Adaptive Thinking in Cities: Urban Continuity within Built Environments

Abstract

Adaptive reuse of built heritage is increasingly critical for reasons of sustainability, particularly in urban spaces. With increasing pressures for building and housing, the building and construction industry will likely continue to contribute 39% of all carbon emissions in the world, with operational emissions accounting for 28%. Further demolition, urban renewal and rebuilding not only obstruct pathways to decarbonisation but create shocks that disrupt and displace communities. We argue that it is essential to support built heritage beyond conventional urban renewal approaches and to position it as a critical community-based asset that can leverage local knowledge and promote a sustainable and more circular economy. However, such an agenda must acknowledge the challenges of adopting new innovative practices that can reduce strain on current material and social resources. This paper situates adaptive reuse as critical in strategies to reuse existing building stock and other broader sustainability movements, framing it from an economic angle. A case study approach explores adaptive reuse interventions and how these might be extended to other areas.

Urban buildings sustainable adaptive reuse into tourism accommodation establishments: a SOAR analysis

“…One of the primary strengths of adaptive reuse in the hospitality sector is its contribution to a sustainable built environment [130,131]. By repurposing existing structures, developers can reduce the environmental footprint associated with new construction [132]. This aligns with the global shift towards sustainability and circular building practices [38,52].…”

A Comparative Analysis of Museum Accessibility in High-Density Asian Cities: Case Studies from Seoul and Tokyo

“…These factors indirectly play a positive role in promoting projects involving the construction of urban museums [18][19][20][21]. The newly constructed museums satisfy the requirements of tourists who visit the city to explore the regional culture [22,23], thereby strengthening the city brand and actively promoting it to become a cultural city [17,19,23]. These characteristics have been reflected in the special wards of Tokyo (hereinafter referred to as Tokyo) and Seoul, the two cities compared in this study.…”

“…In addition, the social crisis caused by COVID-19 between 2020 and 2022 led to restrictions on museum visits and forced museum authorities to develop alternative operating measures [58][59][60] and is the main reason for the recent promotion of the digitalization of museums. Positive added values, such as cultural publicity, economic profits, and strengthening of city brand created by diverse travelers visiting museums, in the urban tourism of cultural cities have been observed [17,19,21,23]. With COVID-19 no longer being a global health emergency, as declared by the World Health Organization in May 2023 [61], the urban tourism business, which has been subdued for the past three years, is expected to revive as air traffic gradually returns to pre-COVID-19 levels.…”

“…The transformation process from an industrial to a cultural city entails the regeneration of industrial heritage sites and the construction of new cultural facilities. These factors indirectly play a positive role in promoting projects involving the construction of urban museums [18][19][20][21]. The newly constructed museums satisfy the requirements of tourists who visit the city to explore the regional culture [22,23], thereby strengthening the city brand and actively promoting it to become a cultural city [17,19,23].…”