204 1980), which establishes a comprehensive regime for the protection, conservation, promotion, and financing of industrial heritage, requiring conservation plans integrated with the heritage objectives of urban land-use planning, enabling effective coordination between mining heritage and land-use planning. On this basis, the conversion of the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex, located in the city of Essen in the Ruhr basin, was developed. Likewise, the creation of the Zollverein Foundation (Stiftung Zollverein) in 1998 consolidated a multi-stakeholder governance model aimed at preserving heritage and transforming the site into an international cultural, economic, and tourist center. In 2001, the complex was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, reinforcing its legal protection and global visibility (Gallego, 2011; Romero, 2019). North Rhine-Westphalia promoted a model based on the welfare economy, through the cultural enhancement of heritage, and on the ecological economy, through the environmental, economic, and social recovery of the territory (Alquézar, 2013; Romero, 2019). The impacts of this post-mining territorial governance are reflected in subsequent recognitions, such as Essen's designation as European Capital of Culture (2010) and European Green Capital (2017), as well as in the sustained increase in tourism and cultural investment. More recently, the Zollverein complex has been honored with the German Sustainability Award 2025, in recognition of its contribution to environmental, cultural, and social sustainability (EventMasterBook, 2025). In addition, the Ruhr's transition is underpinned by coordinated polycentric planning and sustained public leadership, key factors in avoiding post-closure fragmentation (Hamm & Wiggering, 2020). The German case confirms some empirical findings of this research: overcoming closure as a technical event (finding 1), the centrality of advance planning (finding 2), regulatory and territorial integration (finding 3), and the generation of new economic and cultural functions for the territory (finding 5). Consequently, the Ruhr basin and Zollverein constitute an advanced benchmark for governance in post-mining territorial transition, with relevant lessons for contexts where the closure of operations and the management of a mining legacy (PAM) continue to be regulated in a fragmented and predominantly technical manner, as in Peru. 5. PROPOSAL The analysis reveals that Peruvian legislation: (i) separates regulations on mine closure (Law 28090 and regulations) and remediation of mining environmental liabilities (Law 28271 and regulations); (ii) assigns different authorities, instruments, and rationales; and (iii) lacks a legal category for post-mining territory. This separation contradicts international empirical evidence showing that post-mining sustainability depends on regulatory and territorial continuity. 5.1. Principles for integrated legal governance of post-mining territories A regulatory framework based on five structural principles is proposed: (i) Territorial
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