Revitalizing the Industrial Heritages with Ecological Approaches: Implications from Cases

Green regeneration of industrial heritages is vital for the sustainable development of relevant urban areas. Although previous researchers have paid attention to the assessment of sustainable regeneration of industrial heritages as well as the critical success factors, few of them have made thorough analysis on the variety of ecological approaches that contribute to the green regeneration of industrial heritage, which makes the fulfillment of green regeneration of industrial heritages inefficient. To bridge this research gap, this study aims to make a detailed exploration on the variety of the ecological approaches adopted by industrial heritage regeneration projects and propose a scheme for industrial heritage regeneration projects to achieve green regeneration. Based on case data collected from four industrial heritage regeneration projects which are outstanding in their green performance, this study analyzed the regeneration principles and measures adopted in these projects in the aspects of green building technology and ecological design. Finally, a scheme on green regeneration of the industrial heritages has been proposed, including three specific measures about building technology, which are (1) electricity saving, (2) water saving, (3) structural design, and 4 means about the ecological restoration, which are (1) water pollution treatment, (2) soil pollution treatment, (3) planting and (4) recycle of wasted materials and reuse of abandoned places. This study could provide practitioners with a detailed scheme to achieve the green regeneration of industrial heritage in a more targeted manner, so as to achieve sustainable urban regeneration more efficiently.