Urban history and cultural resources in urban regeneration: a case of creative waterfront renewal

In recent decades, the role of culture and history has often become a driving factor in the process of urban regeneration. The focus on culture and history as factors in regional transformation has been particularly extensive in response not only to competitiveness among cities but also to sustainability requirements in the cultural sector. In the same perspective of this approach, culture in its broadest sense assumes a decisive role in constructing a system of interventions where employment and social and sustainable development become the product of the integration of places, people, economies and traditions. Creative cities are currently working on how to improve the interaction between regeneration building, economic development and social renewal in order to achieve more comprehensive development of the city. Existing creative cities may be seen to revolve around the design, promotion and activation of urban areas established due to their particular local characteristics. Such areas become creative clusters as a result of economic and structural innovations, related to the realization of innovator projects achieved with the help of local development strategies based on the economies of excellence, culture and territorial quality. Starting from such premises, this article aims to show the main factors which condition creativity in cities – such as new policies, participation, history, place identity, cultural resources and sustainability – and an emblematic case study of creative regeneration. This concerns the HafenCity district in Hamburg, where the history has assumed an important role in re-constructing the maritime identity and for many choices of urban nature.