Commoning Adaptive Heritage Reuse as a Driver of Social Innovation: Naples and the Scugnizzo Liberato Case Study

Abstract

The adaptive reuse of cultural heritage assets is often problematic. What emerges is the urgency of a thoughtful negotiation between built forms and emerging needs and requests. In this view, a fruitful trajectory of development arises in commoning heritage by means of adaptive reuse. Hence, the purpose of this article is to investigate how community-led adaptive heritage re-use practices contribute to social innovation in terms of new successful model of urban governance, by providing a specific focus on innovative aspects that emerge in both heritage and planning sectors. Therefore, it also aims to improve the knowledge in the innovative power of heritage when conceptualized as performative practice. To this end, the paper presents the adaptation process of a former church complex located in Naples, today Scugnizzo Liberato, one of the bottom-up initiatives recognized by the Municipality of Naples as part of the urban commons network of the city. The research results are based on desk research, a literature review, and interviews with experts and activists, conducted as part of the OpenHeritage project (Horizon 2020). Initial evidence shows that profound citizen involvement throughout the whole heritage-making process might generate innovative perspectives in urban governance as well as conservation planning practice.

Ethics and aesthetics of adaptive heritage reuse in Europe: an introduction to what happens to territories when heritage is touched

“…The openness of AHR projects proposed in this SI is thus instrumental to reinforce the bio-political implications of the heritage processes, aimed at sustaining urban-human change while protecting life through dynamic processes of conservation (Pulcini, 2013). As the reaction to COVID-19 has shown, the mobilization of living reuse processes might be an effective antidote to keep thriving under global disasters, contributing to create resilient urbanities (Fava, 2022a, b). Rethinking conservation through the lens of care ethics turns the spotlight on the hidden part of conservation work.…”

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“…Resilience is the keyword here. An exemplary resilient solution is the development of urban ecosystems, supported by bottom-up processes and institutionalized by community-based organizations [4,14,19]. What we learn from this Special Issue is that, instead of a comprehensive integrative SUD, robust sectoral solutions-or even phased solutions-are more likely to be sought.…”

“…However, readers may not anticipate the topic of urban heritage, which now occupies some space in this Special Issue. One paper discusses a former convent in Naples, which was later repurposed as a prison and can now be used as a community space thanks to a civic bottom-up initiative and legislative change [4]. This obviously has a lot to do with urban society, identity, and social innovation.…”

“…South America remains a blind spot in our Special Issue. The themes range from smart cities [11][12][13] and heritage [4,14] to policy options for regions in transition [13,[15][16][17]. In my call for papers, I raised five specific questions to which the submitted papers made valuable contributions:…”

Penajaman Strategi Pengembangan Kemandirian Desa Berbasis Kearifan Lokal

“…Proses adaptasi merupakan salah satu bagian dari proses evolusi kebudayaan, yakni proses yang mencakup rangkaian usaha-usaha manusia untuk menyesuaikan diri atau memberi respon terhadap perubahan lingkungan fisik maupun sosial yang terjadi secara temporal (Fava, 2022). Perubahan lingkungan yang sangat berpengaruh terhadap adaptasi manusia adalah perubahan lingkungan yang berupa bencana, yaitu kejadian yang menjadi ancaman terhadap kelangsungan hidup organisme termasuk disini adalah manusia.…”