Opera in industrial tourism locations: case studies and guidelines for sector expansion

Opera, traditionally rooted in static venues and long-established repertoires, can be reimagined through the evolving landscape of industrial tourism, which has gained prominence as a sustainable strategy to repurpose both disused and operational industrial sites. This intersection presents a unique opportunity for engineering-driven adaptive reuse strategies, transforming industrial spaces into innovative opera venues while improving social, economic, and environmental sustainability. This study explores this integration from an engineering perspective, identifying key factors necessary for the success of this synergy. The proposed framework is based on the quantitative analysis of 200 industrial tourism sites, from a dataset created in a prior study, supplemented by a qualitative analysis of some case studies to define guidelines for sector expansion in this underexplored area. The quantitative results gave an overview showing that sites offering an artistic proposal are 45 out of the 200 analysed (3 related to opera and classical music) and are mainly disused plants with building structure preserved and dealing with economic, social, and managerial sustainability. The qualitative analysis of the case studies identified best practices such as multifunctional spaces, diversification of offerings, and collaboration with public and private stakeholders. Guidelines for sector expansion are related to innovation of opera fruition, asset utilization and facility management, circular economy and industrial symbiosis, collaborative platforms and cross-sectoral networks, risk, and operations management.