This open access book explores cultural landscapes as living territories where heritage, ecology, community practices, risk, accessibility, and sustainable regeneration intersect, with a particular focus on collaborative governance and territorial resilience.

The UNESCO concept of “cultural landscapes” has broadened heritage protection beyond individual monuments, extending it to ordinary landscapes as essential expressions of community identity, shaped by history, everyday practices, and ecological relations. Today, the valorization of these landscapes is closely linked to global challenges such as climate change, territorial fragility, social inequalities, and the need for sustainable spatial and socio-economic development models. This calls for a shift from restrictive conservation toward collaborative, public-oriented governance, recognizing landscapes as shared and livable territorial assets.

This book brings together research outcomes developed at University Federico II Department of Architecture, within CHANGES – Cultural Heritage Active Innovation for Sustainable Society, Spoke 1 “Historical Landscapes, Traditions and Cultural Identities,” supported by the NextGenerationEU programme. Through interdisciplinary contributions, the volume explores cultural landscapes as living territories where heritage, ecology, risk, accessibility, production, welfare, and community practices intersect. It views cultural heritage—even in fragmented, vulnerable, and degraded areas—as a key asset for territorial regeneration, promoting a regenerative and circular approach based on existing urban resources, neglected spaces, and marginal landscapes.

The research establishes a Heritage Community Urban Living Lab and proposes a co-productive, proximity-based planning methodology aimed at reactivating heritage as a shared community resource. This approach is applied to the Phlegraean Fields / Campi Flegrei, in the metropolitan area of Naples (Italy): a high-risk volcanic territory where uncontrolled urban expansion and land consumption have compromised an extraordinary archaeological, rural, and ecological heritage, rendering many sites and landscape resources “invisible,” difficult to access, and excluded from cultural, and economic valorization.

Michelangelo Russo is Full Professor of Urban Planning at the Department of Architecture of the University of Naples Federico II, where he teaches urban design and coordinates competitive research projects on urban transformations and contemporary landscapes (Horizon 2020, PNRR). He coordinates the Department of Excellence 2023–2027 project for Architecture. He served as Head of the Department of Architecture (2019–2024), as President of the Italian Society of Urban Planners (2014–2018), and as President of the Italian University Conference on Architecture (2023–24). He is involved in EU-funded projects (MEDSAIL, STREET-15, CHANGES, RETURN) and collaborates with TU Delft, HafenCity University Hamburg, Columbia, and Harvard. He serves on national and international scientific and editorial boards and has lectured in Europe, the Americas, and the United States. Recent publications include: Transitional Landscapes (2023); Urban Planning Today: The Cultures of Design (2022); Toward a Sustainable City: Fourteen Voices for a Manifesto (2019).

Anna Attademo is Assistant Professor in Urban Planning at the Department of Architecture of the University of Naples Federico II, where she teaches on the Master’s programme in Architecture and the Bachelor’s degree programme in Sustainable Urban Planning, as part of the ‘Governing Urban Metabolism’ Studio. A member of the Federico II University Board of the Aurora Alliance, she is the Department’s delegate for Blended Intensive Programs. Her research focuses on cultural landscapes, peri-urban areas in transition and circular regeneration. She has participated in national and international projects, including Horizon 2020 “REPAiR”, URBACT III “Sub>urban. Reinventing the fringe” and the Italian PNRR “CHANGES” partnership. She is the co-PI of “MOTILITY - Metabolism of Intersectionality”, a project funded by Federico II University. She co-edited the volumes Fringe Shifts (Listlab, 2019), the Studies for the Landscape Plan of Campania Region (Artem, 2022) and Transitional Landscapes (Quodlibet, 2023).

Marica Castigliano is an Architect and Researcher in Urban and Landscape Design and Planning at the Department of Architecture (DiARC), University of Naples Federico II (UNINA). Her research focuses on urban regeneration in vulnerable territories, exploring sustainable methodologies and innovative approaches to territorial transformation. She coordinated the research projects “EcoRegen. Circular Economies and Territorial Regeneration” and “NOURISH-EST” on risk mitigation through NbS and co-developed digital platforms. She has contributed to several research initiatives, including the PNRR-funded CHANGES and MERCIE. She has taught at the Politecnico di Milano, ETH Zurich, and UNINA, where she currently teaches Fundamentals of Urban Planning and Urban Planning for the Historic City. She has held academic appointments at TU Delft, ETH Zurich, and the University of Portsmouth. Her work combines academic research and collaboration with public authorities, with a focus on public space, participatory planning, cultural landscapes, and sustainable territorial development.

Maria Simioli is an Architect and researcher in Urban Planning at the Department of Architecture of the University of Naples Federico II, where she teaches undergraduate courses and contributes to the Level II Master’s programme “Manuris”. Her doctoral thesis on the landscapes of unauthorised construction in Southern Italy won the 2024 “Giovanni Ferraro” Prize awarded by the Italian Society of Urban Planners. Her research focuses on the landscapes of illegal construction, socio-environmental regeneration projects, and the relationships between cultural heritage, communities, and territorial transformations. She has participated in several research projects, including the PNRR and PE5 CHANGES projects on the enhancement of cultural landscapes; MERCIE, on sustainable mobility in coastal areas; and NOURISH-EST, on risk mitigation through the use of Nature-based Solutions (NBS). She currently coordinates the Horizon MEDSAIL project on participatory art processes in contexts affected by marine pollution.