Heritage Data Governance in Regeneration: Lessons from England’s High Street Heritage Action Zones

Heritage data management has become increasingly critical as regeneration initiatives generate vast quantities of digital information, yet systematic approaches to data governance remain inconsistent across the sector. This paper examines heritage data practices within England’s High Street Heritage Action Zone (High Street HAZ) programme, focusing on case studies from Northallerton, Kirkham, and Chester. Through semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, and data audits conducted between 2021–2024, this research investigates how heritage datasets are created, shared, and preserved within planning processes, community wellbeing initiatives, and heritage research projects. Key findings reveal widespread data reuse across all programme strands, alarmingly low awareness of Data Management Plans (DMPs), and fragmented approaches to data sharing and preservation. The study uncovers significant disparities between above-ground and below-ground archaeological data management, with the former lacking systematic archival requirements despite comparable heritage value. Commercial intellectual property practices often conflict with public access principles, whilst community-generated datasets face particular vulnerability without institutional support. The research demonstrates that easily accessible datasets are routinely reused whilst those requiring specialist access remain underutilised, highlighting the critical importance of data discoverability. The paper advocates for mandatory DMPs, hybrid governance models balancing local autonomy with national oversight, and clear intellectual property frameworks ensuring public benefit from publicly funded research. These findings contribute to emerging debates on digital heritage governance, offering evidence-based recommendations for improving data stewardship in heritage-led regeneration initiatives.