Case studies

Edinburgh – Granton

The northern periphery of Edinburgh brings together the diverse heritages one might expect to find at any city edge – obsolete industry, public housing, infrastructure, abandoned and still functioning – with the non-anthropic heritage of the sea and a coastline that has shifted significantly over centuries. This case engages with this condition and the ways in which local stakeholders – from small-scale community groups to city government to national cultural institutions : negotiate and narrate their situation within the complex and dynamic relations between these heritages, setting top-down strategies in the context of local development tactics.

Madrid – Usera & Villaverde

The rapid changes experienced by the southern urban fringes in the city of Madrid place heritage as an interesting object of reflection in the selected cases (Usera and Villaverde). In this sense, both neighborhoods experience social changes linked to the processes of heritage appropriation in which culturally heterogeneous social groups participate. But they are also the scene of public initiatives for urban regeneration. Therefore, heritage conservation, social participation, and urban regeneration are key aspects that mark urban dynamics in the Madrid urban fridges, as applied knowledge for urban/metropolitan management.

Paris – Plaine Commune

The current evolutions in the Parisian metropolis, and specifically the development of “Grand Paris” in conjunction with the hosting of the 2024 Olympic games, as well as the considerable pressures of real estate developments and on-going densification of the Parisian petite couronne make Paris an especially interesting case study. The analysis will more particularly focus on selected areas/sites of the Plaine Commune intercommunity and in particular Saint Denis, Saint-Ouen, and Aubervilliers.