Protection and Revealing of Traditional Settlements and Cultural Assets, as a Tool for Sustainable Development: The Case of Kythera Island in Greece

Abstract

Preserving and highlighting cultural heritage is directly related to sustainable development. The adaptive reuse of cultural heritage buildings and traditional settlements can be a core issue in the implementation of a circular economy strategy, especially in remote areas. In this framework, the current study focuses on Kythera, an isolated Greek island. For the analysis of the study area, research in local archives and communication with the municipality and local stakeholders was conducted, while questionnaires addressed to Kythera’s residents and visitors were developed and processed. Thus, both the special features of the island and the needs of the local community were identified, leading to the proposal of three adaptive reuse schemes at a different scale and within a different management model. The first scheme is focused on the institution of “Eghorios Periousia” and proposes the adaptive reuse of the island’s English Schools as focal points for the promotion of Kythera’s identity. The second scheme focuses on the smaller declared traditional settlements and proposes the adaptive reuse of their housing stock as an affordable permanent residence solution. The third scheme focuses on the abandoned neighborhood of Mavrogiorgiannika in the traditional settlement of Karavas and proposes its adaptive reuse as agritourism accommodation facilities.

Role of Cultural Tendency and Involvement in Heritage Tourism Experience: Developing a Cultural Tourism Tendency–Involvement–Experience (TIE) Model

“…Over the decades, studies on heritage tourism have provided diverse and highly segmented studies on different topics including heritage tourists [5], heritage experience [6], and experience stages of heritage tourism [7]. Recently, many studies have discussed that the inner factors and co-creation of tourists can largely influence heritage experience [8][9][10] and heritage protection [11]. This confirms the impact of tourist initiatives on tourism experience and heritage management.…”

Towards solutions and infrastructure for circular neighbourhoods in rural areas

“…Various RCP solutions that embody the idea of reviving past or almost lost practices, or searching for alternative options, are often driven by identity and/or new business models. Some studies see cultural heritage buildings as rural attractions, which can lead to more tourism and income, and increased employment through the rehabilitation, maintenance, and repurposing of underused buildings [16,33,34]. These practices embody the idea of slowing down and extending the lifetime of existing buildings and infrastructure.…”

Designing Co-Existence of Social-Cultural-Economic Spaces in Traditional Settlement: Learning From Bang-Phli, Thailand

“…Traditional settlements are shaped by topography and the natural environment, giving specific distribution, scale, hierarchy, and morphology (Li et al, 2018;Tao et al, 2017). The socio-economic development of a traditional settlement is deeply related to people"s social, cultural, and economic dimensions, and people"s collective activity constructs its significance, configured by geographical, geomorphological, and spatial criteria (Vythoulka et al, 2021). Many researchers have concluded that most socio-economic development-led design interventions have isolated buildings and places from social-cultural-economic significance instead of connecting them, and those transformations affect the settlements" morphology, natural resources, and infrastructure needs (Hes, Hernandez-Santin, et al, 2020).…”