Industrial heritage, identity, and memory: the case of the Ruhr Valley

Abstract This article aims to describe and analyze the process of preservation and repurposing of industrial heritage in the Ruhr Valley based on field research conducted in the region between October 2023 and July 2024. To achieve this, we will begin by contextualizing the industrialization and deindustrialization process that has been occurring over the last century and a half in the Ruhr Valley. We will demonstrate its connections with the urbanization of the area and the construction of a local collective identity grounded on the memory of the mining and industrial past. Then, we will explore the political and economic processes that led to the formation of the Ruhr Industrial Heritage Route, a collection of industrial sites of historical interest now protected and repurposed.