Smart heritage is still novel in heritage discourse, with a few relevant review articles. In this regard, a specific interpretation of smart architectural heritage and a framework for instructing its development is lacking. This article reviews the literature on smart heritage in sustainable development to fill the knowledge gap. As a methodology for this study, the integrative review approach and thematic analysis are adopted to review references located at the crossroads of historic, smart, and sustainable disciplines. The review and interpretation draw on literature from relevant fields to understand implementations, current states, and support to interpret smart heritage. Review outcomes indicate that smart heritage is becoming dynamic as technologies are increasingly applied to more detailed heritage branches. This article lists the factors that heritage should possess to be defined as smart, and it provides a framework that might be followed to achieve the aims of this discourse by stating that smart heritage discussions are relevant to smart cities, as they may have a mutual effect and interact to promote each other.

Ineffective management increasingly threatens cultural heritage conservation, resulting in the mismanagement of tangible heritage assets and reducing the efficacy of conservation efforts. Although much of the literature examines the relationship between heritage management, tourism, and economic development, a notable gap exists in comprehending the interrelated elements that undermine the efficacy of conservation initiatives. This paper argues that administrative, financial, legal, and stakeholder-related factors are intricately connected in causing ineffective heritage management. These factors must be examined in interrelation to improve cultural heritage conservation efforts. A systematic review of the academic and grey literature on conserving tangible cultural assets is carried out to contribute to this goal. This literature review identifies 29 factors that contribute to the inefficacy of cultural heritage management plans. These factors are classified into several categories, including administrative institutions, stakeholders, financial resources, natural and human risks, laws and legislation, and political issues. This study presents a theoretical framework that connects governments, stakeholders, legislation, and administrative performance as crucial components in the success of heritage management. It highlights the need for transparent procedures for the successful implementation of heritage management strategies. The findings contribute to assessing cultural heritage management plans and propose directions for further research, including addressing local heritage concerns and methods to enhance the management performance. By identifying key factors that impede effective management, this paper contributes to the broader sustainability challenges of preserving cultural heritage while promoting social and economic stability. Enhanced heritage management practices can significantly contribute to the development of inclusive and sustainable communities.

This paper discusses a novel technological approach using virtual heritage technology to reflect Umm Qais heritage’s intertwining and interdependent nature that shapes its identity and value today. It developed the first model of a “virtual living museum” that brings both the tangible and intangible heritage of the site and community together into an integrated virtual environment that gives equal importance to local community narratives, traditions and history. We argue that integrating both human and digital records enriches the virtual twin of cultural heritage sites as a living and more humane experience that best represents the multi-layered and overlapping history of ancient Gadara’s archaeology and the cultural practices within Hara Fouqa and its Ottoman houses. As heritage is neither one dimensional nor frozen in time, virtual experiences must be fluid, dynamic, inclusive, integrative and open to change, reflecting living historical narratives.

This article contributes to a growing academic debate about the role of young people in safeguarding the memory of the past to support post-war rebuilding through physical urban reform and national rebranding. It also provides new opportunities for young people to amplify their voices after years of struggle. We pose the following question: How can the youth better leverage heritage to emphasise commonalities, cultural links, and educational understanding, which can break down ideological barriers and create sustainable peace? Through a critical thematic analysis of 45 open-ended interviews held in Iraq, we developed a set of recommendations that allows the youth to engage in dialogue around the country and its cultural heritage through oral history, testimonies, and documentaries. The outcomes of this research could enable the youth to reflect on their interpretation of heritage contestation and their active role towards safeguarding Iraq’s cultural heritage.

This article aims to find out the process for achieving smartness in urban architectural heritage conservation, maintenance, and operation and identify characteristics of the so-called smartness. It seeks to provide an example of introducing smart ideas into architectural heritage while encouraging more conservation. The discussions among architectural heritage conservation under the smart discourse are scattered in virtual applications, digital involvements, tourism, etc., and an integration method is worth considering. This article selected a platform for architectural heritage conservation and management of the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles (SFLAC), China. An integrated literature review is conducted to locate knowledge gaps. Thematic analysis is used for data analysis to develop the practising procedure and smart heritage features. Current practices lack a systematic consideration based on the perspective of conservation and management, which details applications for various groups in correspondence to stages. Interviews and policy document analysis were conducted to support the investigation. Smartness for architectural heritage should include policy guidance, digitalisation, platform integration, applications, and optimisations and has the feature of evolvement. Its practice should first promote heritage preservation and consider the benefits of different users, cultural inheritance, and urban regeneration based on different time durations.

This article highlights the challenges of rigorously evaluating and meaningfully communicating the socio-economic impacts of arts and crafts in northern Jordan. This article aims to identify and analyse the challenges confronting place-based arts and crafts industries in Jordan and propose valid policies and practices to address these challenges. The methodology employed involved a comprehensive review of the existing literature to elucidate the challenges faced by heritage-based artisans, and we propose several policies aimed at promoting and safeguarding the arts and crafts heritage. The findings supporting this research were derived from a series of practical workshops and focus group interviews conducted in 2022. This article also presents empirical evidence to highlight the identified challenges. It emphasises the importance of the proposed policy recommendations for the Jordanian sector, providing the audience with a sense of empowerment and an understanding of the potential solutions. This work could offer insights into how local communities innovatively leverage creative capacities, create localised impact, and address local challenges. We argue that the value of arts and crafts is better understood locally to provide impactful experiences based on community-led and community-generated creativity and flexibility. A creative participatory approach is used to create contemporary art designs and train young people on artistic and craft-making skills, application, and production as a credible precedent and best practice for developing creative cultural “enterprises” in Jordan.