Purpose - Ancient urban spaces are the highest expression of human creativity, where knowledge and innovation have always found full expression. Historic textures, monumental complexes and isolated buildings in the real estate market, can become new dynamos of development, enabling EU countries to maintain a strong position in the global economy. At a time of economic crisis, when heritage conservation loses priority in European investment policies, scientific research is called upon to act as a stimulus to communities, not only protecting physical assets, but also preserving practices, histories, and environments, supporting the sense of continuity and identity, for the promotion of a physical regeneration of city centers, able to invest the social and economic dimensions. Design/methodology/approach - With the support of a case study, the paper describes the impact of technological transfer to anticipate the degradation processes in outdoor collective spaces. Taking into account the historic center of Salerno, the paper discusses an urban regeneration experience based on remote monitoring and permanent maintenance with innovative technologies. Thanks to a synergy between the University and the Superintendence, knowledge and innovation become motors of active protection and development with the creation of a laboratory of urban sustainability. The paper identifies a knowledge based approach as the means to promote outdoor spaces identity, with the affirmation of inner inherent dynamism, internal and external connection. Originality/value - knowledge based active protection is here identified with a process of anticipation, vigilance and planning of vulnerabilities, informed to the logic of responsibility sharing between users and managers, coordinating design choices. Condition for an active protection is the complementarily of information, experience and expertise, for the preservation and promotion of the built capital. Reconciling multi-scalar and multi-sector approaches, active protection brings into play an idea of the settlement as an interconnected system, where design scenarios arise from the complexity of the relationships between spaces, performances and instances. The awareness of users, creating a sense of ownership, are conditions to support these processes, acting on the components of identity, heritage and memory. Practical implications - Echoing the vision of UNESCO creative cities, the paper offers an application scenario in which knowledge and innovation can become engines of social, economic and physical regeneration. Through the creation of a sustainability laboratory, knowledge and skills are put into sharing, to counter the aging processes, through transfer, analyzing, planning and testing. The paper discusses the role of creativity in the knowledge-based development scenario for ancient outdoor collective spaces, focusing on the extent to which culture enables cities to perform new tasks, in a process where innovation is supposed to be the medium to enrich society, building identities, adding value to heritage, strengthening the sense of belonging.
