'Reclaiming the industrial landscape': the adaptive reuse of former coalmining sites in Germany and New Zealand

Abstract

This honours dissertation will deal with the coalmining areas of Germany's Ruhr region and those of the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. The remaining structures and sites of these areas will be discussed in order to form relative conclusions in terms of the retention of each nation's coalmining heritage, their heritage interpretation and the various degrees of public recognition and reutilisation. This research will firstly delve into the background of both regions, and briefly describe the economic and social history of mining in each area. Two case studies from each country will be used to highlight the individual characteristics of significant coalmines. These examples have been included because they represent the overall directions towards adaptive reuse that their regions are carrying out. With these findings, the initiatives of one country will ultimately prevail over the other in the comparative adaptive reuse chapter, and by analysing these various projects of industrial site preservation and adaptive reuse, explanations will be sought as to why these examples have been initiated. The differences in regional population, topography, scale and industrial history between these countries will also be discussed in order to find out why the industrial coalmining structures and sites were left in various conditions after closure in the first place. The similarities and contrasts of regions on opposite sides of the world, and from different economic backgrounds, will then be compared in the chapter of adaptive reuse. Further precedents from each country's region will also be incorporated so that the final conclusion can be clearly put forward.