This paper explores the transformation of heritage values from a critical perspective. The de-authorising conceptual shift in cultural heritage has not always been accompanied by a revitalisation of the dynamics of valorisation. To achieve the integration of multivocal discourses in sustainable preservation strategies, experts and academics need to work with methods that enable this to happen. This article presents a methodological analysis articulated through three different case studies that bring new experiences regarding the decolonisation of knowledge in the field of heritage values, addressing different aspects of the social dimension of cultural heritage. The first deals with contestation processes associated with productive winemaking traditions in the Rias Baixas, Galicia, Spain. The second case addresses the rebellious Paris of the Commune and the narratives associated with the valorisation of the traces that it has left in the city’s landscape. Finally, the third case analyses the values that come into play when citizens’ participation governs the transformation of an archaeological site in Barcelona. To conclude, we reflect on the idea of sustainability as a way of listening to, sharing and co-creating knowledge connected to communities.

Purpose: The paper explores the potential value of urban assemblage theory as a conceptual framework for understanding the role heritage has in social sustainable urban placemaking. The authors conceptualise urban placemaking as a dynamic and complex social assemblage. Heritage is one of the many dimensions of such a complex and dynamic urban assembly. Based on the approach to urban assemblage theory, the authors aim to uncover how postindustrial city-making unfolds. When approaching the case studies, the authors ask the following: Whose city for which citizens are visible through the selected case studies? How is social sustainability achieved through heritage in urban placemaking? Design/methodology/approach: The main research material is derived from theoretical literature and the testing of an assemblage methodological approach through three Norwegian urban regeneration case studies where heritage partake in urban placemaking. The three case studies are the Tukthus wall (what is left of an 19th century old prison), the Vulkan neighbourhood (an 19th century industrial working area) and Sørengkaia (an 19th century industrial harbour area) in Oslo, Norway. The three case studies are representing urban regeneration projects which are common worldwide, and not at least in a European context. Findings: The paper reveals the dynamic factors and processes at play in urban placemaking, which has its own distinct character by the uses of heritage in each of the case study areas. Placemaking could produce “closed” systems which are stable in accordance with its original functions, or they could be “open” systems affected by the various drivers of change. The paper shows how these forces are depending on two sets of binary forces at play in urban placemaking: forces of “assemblages” co-creating a place versus destabilising forces of “disassembly” which is redefining the place as a process affected by reassembled placemaking. Research limitations/implications: For research, the authors focus on the implications this paper has for the field of urban heritage studies as it provides a useful framework to capture the dynamic complexity of urban heritage areas. Practical implications: For practice, the authors state that the paper can provide a useful platform for dialogue and critical thinking on strategies being planned. Social implications: For society, the paper promotes the significance in terms of fostering an inclusive way of thinking and planning for urban heritage futures. Originality/value: The paper outlines dynamics of urban regeneration through heritage which are significant for understanding urban transformation as value for offering practical solutions to social problems in urban planning. The assemblage methodological approach (1) makes awareness of the dynamic processes at play in urban placemaking and makes the ground for mapping issue at stake in urban placemaking; (2) becomes a source for modelling urban regeneration through heritage by defining a conceptual framework of dynamic interactions in urban placemaking; and (3) defines a critically reflexive tool for evaluating good versus bad (heritage-led) urban development projects.

Heritage values are part of the discourses associated with cultural heritage management in various disciplines, such as Anthropology, Urban Planning, Geography, and Sociology. This article proposes how these values are shaped and how they have been transformed over time. We will discuss how heritage has shifted from static epistemic positions to more dynamic ones, emphasizing a reflection on the current participatory trend, in which society is the protagonist. The main values considered in this work are historical, aesthetic, natural, immaterial, social, and economic. We will place the reader in critical positions in order to invite her to reflect on the way in which academic experts should support this dynamism of heritage valorization through the democratization of our discourses.

This study reveals the early results of diverse community archaeology activities taking place in a contemporary archaeological site, a cardboard hospital built in 1912 in the Vall Fosca (Catalan Pyrenees). This isolated valley, formerly used to breed cattle, had three hydroelectric power facilities erected in the twentieth century. In 2019, the Torre Capdella Town Council and the National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia initiated a project involving local communities. The main scope of this work is to comprehend the materiality of the working class and to provide new narratives about the people who built them and subsequently occupied part of the valley.

Este texto busca generar nuevos diálogos entre la crítica social que se está realizando en patrimonio y lo que llamamos una conservación social, ciñendo nuestra reflexión al mundo de la arqueología. Se intentará trazar un puente reflexivo entre las corrientes sociales de la arqueología pública y comunitaria y la conservación. Para ello exploramos los cambios que se han producido en el marco teórico de la gestión y valores del patrimonio en los últimos años y su proyección en la conservación de bienes culturales arqueológicos. El texto también analiza el debate que se genera en torno a conservación, valores y obsolescencia, proponiendo una conservación que contribuya a la [de]cosificación y des-elitización del patrimonio. Por último, proponemos algunas reflexiones finales que pincelan el futuro rol de la conservación en la arqueología de la contemporaneidad.