The urge for regional identity has not declined in the process of globalization. Rather, heritage is used to develop regional distinctiveness and to charge identities with a past. Particularly helpful for this aim are creation stories, Golden Ages or recent, shared traumas. Some themes such as the Roman era or the Second World War appear easier to appropriate than, for example, prehistory.

This book assesses the role of heritage in the construction of regional identities in Western Europe. It contains case studies on early medieval heritage in Alsace and Euregio-Meuse Rhine, industrial heritage in the German Ruhr area and competing memories in the Arnhem-Nijmegen region in the Netherlands. It presents new insights into the process of heritage production on a regional level in relationship to processes of identity construction. The theoretical analysis of "heritage" and "regional identity" is innovative as these concepts were hardly analysed in relation to each other before. This book also offers insights into policy, tourism, spatial development and regional development to policymakers, politicians, designers and professionals in the heritage and tourism industries.

About the Author

Linde Egberts is Assistant Professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands and guest researcher at Technical University Delft in the field of heritage studies. She was trained as a cultural historian and geographer. Her research interests are European and regional heritage, identity, landscape, tourism and spatial development.

Book Information
ISBN 9781472481702
Author Linde Egberts
Format Hardback
Page Count 246
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 620g