Average social and territorial innovation impacts of industrial heritage regeneration: Fid-Bau Portal

Average social and territorial innovation impacts of industrial heritage regeneration

Scaffidi, Federica

Abstract Cities and fringes are often characterised by neglected heritages that affect the perceived quality of life in the territories, especially when it comes to industrial sites. Some studies suggest that their regeneration with social innovation fosters a greater feeling of belonging to the place, creates new socio-cultural activities and new jobs, and increases ground rent. Does this create territorial innovation? What are the impacts of S.I. and T.I. generated by regeneration? This paper aims to assess the average social and territorial innovation impacts of industrial heritage regeneration in cities and fringes and to test the hypothesis of a correlation between them. A mixed methods approach has been adopted with semi-structured telephonic interviews, data analysis, and comparison. 100 examples of industrial heritage regeneration in Europe, equally located in cities and fringes, were analysed. This research offers a novel theoretical contribution to the international literature, corroborating that social innovation plays a vital role in the territorial innovation of cities and fringes. The results show that the greater the social innovation, the higher the level of territorial innovation. Furthermore, this study confirms that innovation depends on location, new uses and regeneration model. These results contribute to the body of knowledge and open new research opportunities in theories and practice for territorial innovation and industrial heritage urban regeneration with social innovation.

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Highlights • Industrial heritage regeneration with social innovation is a driver for territorial innovation. • Three models of industrial heritage regeneration are identified. • Social innovation and territorial innovation are correlated. • The average impact of social and territorial innovation is higher in ecosystemic models. • The average impact of social and territorial innovation is slightly higher in cities than in fringes.