Dissonant Heritage and Urban Development Policies Exploring future opportunities for inclusive and resilient cities

For urban development strategies, Heritage conservation has always been a challenge but also an incredible opportunity. Celebrated as a source for strengthening a sense of belonging, a shared identity, and rootedness, Cultural Heritage is a crucial element for keeping alive what Herb Stovel defined as a “sense of continuity.” In this framework, however, in the last years, we are facing the duty to deal with discordant interpretations of cultural assets (think, for example, cancel culture) or the necessity to envisage the future of places that remind us of trau- matic events, for instance, the so-called Dissonant Heritage, which is, by definition, divisive. Based on what was experienced and learned in Porto and Guimarães and extending the thought to the bigger international picture, this paper is a reflection on the possibility of turning these dissonances into a chance for better understanding contemporary complexities, to turn these controversies into a crucial point for building more inclusive and resilient cities. Dialogue and an open mind toward a shift of perspective at the base of conservation policies of Dissonant Heritage could help foster cutting-edge urban development strategies, holding high the goal of treating it as a tool of reconciliation between the communities that should take care of it.