Introduction - Industrial heritage buildings possess unique characteristics and significant potential, yet often many remain vacant: presenting an untapped opportunity. Adaptive reuse of these buildings can have an extra-large impact, especially as catalysts for urban (re)development. However, the adaptive reuse process is complex, particularly for municipalities. Municipal roles have shifted towards being demand-oriented, market-following, and market-organizing, yet municipalities are considered to be responsible for vacant areas. This shift combined with the complexity of the process, highlights the need for this reserach, which explores municipal involvement in the adaptive reuse process of industrial heritage buildings in the Netherlands.

Methods - The methodology consists of a market review, case studies, and a cross-case analysis. The market review gives a broad overview of projects in the Netherlands, and their characteristics. Six heterogenous case studies are selected: LocHal (Tilburg), Klokgebouw (Eindhoven), Baronie (Alphen a/d Rijn), RDM Campus (Rotterdam), Ploeg (Bergeijk), and Greswarenfabriek (Reuver). Each case is studied by reviewing documents and conducting two interviews.

Results - The case studies demonstrate the practical complexity and diversity of adaptive reuse processes, municipal involvement, and relevant public values. Municipalities primarily adopt an active approach during the preparation phase, often focusing on their roles as connectors and stimulators, and incorporating arrange/provide and stimulate/align approaches. However, municipalities tend to be more passive during the pre-project phase, despite its extensive nature.

Discussion - The research reveals varied forms of municipal involvement, making it challenging to establish clear causal relationships between project characteristics, public values, and types of municipal involvement. Further research is required to enhance understanding of municipal involvement in this context and its reasons. To contribute to this understanding, a model is proposed, linking project complexity to active municipal involvement, in which more roles and approaches are incorporated in the municipal strategy if the process is mroe complex. Municipalities are recommended to adopt an active stance, integrate knowledge development and exchange, and remain adaptable to evolving circumstances.