Page 56 - Beyond Decommissioning

The fundamentals of industrial redevelopment 37

Fig. 2.9 Ruhr Museum, Germany, conveyor belts.
Credit to Pixabay.

define and respect the protection and conservation area—the core—and mobilize
change and redevelopment through new buildings in the surroundings.
At Zollverein, some bridging values could be identified, which reconciled the dif-
ferent concerns and interests of the diverse planning agents. One is accessibility, a
value indicated out by various agents with almost the same emphasis. Accessibility
means facilitating physical access to the formerly inaccessible production site and
plants. Besides the common concern of conservation and development, further bridg-
ing values are reuse, and aesthetic values (spatial quality, design, and character). How-
ever, the value of authenticity—understood according to the rationale of heritage
conservation—was given very differing levels of importance by the diverse agents,
so indicating a potential source of conflict. Authenticity is assigned high importance
among agents of conservation, but low importance among agents of urban develop-
ment and architecture. Besides, subsequent to the agreement on the bridging values
that eased general planning, conflicts arose when planning became more detailed.
The transformation of the former coal-washing plant into the Ruhr Museum was a sig-
nificant bone of contention. In this specific transformation, additional bridging values
were needed to bridge the gap. Oevermann (2015) suggests various approaches for
overcoming the differences.
With a specific focus on the urban redevelopment (but easily extendable to off-city
environments), Meng€ uşog ˘lu and Esin Boyaciog ˘lu (2013) describes a potential conflict
between landscaping for social purposes and the role of place promoters to reimage
the city. “The use of heritage in cultural led urban developments through city market-
ing campaigns and tourism industry gives way to the process of commodification of
the past. This is because of the nature of heritage being both cultural and economic