The role of recurring cultural events in facilitating adaptive reuse and social reconnection of industrial heritage: the case of Parco Dora, Turin

Abstract The adaptive reuse poses both challenges and opportunities for industrial heritage sites. Cultural event programming has emerged as a key catalyst in this transformation process. This study uses Parco Dora, Turin, Italy as an empirical case and investigates how ephemeral but periodic cultural events, like the Kappa Futur Festival (KFF), a major European techno festival held annually in Parco Dora, can effectively activate such spaces. Adopting mixed methods combined with multi-stakeholder analysis, including interviews, on-site observations, spatial mapping, and sentiment analysis, this study explores both top-down planning strategies and bottom-up experiential responses, aiming to understand the coordinated transformation of Parco Dora and to evaluate its social and cultural impact from the perspectives of visitors. The findings reveal that KFF has played a significant role in both the physical revitalisation and the symbolic repositioning of Parco Dora. 1) Tangibly, the festival has spurred infrastructural upgrades, enhancing the park’s function as a daily public space. 2) Intangibly, the annual event reinforces the site’s cultural identity and visibility, transforming it into a vibrant urban landmark. Visitors’ perceptions further emphasise the site’s unique historical and spatial character. This study offers a reference for the adaptive reuse of industrial heritage through cultural event programming, which demonstrates how periodical cultural events can generate sustained socio-economic and cultural value, providing strategic insights for planners, cultural producers, and policymakers aiming to revitalise post-industrial urban spaces.