An Integrated Approach to the Valorization and Management of Small Historical Centres in Italy: Good Policies and Good Practices (original) (raw)
Related papers
The valorisation of Italian rural historical buildings and territory
Heritage Architecture Landesign. focus on Conservation Regeneration Innovation. Le vie dei Mercanti_XI Forum Internazionale di Studi, 2013
"The architecture, connected with the rural civilization and building culture, is made with local materials and it originates from the land management needs, therefore the study and valorisation of rural architecture and territory are inseparable from each other. Territory and architecture are exposed to anthropic and natural hazards: the gradual abandon or abuse of the rural territory favour the hydrogeological instability; on the one hand the abandonment of the historical buildings support their degradation and definitive loss, on the other hand it protected them from distorting renovations. However most of the Italian territory has maintained yet significant landscape features, whose touristic attraction could be an important economic resource."
Sustainability
In Italy, the regeneration of historic centers is a relevant issue in the theoretical debate and practice of urban planning, a discourse which usually adopts strictly constraining approaches and tools directed almost exclusively at the preservation of the traditional characters of historic buildings, neglecting social and economic processes. In particular, the redevelopment of minor historic centers becomes a priority action for the revitalisation of marginal territories affected by the phenomena of depopulation and weakening of the socio-economic structure. The paper focuses on the regional context of Sardinia to investigate methods and criteria for the drafting of planning tools for the redevelopment of minor historic centers, enabling the definition and implementation of strategies in accordance with the objectives and guidelines of the Regional Landscape Plan. With a case study methodology applied to the historic center of Mogoro, the research discusses an innovative and interdi...
Sustainability, 2019
The paper presents the analysis of the statistical data on population and real estate in 20 small-to-medium-sized cities in Northern Italy and shows a high rate of vacancy of housing and significant shrinkage of businesses and institutions in the historic centres, where urban heritage is concentrated. Given these findings, the paper analyses the official city plans of the cities with the worst underutilisation conditions, to understand how the plans have reacted to the decline of the centre. The result shows the extensive planning and regulation activity has very limitedly registered the phenomenon and failed to propose the empty inner cores as resources to reduce land consumption and recycle valuable assets in a circular economic vision. Combining the statistical data and the findings from the city plans, the paper concludes that Italian historic centres are living paradoxes—a collection of beauty, icon of well-being, model of sustainability, but abandoned—and therefore, the dense ...
2008
Just like other european countries, Italy is proud of its cities full of extraordinary architectural monuments. The economy of these "open air museums" is based on the development and the preservation of its heritage. Instead, in the south of Italy, improvements and developments of the heritage clash with the difficult economic and social reality which is linked to the vulnerability territory. The theme of "natural risk" assumes a fundamental role starting from the international government politics, to create safe environmental settlements, special attention should be paid to the most critical issues ….disaster prevention, cultural natural and historical heritage (United Nations, 1996). This paper will put in evidence the italian and international policy about natural risks regarding improvements and preservation heritage, starting from the Heritage@risk (ICOMOS, International Council of Monuments and Sites) to the Heritage risk paper (Italian Reconstruction Central Institute). A special examination will be given to a Calabria region where there are special problems related to social and economic conditions, and also natural distaster in particular earthquakes. Certainly in this region, heritage vulnerability is increased by reasons of natural risks, consequently integrated strategies that concern: degradation, unauthorized building, hazard, vulnerability assessment, were applied. These policies aims to improve: town planning, seismic risk mitigation, social and cultural aspects.
The subject of protec on of historical districts has therefore represented one of the more important forma ve vehicles for the Italian urban planning community. It has produced debates, ini a ves and preserva on tools, even if these were not always su cient or e ec ve. Accordingly, I would like to address this subject and, in par cular, its importance in the development of regional government tools, beginning with three aspects: • the development, in par cular between the 1950s and 1970s, of the concept of the “historical centre” as an urban planning issue of structural as well as cultural and technical relevance for Italy; • the urban and rural landscape from the age of conserva on of historical centres to the age of urban revitalisa on that began during the 1970s as a result of the change in industrial dynamics and se lement pa erns seen in western na ons; • the issue today of governance of this cultural heritage resource in the con text of the demand for both preserva on as well as contemporary projects.
in “Rammed Earth Conservation”, atti The first international conference on rammed earth conservation, RESTAPIA 2012 (Valencia, 21-23 giugno 2012), a cura di C. Mileto, F. Vegas e V. Cristini, London 2012, pp. 65-69.
Novi Ligure (in the province of Alessandria) is a small Italian town in the South Piedmont Region. This area is characterized by an important rammed earth heritage. In recent years the Novi Public Authority decided to preserve and revalue it, defining a specific programme (called Earth Lands-Terre di Terra). The submission of a thematic ecomuseum was another strategy carried out by Novi Ligure in partnership with others local stakeholders. The main interest is focused on promoting and setting up permanent actions of preservation, re-evaluation, training and dissemination, in order to place it in an economic system, strictly correlated to the best territorial exploitation policies. At the same time all these scheduled actions find a reference in regional policies as the Regional Law concerning the conservation of earthen heritage.
Restauro Archeologico, 2023
The relationship between the historic city and the businesses that form an essential testimony of the historical and cultural urban evolution is an emerging theme on the international scene. The research program has analyzed the traditional economic and social context of the centre of Florence in relation to the city's urban zoning and building facades. The study highlighted the need to integrate the documentation and survey phases of the physical realities of the places of commerce with the recording of intangible cultural heritage. The latter are strongly interlinked with the authenticity of a place its features, whose disappearance may irreversibly change the environment itself. The introduction of this patrimonial category, with the UNESCO convention of 2003, led to the development of investigation tools and protocols that also involved, specifically, the scientific sector of architectural-urban design and survey to evaluate the impact of intangible features on the evolution of the city's image over time.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges of managing complex built heritage by comparing site-bound policies in a historical perspective. The World Heritage Sites of Mantova-Sabbioneta, Italy, and Visby, Sweden, are used as cases. Their defensive structures attract numerous visitors, however they have proven to be difficult to maintain because of size, complexity and organizational problems. Questions asked in this paper are: Exactly how was built heritage in these places valorized throughout the 20th century? What has the UNESCO nomination of the sites meant for the valorization process? The small Renaissance town of Sabbioneta and the medieval inner city of Visby both have preserved city walls. Management of them demands resources but also cooperation of stakeholders, here identified as monuments offices, plan-ning departments, property owners and citizens. By making transnational comparisons of the management of sites an in-creased knowledge on how to manage fortified towns without decreasing their economical, historical and aesthetic values may emerge. Today the heritage of Visby and Sabbioneta is so obvious that we risk taking their values for granted, but the valorization of these sites have actually sprung out of the development of modern urban society. World heritage sites need to be managed in sustaina-ble ways if their values are to be preserved. (Pedersen 2002, Clark 2010) An important aim with the paper is to begin comparing the management of fortifications at these sites. Each case is presented, followed by a comparative discussion of challenges to management today.
XIII CTV 2019 Proceedings: XIII International Conference on Virtual Cityand Territory: “Challenges and paradigms of the contemporary city”: UPC, Barcelona, October 2-4, 2019, 2019
El estudio desarrollado por Ancsa * y Cresme ** muestra el estado actual de los centros históricos italianos desde el punto de vista económico y demográfico, que es el punto de partida del documento para reflexionar sobre las políticas urbanas italianas para la mejora y preservación de Territorio histórico contemporáneo. Además, el documento tiene como objetivo investigar más a fondo el fenómeno de la marginalidad que surge de la aplicación del concepto de "periferia" a los centros históricos.A partir de la metodología analítica-interpretativa utilizada en el informe Ancsa-Cresme 2017, nuestro estudio sigue un método inductivo basado en las tendencias de encuestas demográficas, sociales y económicas en las capitales de provincia. Aunque de forma cuantitativa, este enfoque refleja la tendencia por la que atraviesan las ciudades italianas y es útil para describir las características comunes del fenómeno de la marginalidad de algunos centros históricos. Esta investigación gen...
2012
The paper presents the project experience of the Master Plan of Nichelino Municipality as a spatial and functional planning application for Southern Turin Region. It is an original design proposal for the urban form and landscape develop-ment, integrating the Park and the Royal Palace of Stupinigi in the management of social, economic and environmental resources at regional and local level. Starting from this, the paper aims at discussing the relevance of the cultural attractors as a key resource for more sustainable territorial structure.The project proposal for Stupinigi Royal Palace and Park enhances existing buildings and public spaces for generating cultural, social and economic benets for the Municipality of Nichelino in a period of recession and industrial crisis.The valorization of cultural heritage can represent a key tool for local development if it is able to strengthen the site identity, enhancing environmental potential and attracting new investors – promoting a new economic protability and increasing new vocations of the territory.