Dear Colleagues,

Cultural heritage reuse/conservation/valorization and circular economy are intertwined. Today, there are many cities that are defining themselves as a “circular city”, but they still do not recognize the reuse/valorization of the heritage as an entry point for the implementation of a “circular economy” local development and for a "human centered" strategy.

Most of the practices of the circular cities focus their attention on material and energy flows, on the rational/efficient use of resources, and on the elimination (or at least minimization) of waste. The strategic actions are mainly related to maintenance, reuse, repair, etc. and to effective waste management.

Certainly, in the circular approach, resources are re-used, recovered, recycled, regenerated, and shared, prolonging the use values. Among resources, cultural heritage/landscape that has historical, artistic, and cultural values can play a significant role in the implementation of the “circular city”: as an effective driver for the “circular economy” strategy, oriented toward implementing the “human-centered city”.

The comprehensive quality of the city landscape depends on the density of the circular processes not only because through them it is possible to avoid non-uses, underutilization, waste, and therefore obsolescence/degradation of spatial–territorial resources (in which not used areas progressively turn into waste deposits).

In effect, the essence itself of the circular economy is in its characteristic as an “economy of relationships”, and in particular as an “economy of cooperative relationships”.

The reuse, rehabilitation, restoration of cultural heritage/landscape, conserving and updating the use-values and “intrinsic” values of heritage in the long horizon is part of the circular economy processes.

Both reuse/conservation and circular economy aim to extend the life cycle of the assets as much as possible. The reuse/conservation of cultural heritage can take place through circular economy processes and vice versa: One of the sectors through which the circular economy can be implemented is represented by cultural heritage/landscape conservation. Better than other investments, reuse/valorization contributes to sustainable development. The adaptive reuse produces multidimensional benefits: cultural benefits (conserving “alive” a symbol of community identity), economic benefits (in terms of increase of productivity, etc.), environmental benefits (i.e., reduction of resource consumption), and social benefits. Heritage reuse in the perspective of the circular model increases, first of all, the contribution to revitalize the local economy with jobs, new businesses, new activities, tax revenues, and local expenditure, to provide valuable wildlife habitat and recreational amenities, as well as to regenerate economic wealth. Empirical evidence confirms that creative/productive activities prefer historic districts/assets for their localization. Thus, cultural heritage can become a hub of creative activities. Circular economic processes are able to produce a reduction of costs. The non-used cultural heritage represents a “cost”. Its creative functional re-use can reduce this “cost”, transforming it into an investment.

Cultural heritage adaptive reuse/conservation is also able to produce environmental values, in particular in terms of avoided costs (reduction of energy consumption, waste reduction, etc.). It produces benefits as land saving use due to building reuse (rather than demolished) and the reduction in CO₂ emissions thanks to restoration of a building rather than rebuilding it. Thus, cultural heritage can help to face climate change challenge.

Adaptive reuse is able to produce social values. They refer, in particular, to the production of job. Producing jobs, adaptive reuse improves wellbeing and quality of life of the community. Adaptive reuse allows using cultural heritage in the present as in the in future, saving its memory and at the same time adapting its functions to the needs of the community, within a threshold that does not compromise their “complex value”.

Cultural values produced through adaptive reuse/valorization are also linked to the capacity to generate and regenerate relationships: to the promotion of a culture of relationships/cooperation. This specific characteristic is improved in heritage reuse/conservation because cultural heritage is a potential “connective infrastructure”, that is, an infrastructure capable of “keeping society more cohesive” (now highly fragmented, especially in big cities), creating and regenerating social relationships and bonds. Regenerating cultural heritage contributes to regenerating “connective infrastructure”, which in turn feeds the productivity of the activities within cultural heritage.

The “circular city” is the city that should recognize a key role in cultural landscape/heritage to conserve/valorize (through circular processes) as a specific resource for its integrated “human centered development”: “Human-centered| development is grounded on inclusive values, on connective capacity, and on reciprocity values (in the space and in the time). The “circular city” should invest in cultural heritage conservation/valorization, also because it contributes to the “human scale” of development, considering the particular landscape of ancient districts, with the human scale of its physical assets and reflection of human relationships which go beyond economic exchange ones, and which reflect dignity and human rights in a relational perspective.

Which are the conditions of successful adaptive reuse/valorization, though?

Which are the best practices of reuse/valorization in the circular model?

Which specific tools? Which innovative indicators for the evaluation of multidimensional impacts, or of the “intrinsic value”? Which innovative business and financial and governance models?

The Horizon 2020 research and innovation project CLIC “Circular Models Leveraging Investments in Cultural Heritage Adaptive Reuse” funded by the European Commission aims to explore the above research questions. This Special Issue aims to collect not only contributions from the CLIC project but also from other research projects focused on circular cities and cultural heritage.

Prof. Luigi Fusco Girard
Prof. Christian Ost
Guest Editors

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• Circular economy
• Circular city
• Cultural heritage
• Adaptive reuse
• Evaluation methods
• Multicriteria evaluation
• Sustainable innovation
• Circular business models
• Circular financing models
• Sustainable finance