Dal patrimonio automobilistico - e dalla sua eredità - all'industria creativa e innovativa: territorial brand e corporate brand nell'ambito della rigenerazione urbana

The car is an activator of urban transformation, stimulating the development of architectural constructive typologies, products, mobility and infrastructures. Since the 1970s, the emergence of environmental problems and the crisis of industrial models have led to the abandonment of architectural and testimonial sites in the historic mo-town. Detroit, Coventry, Wolfsburg, Paris with its western suburbs, Turin and Gothenburg have faced socio-economic decline and a difficult transition to a new model of development. This transition is following different and contradictory models. They promote an industrial renaissance through the emersion of research and development hubs, through partnerships between universities, manufacturers, city councils, facilities and contribution of innovative sectors. In parallel or in synergy, the models are aimed at searching for new identities as a city of high education, culture and creative industry. The processes have been characterized by a prevalent loss of the architectural heritage, both with regard to the first urban factories and large suburban sites. Instead, the interest in preserving the heritage of historic cars has seen relevant growth, with the development of motoring collections, museums, markets and restoration centres. The assumption of symbolic values of the auto object has stimulated corporate brand strategies aimed at the recovery / transformation of property assets for cultural patrimonialization and tourism strategies, and rebuilding automotive-related districts in the changing prospect of R&D, Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0. In the heritage-led regeneration, the automotive and transport plants, abandoned or underused, generate new economy districts and provided creative and community spaces, ensuring long term conservation and promoting adaptive reuse. The paper aims to further develop heritage-related aspects and to identify a possible future research.