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The material extant of the fortifications of Jaffa, the physical markers of memory, narrates the contrasting status and evolution of one of the oldest port towns in Israel: from grandiose to decline, from thriving multicultural neighbourhoods to immigrant communities over time, from town centre to marginalised significance and shifting centralities in the wake of political and economic events. Its town centre, propagating social interaction, existed through complex and evolving agricultural, industrial, and residential land uses. This port town bears a testimony to the dynamic and enormous shifts in land use, communities, and collective social memory. The alternate port of Tel Aviv came into existence during the revolt in 1936-39 by Arabs of Mandatory Palestine. The drastic decline of the Arab population in Jaffa and its environs and the rise in the Jewish population in the new modern city of Tel Aviv was an antagonistic process of negation and exclusion. The asymmetric planning of Tel Aviv that emerged in the early 1900s identified it as uncivilised geography, turning into a dilapidated district. Communal and national identities were built on the premise of antithesis giving rise to significant demographic transformations. This socio-spatial metamorphosis of Tel Aviv-Jaffa became a representational space leading to physical and cognitive boundaries evident in the planning policies. Since the mid-1980s, the spatial overturns have led to the radical restructuring of the urban space through gentrification with political and socio-economic implications such as population displacement and the production of urban alterities. This oxymoron of creative destruction suggests the tensions at the heart of urban life that embodies the erasure and re-inscription of culture and economics. This article will explore the historical evolution of the old port town, cultural geography, and the current state of exclusion and gentrification in Jaffa, and underlines the need for discourse on socio-spatial analysis and assessment for decision-making processes for urban heritage design.

Acre is a port city in the north-western part of Israel, with a history that goes back more than 4000 years. Being inscribed on the World Heritage List, the Old City of Acre preserves the urban and architectural elements of a historic town. Its outstanding value relies on the Crusader remnants preserved under the Ottoman city, showcasing the dynamism and continuous change of Mediterranean port cities. Moreover, the presence of various religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Bahai, adds to its complexity, expressed as monuments and religious sites that enrichen Acre’s cultural heritage. The dramatic change in values over the past decades has a direct impact on the built environment and the citizen’s lifestyles, in some cases jeopardising the physical elements and drastically influencing people’s lives. This paper aims to analyse the changes linked to the sea: livelihoods, tourism, and recreational use; and the change of use of the khan, as both the sea and the khan are constant elements in the city. The analysis of these processes serves as the starting point to identify changes in values which can enhance development or promote gentrification, and in the case of Khan Al-Umdan and its vicinity, we aim to recognise the lights and shadows that followed the adaptive reuse evaluation procedure, and the influence of the multiple narratives in its development. The conclusions will provide a solid base on which to develop a methodology on the one hand, identify changing processes, such as gentrification; and on the other, to evaluate adaptive reuse alternatives of cultural heritage in contested societies and changing values.

The world is undergoing dramatic change in its social and physical environments, resulting in cultural confrontation and conflict. Rapid urban growth, displacement, and gentrification increase urban pressure while jeopardising social cohesion, multicultural values, and local economies. In addition, environmental factors associated with climate change challenge how our cities respond and adapt, prompting the need for urban centre regeneration to confront the urban century challenges (Sassen, 2011). However, adaptation to these changes is also a source of conflict, as urban policies lack citizen engagement in the redefinition of public space, resulting in more disagreement and inefficient use of resources. One way to respond to this ongoing crisis is adaptive reuse, repurposing an underused system for a new use. This process can enhance positive environmental impacts, encourage social and participatory processes, and promote economic dynamism through culture. However, the success of such an intervention will depend on the underlying approach. The paper aims to explore how Jem Bendell’s ambitious four-pronged Deep Adaptation strategy (Bendell, 2018) combined with the cultural resilience approach can result in adaptive reuse processes that act as development catalysers and peace-building mechanisms.

The Indonesian city of Banjarmasin, Borneo, is widely known as the ‘city of the thousand rivers.’ Residents live and work in urban settlements that occupy the river and its banks. However, modern road-oriented urbanization, overpopulation, illegal building activity, and pollution have a devastating impact. Without adequate management, Banjarmasin’s impressive river-related identity would lose its cultural and socio-economic significance. Therefore, the city government is searching for solutions to revive its river culture and to revitalize riverine settlements. In 2019, a workshop was carried out by following the HUL Quick Scan method, which is inspired by UNESCO’s Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach. This paper focuses on the outcomes of the workshop in Banjarmasin in relation to participatory revitalization of urban riverine settlements.

Acre is a port city in the north-western part of Israel, with a history that goes back more than 4000 years. Being inscribed on the World Heritage List, the Old City of Acre preserves the urban and architectural elements of a historic town. Its outstanding value relies on the Crusader remnants preserved under the Ottoman city, showcasing the dynamism and continuous change of Mediterranean port cities. Moreover, the presence of various religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Bahai, adds to its complexity, expressed as monuments and religious sites that enrichen Acre’s cultural heritage. The dramatic change in values over the past decades has a direct impact on the built environment and the citizen’s lifestyles, in some cases jeopardising the physical elements and drastically influencing people’s lives. This paper aims to analyse the changes linked to the sea: livelihoods, tourism, and recreational use; and the change of use of the khan, as both the sea and the khan are constant elements in the city. The analysis of these processes serves as the starting point to identify changes in values which can enhance development or promote gentrification, and in the case of Khan Al-Umdan and its vicinity, we aim to recognise the lights and shadows that followed the adaptive reuse evaluation procedure, and the influence of the multiple narratives in its development. The conclusions will provide a solid base on which to develop a methodology on the one hand, identify changing processes, such as gentrification; and on the other, to evaluate adaptive reuse alternatives of cultural heritage in contested societies and changing values.

The material extant of the fortifications of Jaffa, the physical markers of memory, narrates the contrasting status and evolution of one of the oldest port towns in Israel: from grandiose to decline, from thriving multicultural neighbourhoods to immigrant communities over time, from town centre to marginalised significance and shifting centralities in the wake of political and economic events. Its town centre, propagating social interaction, existed through complex and evolving agricultural, industrial, and residential land uses. This port town bears a testimony to the dynamic and enormous shifts in land use, communities, and collective social memory. The alternate port of Tel Aviv came into existence during the revolt in 1936-39 by Arabs of Mandatory Palestine. The drastic decline of the Arab population in Jaffa and its environs and the rise in the Jewish population in the new modern city of Tel Aviv was an antagonistic process of negation and exclusion. The asymmetric planning of Tel Aviv that emerged in the early 1900s identified it as uncivilised geography, turning into a dilapidated district. Communal and national identities were built on the premise of antithesis giving rise to significant demographic transformations. This socio-spatial metamorphosis of Tel Aviv-Jaffa became a representational space leading to physical and cognitive boundaries evident in the planning policies. Since the mid-1980s, the spatial overturns have led to the radical restructuring of the urban space through gentrification with political and socio-economic implications such as population displacement and the production of urban alterities. This oxymoron of creative destruction suggests the tensions at the heart of urban life that embodies the erasure and re-inscription of culture and economics. This article will explore the historical evolution of the old port town, cultural geography, and the current state of exclusion and gentrification in Jaffa, and underlines the need for discourse on socio-spatial analysis and assessment for decision-making processes for urban heritage design.