A Blended Finance Framework for Heritage-Led Urban Regeneration

Abstract

The inclusion of heritage conservation in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, target 11.4, stimulated a broad dialogue among heritage conservation practitioners intent on framing a meaningful role for heritage assets in historic built environments as contributors to sustainable development. Heritage-led regeneration positively impacts many aspects of society, community life, and the public realm, and can also play an important role in reaching zero-carbon environmental conservation goals by slowing the extraction of natural resources for construction, reducing the quantity of building materials sent to landfills, and using traditional technologies and knowledge to reduce operational energy use. Heritage regeneration can also be a strong contributor to economic growth, as restored and reused properties create wealth, serve as community social magnets, and attract prestige and visitors. However, there is little progress towards positioning heritage conservation as a focal point for multilateral public-private co-financing projects and partnerships. In 2021, the Cultural Heritage Finance Alliance (CHiFA) published research about successful models of urban heritage regeneration that engage public-private cooperation. CHiFA now presents a process, developed as part of a study commissioned by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), for advancing projects that maximize investment in heritage-led urban regeneration, matching financing strategies with local opportunities, legal frameworks, enabling tools, and the requirements of prospective investors. The result is a marketplace and ecosystem that support civic and community interests through long-term, multi-party collaboration using blended capital investment in heritage as a sustainable development strategy.