Cultural Heritage Preservation and Territorial Attractiveness: A Spatial Multidimensional Evaluation Approach

Abstract

The introduction of the concept of sustainable development in the field of cultural heritage preservation has stressed the importance of a holistic approach. Achieving a balance among cultural significance retention and economic development is a challenging goal, even more for fragile and vulnerable contexts with limited economic and social resources, low return expectations and a huge tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Given such a complexity decisions about where to place valorisation interventions with the purpose to activate synergies with existing projects and trigger economic and social development processes require to be based on robust evaluation methodologies. According to this instance, Spatial Multicriteria Analysis (SMCA) can support decision-makers along all the steps of the decision process, moving from the intelligence phase to the design and, finally, to the choice one. Within this approach, the study has been focused on the intelligence phase, in order to define a multidimensional analytical framework aimed at mapping widespread cultural heritage with a special attention to its territorial features. The proposed methodological evaluation framework points out the challenge of structuring a decision problem related to the inner areas regeneration by the reuse of cultural heritage placed along slow mobility routes. The results are value maps that provide recommendations for placing culture heritage preservation and reuse interventions, meant as territorial catalyst.

The Italian National Strategy for Inner Areas (SNAI): A Critical Analysis of the Indicator Grid

“…In this sense, a significant advantage can stem from integrating the indicator set in a GIS environment; this integration can provide a graphical representation of the indicators' values for each municipality and allow an easier comprehension of the different territorial dynamics [47][48][49] (Figure 5). Again, in defining priorities for actions, the multi-dimensional nature of the SNAI Grid well fits its integration with an MCDA approach, aimed at drawing out a ranking of municipalities according to specific needs or potentialities and coherently with different stakeholders' expectations [50][51][52].…”

“…When dealing with some of the Grid's sections, especially the cultural heritage and tourism section, the existing indicators' inadequacy to provide a complete picture of cultural heritage in inner areas becomes evident, both in its tangible and intangible elements [53]. For this reason, a further effort should be devoted to defining other indicators, different from the ones proposed by the SNAI Grid, representing cultural Again, in defining priorities for actions, the multi-dimensional nature of the SNAI Grid well fits its integration with an MCDA approach, aimed at drawing out a ranking of municipalities according to specific needs or potentialities and coherently with different stakeholders' expectations [50][51][52].…”

An Evaluation System to Optimize the Management of Interventions in the Historic Center of Florence World Heritage Site: From Building Preservation to Block Refurbishment

“…The degradation found on the connotating components is obtained through a score on an appropriate scale verifying the presence and intensity of the connotating factors of the various degradation categories. To carry out the second phase, the data collected is first processed using the Evamix multi-criteria technique [29,30]. The results obtained are processed to obtain both a partial score for the individual deterioration category and a score for the overall deterioration of the building analyzed [31].…”

Landscapes at Risk: Social Capital Assets in the COVID-Scape Climate

“…The relationship between social capital and landscape deserves to be examined and represented in its entirety: as a matter of fact, while social capital has mainly been considered in terms of its material, functional, economic [15][16][17][18][19][20], and ethical dimensions, landscapes have been examined in terms of their perceptual, psychological, cultural, and aesthetic dimensions [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28].…”