“Local Communities as Guardians of Industrial Herit-age Authenticity: Exploring the relation between sense of ownership and heritage au-thenticity during the reuse of the Wagenwerkplaats Amersfoort”

Abstract

Adaptive reuse of former industrial sites has increasingly found its place in urban development strategies in recognition of its potential to create culturally, socially, environmentally sustainable outcomes. Likewise, conservation efforts have shifted from primarily preventing demolition to preventing the loss of more detailed aspects of heritage authenticity. Currently, the broad recognition of the potential of reusing industrial heritage sites relates to an emerging potential for over-commercialization. Recognizing this threat, this research builds from a central position for local communities in assessing and maintaining heritage authenticity during reuse processes. Here, the main aim is to investigate the relation between on the one hand Lachapelle’s (2008) concept of sense of ownership in process, outcomes and distribution of outcomes and on the other hand conceptualizations of heritage authenticity. Using the case of the Wagenwerkplaats Amersfoort – a former train revision site that was saved through as civil initiative and is currently starting large scale redevelopment in light of the Masterplan crystallizing – this research aims to answer the following research question: “In what ways has sense of ownership of local communities in the reuse of the Wagenwerkplaats related to maintaining heritage authenticity?”