ABSTRACT
This chapter aims at contributing to the understanding of the governance issues posed by the sustainable conservation of the material urban heritage through its adaptive rehabilitation for contemporary uses. The analysis focuses in particular on the role of the different stakeholders participating in the process, their contributions and conflicts and the institutional arrangements to solve them. People care for what bring them benefits so individuals and communities are moved to conserve the material urban heritage the stock of public spaces, urban infrastructures and buildings inherited by a community because they appreciate the benefits that it brings to them. What to conserve in an urban area depends on its heritage values. Heritage sites can hold a multiplicity of values. A building can be the place where historic events took place, thus having historic value for the community and scientific value for historians. A building can be a landmark in the city or neighbourhood holding a symbolic value for the community.
