Emotional Resonance and Evidence-Based Planning for Industrial and Cultural Heritage Revitalization

Dear Colleagues,

With the advent of the post-industrial era, urban structures have undergone significant transformation. Cities have shifted from industrialization toward service-oriented and knowledge-based economies. This transformation has led many cities to focus on brownfield redevelopment as a primary strategy for urban renewal. Sites with historical and cultural significance have become crucial targets for urban renewal, including old industrial districts, mining areas, and historic neighborhoods. Once revamped, these areas often evolve into new cultural and creative spaces. They become ideal locations and key drivers for rapid economic growth and industrial optimization. However, industrial heritage faces an unprecedented identity crisis under the impact of globalization and rapid urbanization. According to the International Committee for the Protection of Industrial Heritage, over 60% of industrial buildings worldwide have been simply demolished or commercially transformed in the past two decades. This phenomenon is particularly prominent in China, resulting in the permanent disappearance of collective memory carriers.

In the process of rapid urbanization and social structural transformation, the demand for spatial quality and emotional belonging has become increasingly prominent. Traditional architectural and planning methods often focus on functionality, technicality, and efficiency of physical spaces. They neglect the emotional nourishment and cultural identity that spaces provide. In recent years, empirically grounded methodologies for adaptive reuse of industrial sites have gradually become a frontier topic in both academic and professional circles. These call for a multidisciplinary framework integrating empirical approaches from evidence-based design and environmental psychology. Such approaches include biophilic design principles that connect human wellbeing to architectural elements. They also encompass evidence-based design utilizing physiological metrics (EEG, GSR, eye-tracking) to quantify emotional responses. Participatory action research ensures community engagement in preservation decisions. These approaches can provide more measurable outcomes and offer a fresh theoretical perspective. They emphasize the integration of culture, experiencing groups, and living facilities. This highlights that spatial planning should not only meet functional requirements but also convey cultural symbols and evoke emotional resonance to foster a sense of memory and belonging.

We also encourage spatial reprogramming strategies informed by behavioral mapping, pre-occupancy or post-occupancy evaluations, and technological integration balancing heritage values with infrastructure. Pre-occupancy evaluations are emerging as a crucial tool for heritage revitalization, allowing researchers to assess community needs, cultural values, and emotional attachments before design interventions begin. These evaluations can capture baseline emotional responses to existing heritage spaces, identify cultural symbols that resonate with different user groups, and predict how proposed changes might affect community identity and belonging. By conducting pre-occupancy assessments, planners can make evidence-based decisions that preserve meaningful heritage elements while addressing contemporary spatial needs. Post-occupancy evaluations provide a complementary perspective by measuring the actual impact of revitalization efforts on user experience and emotional engagement. These evaluations assess whether the renovated spaces successfully maintain cultural resonance while meeting functional requirements. They examine how different user groups interact with the transformed heritage environment and whether the intended emotional connections to place and memory have been achieved. This dual approach creates a comprehensive feedback loop that can inform future heritage revitalization projects and enables practitioners to refine their understanding of how physical space alterations affect emotional and cultural experiences. Such evaluations are particularly significant for industrial heritage sites, where the challenge lies in preserving cultural heritage while incorporating modern elements and ensuring technological integration that balances heritage values with contemporary infrastructure needs.

This Special Issue aims to capture the emotional characteristics and cultural attributes of various kinds of industrial and cultural heritage spaces. It seeks to create environments that are both functional and emotionally engaging. Researchers and practitioners in the fields of architecture, planning, design, tourism, management, economics, cultural humanities, and related disciplines are warmly welcome to contribute to the discourse of this Special Issue. Through theoretical discussions and case study sharing, this issue aims to promote the exploration of emotional value in spatial creation. It seeks to lead architectural and urban spaces toward higher levels of cultural resonance and humanistic care.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to the following:

• Emotional Resonance and Spatial Experience in Industrial and Cultural Heritage Sites;
• Neuro Technology and Tools for Renewal of Industrial and Cultural Heritage Sites;
• Modeling of Emotional Resonance in Industrial and Cultural Heritage Sites;
• Planning Practice for Industrial and Cultural Heritage Sites;
• Interdisciplinary Approaches in Planning and Design for Industrial and Cultural Heritage;
• Revitalization of Public Spaces.

Prof. Dr. Xin Li
Prof. Dr. Heping Li
Dr. Lu Huang
Guest Editors

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• scenario planning
• urban renewal
• industrial heritage revitalization
• cultural space
• place emotion
• creative space