Cultural heritage adaptive reuse in Salerno: challenges and solutions

ABSTRACT: The adaptive reuse of cultural heritage contributes to heritage conservation, leveraging on the heritage potential
to enable sustainable development and enhance urban livability. Yet, it is seldom applied as intervention. This
research furthers the knowledge on the challenges to the adaptive reuse of cultural heritage. Through the case
study of Salerno (Italy) and a participatory methodology, this research organized a stakeholder engagement
workshop, facilitating the interaction of stakeholders—representing the public, private, civic, and knowledge
sectors, while using a theoretical framework based on the six steps of the UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape
approach to adopt a multi-scale perspective. The content analysis of the data reveals 55 themes encompassing
challenges and solutions. These themes are presented in a general overview, followed by an in-depth reporting of
the five most discussed themes, i.e. knowledge production and management, participation, valorization, ap-
proaches, and cooperation. Besides the contribution to science, this research also offers an overview of challenges
and possible solutions for prospective stakeholders in the adaptive reuse of cultural heritage, informing future
decision- and policy-making activities towards greater sustainable development within the built environment.