Kulturerbe und Transformation in der Regional- und Stadtforschung

Inhalte

Heritage is central to contemporary towns, cities and regions today. From industrial sites, through ancient ruins, to festivals heritage can be understood in terms of constituent elements of a city or region or it can be used more expansively to the city/ region in general as a spatial-cultural quality of e.g. an urban centre or regional landscape. Urban/ landscape heritage is central to policy, planning and politics, becoming embroiled in approaches to and conflicts over urbanisation, deindustrialisation, tourism, social and cultural identities and urban/ regional democracy. This module examines the spatial politics and geographies of heritage from regional and urban perspectives in the context of transformation processes. We consider how heritage can become central to overlapping discourses on these transformation processes as well as on identities, built environment, urban/ regional history and plans for the future of towns, cities and regions. We consider how heritage can contribute to spatial inequalities and conflicts over public space, identity, community and economic development. We engage critically with concepts of urban and regional heritage from their emergence in mid-20 th century Europe. Empirically, we focus on diverse global contexts, in both the Global North (e.g. Western Europe, post-socialist countries) and South (Africa, Asia).