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In Durban, South Africa, the apartheid planning legacy led to the creation of various development nodes within the city. Nevertheless, such nodes are most often developer-driven and do not cater to the needs of existing communities. The resultant effect is the lost and insurgent space created between urban nodes within the city. Insurgency can be seen in the form of informal settlements, self-help housing and urban homesteaders (squatters and homeless, using private property or government land). Sociocultural segregation, urban despair, insurgency and lost space now exist between these nodes. In response to these challenges, adaptive reuse of buildings and urban space represents a sustainable solution by extending buildings’ life and reducing the overall carbon footprint. Low-carbon emissions are a key component of sustainable urban environments and in turn contribute to mitigate the consequences of climate change. Such approach forms part of sustainable urban regeneration, with social and economic benefits to society. To develop sustainable urban neighbourhoods all stakeholders and inhabitants need to be meaning fully involved, towards more resilient cities. This paper applied a set of hybrid mapping tools—drone mapping, transect walks, sketches and observations—to capture lost and insurgent space. This helped defining lost and abandoned space within the study area, to understand how it is currently being used and evaluate its potential for adaptive reuse. By mapping spaces between development nodes in three case studies in Durban inner city, this paper seeks to analyse characteristics and factors that should be considered to determine the adaptive reuse potential of buildings, towards developing more inclusive and resilient cities.

It has been stated that Venturi emphasises a sense of pluralism whilst also legitimising that many beliefs of conflicting and contradictory nature can also co-exist. When documenting and reading complex urban contexts within South Asia, where layers of historical, social, cultural and architectural values contradict and conflict with one another there is profound ambiguity, complexity and a sense of contradiction within the urban environment. In this paper, a selection of orthographic drawings and photographs will be used to read the complexity, contradiction and ambiguity perceived on individual structures in Diu Town, a former Portuguese colony with a distinct Indian character yet a Mediterranean essence. In reading the contradictions, ambiguity and complexity of the built structures of Diu Town, the paper aims to pave the way for a re-interpretation of the derelict and abandoned heritage structures of the town and their potential future adaptive reuse. In this paper, the complexities and contradictions from which the architecture of the residential area arose will be investigated and reconciling towards the “difficult whole”.

Industrial heritage in Albania is a new concept which has started to be promoted only in these last years. After more than two decades of democracy, the country has not yet confronted management of underused industrial sites. This paper makes a general description of industrial sites in the city of Lac, Albania. Historical transformation and changes through time, has ended up with a complicated situation of some deteriorated sites and some others reused for various functions. Following, this case is compared with other successful reuse cases for industrial purposes, in England and Sweden. This study provides an alternative approach of reuse methodology in other EU countries and an example of good practices. Furthermore, Albanian businessman and the government can learn how to deal with similar cases in other cities, where industrial sites are still abandoned and left without investments. At the end, this paper gives contribution in the limited academic studies regarding industrial heritage in country.

More than 60% of Italy is occupied by inner areas in continuous depopulation. It is a continuous abandonment which has led to the constant aging of towns and to devastating effects on the hydrogeological system but also to the risk of loss of local identities. In this heritage at risk, we can be able to find one of the cornerstones of a territorial rebirth. Slow tourism can be the appropriate action for a place-based strategy that is able to adequately enhance this widespread heritage. It is no coincidence that the theme of the recovery of public assets along slow tourism lines is increasingly relevant in the inner areas. In this sense, our research question focuses to imagine an antifragile tourism model that, starting from potential unused resources of territorial capital, can act to minimize fragility and maximize attractiveness. To do that, we suggest the use of an hybrid methodological approach based on the combined use of Geographic Information Systems and Multicriteria Analysis, in order to support the decision process to identify disused buildings suitable for adaptive reuse. What is challenging is to find out balanced reuse strategies, able to bring benefits both to the most attractive sites as well as to the most fragile ones according to the line perspective. In this paper, we present the first steps of an integrated model for the valorization of disused buildings, enhancing the regenerative capacity of slow tourism.

The purpose of this paper is to show the importance of activities related to the re-use of the bank buildings as part of sustainable development policy. Existing old and historic bank buildings have great architectural potential. It should also be mentioned that bank buildings are among the most crucial constructions in the hierarchy of city buildings and as such, they are a testament to the cultural heritage of cities. Preserving them in the city structures enriches social capital, cultural value, and tradition. In this context, the adaptation of the bank buildings to perform new features seems very well-founded, but above all, it becomes important for the promotion of sustainability environment.

As the increasing demand for sustainable investments together with the changing environmental and economic conditions are currently observed, adaptation and conversion of historic buildings gains on popularity. This has simultaneously led to the creation of a new area on the housing market that is often referred to as co-living. It is about apartments or houses with shared spaces and amenities. These two trends are reflected in adaptive reuse projects of historic industrial buildings converted into co-living spaces with extremely varied target uses. This paper analyses design strategies for managing the historical character of post-industrial buildings in converting them into new-generation student residences as exemplified with a series of investments in European cities. We presented many challenges relating to micro-units and co-living spaces design in historic buildings along with corresponding solutions. We also set some methodological directions and certain guidelines and principles for research in this field. In conclusion, we discuss certain disadvantages and limitations of these kinds of investments.

The introduction of the sustainable development concept in the field of cultural heritage preservation has led relevant changes to traditional interventions on historical buildings and areas. Although the idea of reusing cultural heritage is not new, the emerging concept of adaptive reuse stresses even more the importance of a holistic approach for addressing successful interventions. Selecting among the potential uses the one that could ensure the preservation of physical characters as well as intangible values, fueling economic development, is a challenging policy and design issue. In this context, this paper proposes the use of Choice Experiments to support the design of adaptive reuse strategies for three mostly unused castles in Northern Italy characterized by different states of conservation, accessibility and surrounding territorial context.