Industrial Heritage in the Focus of the Cultural Landscape

The Industrial Revolution brought an entirely new population structure, which is virtually unchanged to this day and more or less fulfills its role. Current efforts to redevelop industrial wastelands and abandoned buildings raises broader views than just architectural and construction issues. How will these changes and construction activities affect the intricate network of physical imprints of historical development in the surrounding area? How will they affect the living memory of the population and the local communities? Will intervention bring positive or negative impact on the socio-economic development and status of the areas? Is it possible to prevent failure and rejection of the project through including participation of the local population, the gradual phasing of the project or choosing an appropriate scale? Industrial heritage and the issue of new uses for industrial sites are now often viewed from very different perspectives, from the scale of individual buildings or the scale of large areas of brownfields. As yet little explored but increasingly discussed as an absolutely key theme in recent years, however, is the mid-level scale of the cultural landscape. This change of perspective raises new questions about how to preserve and protect industrial heritage in an active, living area. Is modernization of these areas always necessary? What is hiding in our industrial past? Is it really the engine for economic growth, new innovative future and link between socio-cultural factors? These issues are familiar to all countries with an industrial past, regardless of their level of industrialization. There are many untapped opportunities and internal capacities waiting to become smart solutions. The aim of the project is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the processes influencing further development in areas with an industrial past, as well as finding new uses for such areas: - Historical imprints of the industrial past and new potential of postindustr