scale influencing factor analysis framework, providing theoretical support and empirical references for the classification, adaptive utilization, and sustainable development of heritage spaces. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cultural Heritage Preservation as a Basis for Sustainable Development and Transformation of Historic Urban Landscapes (Second Edition))
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

26 pages, 17608 KB  
Article
Towards Character-Based Zoning: Managing Historic Urban Landscapes and Integrating a Dynamic Integrity Framework in Jingdezhen, China
by Ding He, Yameng Zhang and Liqiong Wu
Land 2026, 15(4), 615; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15040615 - 9 Apr 2026
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 854
Abstract
The Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach provides a vital and extensive framework for heritage conservation. However, local practices often struggle to spatially translate qualitative assessments into quantitative controls at the urban block level, the most effective basic scale for administrative implementation, thereby limiting [...] Read more.
The Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach provides a vital and extensive framework for heritage conservation. However, local practices often struggle to spatially translate qualitative assessments into quantitative controls at the urban block level, the most effective basic scale for administrative implementation, thereby limiting effective responses to the Management of Change. By integrating HUL with the theory of Dynamic Integrity, this study constructs a multi-dimensional evaluation index system and proposes a HUL evaluation method based on Character-Based Zoning. Taking the 125 urban block units of the historic urban area of Jingdezhen as a case study, this research integrates historical mapping, GIS spatial analysis, and Co-occurrence Network Analysis to reveal the internal structural logic of the heritage system. The study finds that the HUL of Jingdezhen is a multi-nodal dynamic system driven by four core elements: ritual beliefs, administrative management, production activities, and commercial guilds. Critically, modern visual intrusions severely impact the core heritage components within this system, specifically the Dubang and ritual culture. Based on the three dimensions of Heritage Richness, Landscape Sensitivity and Value Centrality, the study systematically identifies a total of 11 types of urban block units within the plots that characterize distinct historic landscape features and transformation patterns. This research not only deepens the localized application of HUL theory but also provides a scientific basis and methodological support for the Management of Change and periodic assessment in dynamic heritage environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cultural Heritage Preservation as a Basis for Sustainable Development and Transformation of Historic Urban Landscapes (Second Edition))
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

17 pages, 5327 KB  
Article
A GeoDetector–MGWR Framework for Place-Based Cultural Heritage Strategies: Evidence from the Chungcheong Region, South Korea
by Donghwa Shon, Byungjin Kim and Eunteak Lim
Land 2026, 15(3), 384; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15030384 - 27 Feb 2026
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1149
Abstract
This study applies an integrated analytical framework combining GeoDetector and multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) to examine how the spatial distribution of cultural heritage values in the Chungcheong region of South Korea (Chungcheongnam-do and Chungcheongbuk-do) relates to regional socio-spatial contexts. Using the Korea [...] Read more.
This study applies an integrated analytical framework combining GeoDetector and multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) to examine how the spatial distribution of cultural heritage values in the Chungcheong region of South Korea (Chungcheongnam-do and Chungcheongbuk-do) relates to regional socio-spatial contexts. Using the Korea Heritage Service’s heritage basic survey data (coordinates, attributes, and value assessments), we aggregated heritage value scores to a 1 km grid and modeled six value dimensions—historical, artistic, academic, social, rarity, and conservation—as separate dependent variables. We then integrated socio-spatial indicators derived from statistical grid maps published by the National Geographic Information Institute (official land price, building density, green space, road accessibility, total population, working-age population share, and aging rate). GeoDetector was first used to identify key determinants and interaction effects by value dimension, and MGWR was then used to estimate local effect heterogeneity and variable-specific operating scales. Results show that heritage values are better explained by multi-factor configurations—urbanization, land value, green space, accessibility, and demographic structure—whose importance varies by value dimension, and that the same factor can exert different directions and strengths across local contexts. By linking “what matters” (key determinants) with “where and at what scale it matters” (local effects and bandwidths), this study provides quantitative evidence to support place-based conservation and utilization strategies. The proposed GeoDetector–MGWR framework is transferable to other regions where spatial heritage inventories and comparable socio-spatial indicators are available. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cultural Heritage Preservation as a Basis for Sustainable Development and Transformation of Historic Urban Landscapes (Second Edition))
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

25 pages, 6182 KB  
Article
A Study on the Spatial Narrative of Historical Urban Landscape Based on Water–Land Symbiosis: The Case of Suzhou Ancient City in China
by Chao Shan, Rui Yang and Jingru Feng
Land 2025, 14(12), 2413; https://doi.org/10.3390/land14122413 - 12 Dec 2025
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3323
Abstract
Suzhou’s historic city center serves as a significant repository of Jiangnan cultural memory. However, ongoing urban modernization and large-scale population inflows have introduced notable challenges to heritage preservation, particularly deficiencies in spatial structure and coordination. Accordingly, this study constructs a “Historical Stratification–Spatial Cognition–Existential [...] Read more.
Suzhou’s historic city center serves as a significant repository of Jiangnan cultural memory. However, ongoing urban modernization and large-scale population inflows have introduced notable challenges to heritage preservation, particularly deficiencies in spatial structure and coordination. Accordingly, this study constructs a “Historical Stratification–Spatial Cognition–Existential Narrative” framework to interpret the city’s historical urban landscape. Focusing on Suzhou—a representative canal-based historic city—this research integrates literature review with field investigation. It maps the physical points, lines, and planes of the historical urban landscape to corresponding elements, scenes, and plots within spatial narratives, thereby forming coherent and multi-perspective pathways of historical spatial narration. Moreover, by examining the coupled relationship among space, narrative, and memory, the study analyzes the spatiotemporal evolution and cultural characteristics of Suzhou’s water–land symbiosis. As a result, it identifies the intrinsic logic and mechanisms of spatial narratives within historic urban landscapes and expands the applicability of spatial narrative theory. Overall, the findings provide new insights for uncovering and revitalizing cultural heritage in Suzhou’s Old City within the Jiangnan context, while offering innovative conservation approaches and methodological strategies for reconstructing historical memory and guiding sustainable urban renewal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cultural Heritage Preservation as a Basis for Sustainable Development and Transformation of Historic Urban Landscapes (Second Edition))
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop