Adaptive reuse of the industrial built heritage in the Merchant City, Glasgow

The conservation-based planning approach

Abstract

Industrial built heritage adaptation in the Merchant City of Glasgow from the 1980s interwoven the development of conservation-based planning history. However, this assemblage conservation approach has been subject to criticism for the legislation ossification and material authenticity of the built heritage. The research investigates the paradoxical situation of industrial-built heritage adaptation based on existing preservation policies, and archive files, with site investigation. The analysis mingles the adaptation theories, urban physical regeneration, and planning history. The existing morphological conservation approach was influenced by a series of historical factors, processes, and decisions: the transformation from comprehensive redevelopment to urban rehabilitation; the revitalizing inner city with the embrace of the private sector; the re-evaluation of industrial built heritage from the 1980s; the shifting of city images after deindustrialisation that transformed the heavy industries core into a services centre; and with the neoliberal planning concept, the shifting from urban managerialism to urban entrepreneurialism. To illustrate these consequences related to building heritage conservation in Glasgow, this paper draws on evidence from the adaptation of existing Victorian industrial buildings. Furthermore, this paper examines value-based preservation policies and how to preserve the authenticity of the built heritage due to the inevitable morphological shifting.